10:58 p.m. Article 35, on which the sponsor requested indefinite postponement, passes without much discussion and with fewer than 300 votes, though Moderator Jack Attridge declares that there was still a quorum in the field house, and one voter suggested that the only reason he failed to get the 300 votes was that the article, related to firehouse renovations, had not been explained but instead just rushed to a vote. Attridge requests and receives a motion to adjourn Town Meeting until Thursday night at 7 p.m. “I need you here tomorrow night,” he said. “And please bring a friend.” The business of Town Meeting will resume with Article 36: Stormwater Enterprise Fund.
10:56 p.m. Article 32 to transfer the Gerry Playground passes with quorum narrowly survives,
10:54 p.m. Article 31 on the Coffin School reuse passes after one resident asks Moderator Attridge for permission to go home, which was implicitly denied.
10:31 p.m. After Article 24 passes, Town Moderator Jack Attridge announces that he intends to forge ahead and finish the warrant, if possible and if the quorum of 300 voters holds. With 53 articles on the warrant, the task looks daunting, though Town Meeting did take Articles 32 and 33 (the high school roof and Mary Alley renovations) out of order on night one.
10:09 p.m. Yael Magen’s amendments fail. Town Planner Alex Eitler is now giving an overview of Article 24 itself.
9:57 p.m. Select Board candidate and attorney Yael Magen has proposed two amendments to Article 24 dealing with accessory dwelling units that seek generally to allow residents, and residents only, who are living either in the main home or an ADU on a property to be able to engage in short-term rentals of 90 days or less of the dwelling unit they do not occupy. Town Counsel Adam Costa offered the opinion that such an amendment may well violate recently enacted state regulations that prohibit imposing a requirement that an owner occupy a property. Costa stopped short of saying that Town Meeting could not take favorable action on Magen’s proposals, but he suggested they may well fail to pass muster when reviewed by the state.
9:27 p.m. After some discussion about budget-related items, including the sustainability coordinator position, the elimination of which is proposed in Article 47 in the warrant, and one resident’s eight-year struggle to have “stop” lines repainted outside of his house, all of the sub-parts of town budget in Article 22 have been passed easily. Now, we are on to Article 24, a proposed update to the town’s zoning bylaw provisions regarding accessory dwelling units, or ADU.
8:37 p.m. We have arrived at Article 22, the town budget. Voters will be allowed to call “hold” on any line items in the budget that they would like to discuss further.
8:21 p.m. Mark Strout leads what Moderator Jack Attridge calls one of his favorite annual articles events, an update on Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School, which currently has 32 students enrolled. Strout invited residents to visit the campus for all manner of services, from manicures to oil changes. He also touted the recently opened events center, which was funded by private donations and built by students, with corporate partners. In all, the school serves 1,836 students on its 165-acre Danvers campus. This year, it saw over 1,500 students apply, of which it accepted 500. It is the third most affordable agricultural and technological school in the state, according to Strout. Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved making what Stout described as the state minimum required contribution to the school’s operating budget.
7:50 p.m. Albert Jordan shares several thoughts about articles related to town vehicles, include ensuring certain new vehicles being purchased would be electric (they are) and expressing a desire to see police vehicles have two-tone paint jobs, rather than being all black. “It looks like the Gestapo or a hearse at a funeral home,” Jordan said of the police vehicles. Jordan added that the vehicles do not convey a “friendly, welcome-to-Marblehead” vibe. Voters at Town Meeting seemed to agree, applauding his remarks.
7:28 p.m. Amy Drinker gives an overview of the progress of the Marblehead Charter Committee, which will be holding a series of public forums later this spring.
7:17 p.m. Before the meeting got started, local attorney John DiPiano could be seen gathering signatures outside the MHS entrance to call for a referendum on last night’s vote on Article 23 to approve the town’s MBTA Communities Act compliance plan. DiPiano needs to gather at least 300 signatures of registered voters and deliver them to the town clerk’s office by Monday. If he does so, the Select Board “shall forthwith call a special meeting (election) for the sole purpose of presenting to the registered voters at large the question or questions so involved.” The question on the ballot would be phrased: “Shall the town vote to approve the action of the town meeting whereby it was voted,” followed by a description of Article 23 — in other words, a “yes” will still be a “yes,” and a “no” will still be a “no.”
7:11 p.m. A much smaller crowd is on hand for night two of Marblehead Town Meeting. The meeting opened with Select Board member Moses Grader, a former Marine, getting a bit tongue-tied reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, drawing chuckles from the crowd. Town Meeting is now hearing reports from town departments, including one from longtime Board of Health member Helaine Hazlett. As she is not running for re-election, Town Moderator Jack Attridge asked for and received a round of applause to pay tribute to Hazlett’s dedicated service to the town.
