DANVERS — Danvers residents filed into the Danvers High School auditorium on Monday night to vote on 43 warrant items as a part of the annual Town Meeting. Warrant items such as the establishment of a citizens committee, a ban on Styrofoam for food businesses, and a request for an environmental impact report for Beverly Airport, were among a few of the articles Town Meeting members voted to approve.
Article 37, a demolition neglect bylaw, was passed at the Town Meeting, creating a new bylaw which prevents owners of homes on the National Register that have been deemed the “most nationally significant structures”, from allowing their property to reach a state of deterioration. In Danvers, the bylaw would apply to 104 parcels in the town’s historic districts and eight homes outside of them — 1.19% of the town’s total properties. One such property is the historic Ingersoll’s Tavern, which is in dire disrepair and has stood empty since being bought in 2011.
Article 7, which sought to establish a “Citizens Committee”, was passed unanimously by Town Meeting members. The committee will be made up of seven Town Meeting members, appointed by the town moderator, for the purpose of reviewing and updating the “Danvers Town Meeting Act” and “Danvers Town Manager Act”, which dictate how town meeting decisions are enacted and the authority of the town manager.
Article 38, which Town Meeting member Michael Trainor submitted a similar version of at the last annual Town Meeting, sought to implement a recall process for elected officials in Danvers. Instead of receiving another vote of no action, this year the vote referred the matter to the citizens committee established by article 7.
“If we have someone in office that is unfit for the position, or just acts in a way that doesn’t represent the town well, that person is going to sit in that position for three years,” he said. “Danvers does not have any sort of protection.
“Every year cities and towns add this provision to their laws. This very well could never be used here. It may be used 20, 30, 40 years from now, I don’t know. We just need this as an insurance policy.”
Article 8, a vote to amend town bylaws to ban the use of Styrofoam in food establishments, was approved by Town Meeting members.
Article 40, introduced by resident Mark Zubreck, sought to send a letter of support to legislators to expedite the process of improving the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) from Beverly Airport to maximize tax receipts from the 170 acres of the property within Danvers. Article 41, also introduced by Zubreck, was a vote to ask airport commissioners to explore and perform an environmental impact report to protect resident’s health and quality of life. Both articles were passed by Town Meeting members.
“Simply put, it’s just math. We’re leaving a lot of money on the table with the Beverly Airport,” Select Board member Michael Bean said. “We’re sending our safety people up there, the jets are pumping thousands of gallons of fuel a month [into the air], and I think that the potential for a hazmat situation is there. and I know there will be construction going on for a new hangar space. I think that we should be looking to get some money from them, especially when we’re dealing with these problems on our end.”
Article 42, also submitted by Zuberek, sought to reverse the imposition of the $200 annual trash fee enacted last year during a Special Town Meeting. Zuberek argued that the authorization of this fee was introduced without legislative body consultation or approval. Town Meeting members voted to support the Finance Committee’s recommendation of no action.
“This article was requested by over 400 signatures of individuals that have presented themselves to complain about the way in which the trash fee was imposed. and what this article is asking for, is to send it back to the Selectmen and let them reconsider and work things out within the budget, because that’s where it belongs. It’s our tax revenue that has been captured by the fee,” Zuberek said.
“We have been working on the trash management of this town for one year. We have probably had 12 or 15 public meetings and public hearings about the trash. Don’t for a minute think that the board and the administration have taken anything lightly about the trash fee,” Select Board Chair David Mills said. “We had a contract with the predecessor operator for 20 years, some have called it a sweetheart deal, that would never be reconnected today.
“After living with this nightmare for a year knowing that our trash contract was going to more than double, our [current] administration, utilizing what was going on in all of the comparable communities, negotiated a contract which I think was superbly done. For the suggestion that the process was inappropriate — I don’t get it.
“We followed the law, and the recommendation of the town’s attorney, exactly. The construction of a trash fee is specially controlled by the Massachusetts legislature.”
Michael McHugh can be contacted at mmchugh@northofboston.com or at 781-799-5202
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