Dangerous dog hearing opened

BY WILLIAM J. DOWD

At its Jan. 18 meeting, the Marblehead Select Board opened an investigation into an alleged dangerous dog at 45 Pickwick Road.

Per Marblehead Police Chief Dennis King’s request, the board tasked Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer with investigating the situation. He will report his findings to the Select Board in a public hearing, before which there will be at least 10 days’ notice.

Select Board Chair Moses Grader and Kezer were unable to provide resident Jodi Smith, who lives on Pickwick Road, with a specific date for the public hearing.

“I was actually here because I was under the impression that we’d actually get the date for the dangerous dog hearing,” Smith said.

Kezer said they would work “calendar magic” and coordinate the schedules of all the necessary participants.

Smith is anxious for the public hearing to happen, citing two incidents with the dog that she said had occurred in early December and January.

She asked if the dog would be sequestered in its home before the public hearing.

“My sense would be that that would be a discussion with the animal control officer and the chief at this stage as to what would be the appropriate action until there’s a hearing and a determination,” Kezer replied.

Village Street bridge repair

The town hopes to take the first steps to replace the Village Street bridge soon, Kezer told

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the Select Board.

“We are expecting to submit to the Select Board at an upcoming meeting a contract with GreenPederson Inc., an engineering firm, for the development of a 25 percent design and consulting for submittal to the Boston Region Transportation Improvement Plan for funding of replacement,” Kezer said.

Kezer estimated the cost of the engineering firm’s services at about $400,000, which would be paid with available Chapter 90 funds.

The town believes federal and state dollars — including through the TIP program — can cover the estimated $2.2 million cost to replace the bridge.

Officials determined three years ago that the Marblehead Rail Trail below the bridge posed a safety hazard due to the deteriorated state of the 87-year-old bridge. The town used fencing, staging and planks to create “a temporary exclusion zone” with a tunnel to accommodate Rail Trail users.

Appointments

Residents Judy Gates and Andrew Gallucci were appointed to the Old Burial Hill Committee. Gates has lived in a home across from the historic cemetery for 56 years.

“Over the years, I have pursued [Old Burial Hill] history and even participated in its care,” Gates told the Select Board. “I would prune back some of the vines that had been allowed to grow up around the fenced family plots and in front of some of the graves.”

She regularly walks through the historic property and picks up trash.

Gallucci lived in Marblehead as a kid in the 1990s but never visited Old Burial Hill. He moved away and returned as an adult a few years ago.

“My first time there last summer with my nephew brought a sort of a spell over me,” he told the Select Board. “It was a sunny, beautiful morning. I had no idea of the expansiveness of the space.”

He added, “The views of the town and the complete quietness were amazing.”

He said a recent article about the state of the Lost at Sea Monument in the Current was one of the things that prompted him to put his name forward.

The pair’s appointments restore the Old Burial Hill Committee, formed by the Select Board in 2009, to its full membership. The five members oversee and ensure the restoration of the historic cemetery.

Gates and Galluci are joining the committee months after Town Planner Becky Cutting published a comprehensive report assessing the condition of the historic cemetery’s gravestones, tombs and markers. This report found nearly 170 Old Burial Hill grave markers and footstones need varying conservation and restoration work.