Town Meeting 2023:

Members will consider a feasibility for a fire station on the west side of town Monday night

   The decades-old quest for a third fire station – this one on the west side of Saugus – could gain new momentum when the Annual Town Meeting convenes Monday.

   One of 12 articles placed on the Special Town Meeting warrant by Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree is a measure seeking funds for a feasibility study to determine if the town should build the fire station.

   There are 23 articles on the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting – including a controversial measure to create a Cliftondale Square Overlay District.

   But town officials say they expect few articles – if any articles – from the Annual Town Meeting warrant to come up for discussion until members take action on the Special Town Meeting articles.

   “That’s the game plan,” Town Moderator Stephen N. Doherty told The Saugus Advocate yesterday.

  “A lot of the Special Town Meeting warrant is kind of cut dry, financial articles that may not take a lot of time,” he said.

   But Doherty stressed that Town Meeting doesn’t always proceed the way members expect. Sometimes articles that are expected to be contentious aren’t, while articles that aren’t expected to draw much discussion take several hours.

   The session is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. in the second floor auditorium of Town Hall.

   If Town Meeting members complete the Special Town Meeting warrant with minimal discussion, it’s possible that they can consider articles from the Annual Town Meeting warrant.

   The Special Town Meeting warrant includes these articles:

• Article 1. To hear and act on reports of Committees.
• Article 2. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds a sum of money to be transferred to the Stabilization Fund.
•  Article 3. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds a sum of money to be transferred to the OPEB Trust (Other Post-Employment Benefits Trust).
• Article 4. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds a sum of money to be transferred to the Stabilization Fund for the Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School Construction Project.
• Article 5. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for purchasing various equipment for town departments, including the payment of costs incidental or related thereto; and to determine whether this appropriation shall be raised by borrowing or other means.
• Article 6. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for designing, constructing, repairing and replacing parks and playgrounds in the Town, including the payments of costs and how the funds will be raised.
• Article 8. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for the design and construction of capital improvements to the Town’s sewer system, including the payment of all costs incidental or related thereto; to determine whether this appropriation shall be raised by borrowing from the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust or by other means.

• Article 9. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for the design and construction of capital improvements to the Town’s sewer lift stations, including the payment of costs incidental or related thereto; and to to determine whether this appropriation shall be raised by borrowing or other means.
• Article 10. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for the design and construction of capital improvements to Town-owned bridges, including the payment of costs incidental or related thereto; to determine whether this appropriation shall be raised by borrowing or other means.
• Article 11. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for the planning and construction of drainage capital improvements, including the payment of costs incidental or related thereto; to determine whether this appropriation shall be raised by borrowing or by other means.
• Article 12. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for the planning and construction costs associated with the enforcement of the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR), including the payment of costs incidental or related thereto; and to determine whether this appropriation shall be raised by borrowing or other means.

Article 13. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate a sum of money for the purpose of repairing or replacing Town water hydrants and valves, including payment of costs incidental or related thereto; to determine whether this appropriation shall be raised by borrowing or by other means.