Board of Health gets transfer station update

Board of Health

DATE: May 9 (hybrid)

LWVM OBSERVER: Tom Krueger MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Todd Belfbecker, Joanne Miller and Helaine Hazlett, along with Health Director Andrew Petty Transfer station update

On May 4, Petty, Dana Weaver (architect) and Ray Quinn (site tech) presented to Massachusetts DEP, asking for a modification of the residential site permit.

The transfer station is considered a small handling facility, which can process up to 15,000 tons per year, two trailers a day.

The transfer station takes all the residential curbside trash, residents with stickers who bring additional trash, and those who “weigh and pay” with municipal solid waste, some construction waste, etc. They were looking for permission to do dedicated loads of construction demolition material once or twice a week. So, this would be pulling a trailer off, putting an empty trailer on, and doing dedicated construction/demolition material.

This would all go “across the scale” and work with waste management to move this material (using CWT for hauling), not part of the existing contract. This would begin only after all the construction of the transfer station was completed. DEP was open to this idea.

Last year, the transfer station did about 12,500 tons (7,500 was residential and 5,000 was commercial), leaving 2,500 tons that could be used for construction and demolition waste. This would permit the use of two additional trailers of up to 50 tons per week for these materials.

This material would be subject to the “weigh and pay” process and would be limited to Marblehead residents, account holders and active building permits. The use of these trailers would not be subject to a trucksize limit. (This solution was suggested and worked on by one Marblehead local contractor.)

DEP will require an operations and maintenance plan and a waste compliance plan. DEP will issue an updated operations approval, which can be renewed through transfer station certification. The town will submit this by the end of June.

After receiving such an application, DEP takes up to 90 days to approve. They want to expedite this so that bidding might begin in mid-September.

Now that this is done, it gives the architect the ability to move forward and put a schedule together for design, etc., which should be available in the near future. The Planning and Zoning Board approvals come only after the work schedule is available.

Other updates include:

The compactor that will have to be custom built and takes about 30 weeks to deliver is coming in under budget. The timing of the compactor will be able to jive with the construction project, e.g., repair the chute.

—The access road gate will be done by the end of June and will be automated so that it can be opened with a remote control. Each truck will have one. The bid came in at $20,600. This should be less of a problem for the residents of Arnold Terrace. Later, this access will be open to residents after a presentation to the Planning Board.

When the access road is open, an employee will be stationed there so that he/ she can check stickers, help with unloading items, e.g., an air conditioner, etc. At the same time, more of the transactions will be moved online, e.g., pay and print out a sticker and attach it to the item before drop off.

» —On a separate topic, there is a need to look at the cost of handling “white goods,” etc., to keep in line with what other towns are charging.

Mental Health Task Force update

Miller discussed the work of the Mental Health Task Force.

A meeting scheduled for May 8 had to be postponed for lack of a quorum and was rescheduled for the next week.

The MHTF had a booth at the Health Kids Day at the YMCA, and there was a great turnout. MHTF is hoping to have an activity at the Farmers Market.

» Gina Hart was to share updates on the YBS survey (a youth risk survey) with data collected at the high school that would be helpful to the group.

» A discussion initially about adding members to

SUPERINTENDENT UPDaTE the group ensued to bring more perspectives, expertise, etc. The task force now has subcommittees, a monthly column in the newspaper. Questions about the size, who approves the member, length of term involvement, etc. were all discussed.

Director’s report

» There was a tobacco violation that occurred on March 16 and April 18 at Marblehead Village Market, which is their third violation and results in a $5,000 fine and a 30-day suspension. The market can choose when it starts.

Narcan rescue kits are available at the Health Department, which are available to the public, and the nurse can go over their use.

The diaper drive was very successful — 1,753 diapers and 16 boxes of wipes, which will go to local resources, food pantries, etc.

» Beach water sampling to begin soon, which is usually the first or second week in June and will run through Labor Day.

» Camp inspections will start soon, and applications are being reviewed. Once camps start, the public health nurse and inspector will go to the camps. » Still have COVID test kits, just received more from the state. These expire in September.

At Town Meeting, a vote was made for operation manuals for town departments and boards. The state of Massachusetts puts out a legal handbook for health departments, which is very detailed and complete. This would be the BOH operations manual. Each member is provided with a manual.

» Leave collection will occur on trash collection day during the weeks of May 15 and June 5, grass and leaves only, must be in leaf bags. Public comment

There was no public comment.

Housing Plan Implementation Committee

DATE: May 9 (hybrid)

LWVM OBSERVER: Bonnie Grenier

MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Erin Noonan, Thatcher Kezer, Becky Cutting, Kurt James, Barton Hyte, John Buckey, Teri McDonough, Louis Meyi.

OTHERS: Cathy Hoog, executive director of the SalemMarblehead Housing Authorities New secretary needed Teri McDonough announced that since she will be taking a new job she would no longer be able to serve as secretary.

Noonan will look for volunteers to take minutes in the future.

Technical assistance grant sought

Cathy Hoog informed the committee that she had just submitted an application to the Massachusetts Housing Partnership for a technical assistance grant to explore the redevelopment of the Broughton Road Housing Authority property. The grant is approximately $35,000 to hire a consultant to develop a feasibility study. As the process moves along, Massachusetts Housing would have additional grants available.

Leveraging public assets for mixed-income housing

John Buckey, superintendent of schools, spoke to the fact that the current School Committee is divided as to what to do with the Coffin School property. The June 2023 town election will bring new members to the School Committee, so the feeling is that any decision should wait until after the election.

Thatcher Kezer reminded members that once it is determined that the property will not be used for educational purposes, it must be turned over to the town by a vote at Town Meeting. He explained that the financial benefit to the schools from turning this property over to the town would come with increased revenue from new growth once the property is developed.

Superintendent Buckey mentioned that there is an RFP out for the cost for demolition of the Coffin School.

Expand existing Smart Growth Overlay District

The committee needs to review and update proposals from the study that was done in 2009. A consultant will need to be hired to identify which areas in town can be developed, and the owners of those properties will have to be contacted.

Grant money may be available from the MAPC for technical assistance from a consultant. For those property owners who might be interested in redevelopment, an initial meeting with Kezer and Cutting would be the way to proceed.

MBTA Communities Act compliance

To comply with the MBTA Communities Act, the town needs to designate at least 27 acres in total for possible development of multi-family housing. The minimum lot size is 5 acres. The Historic District would be exempt from this development. The Planning Board would have to draft new zoning bylaws for town counsel for review. They would then have to be approved by a vote at Town Meeting.

It will be helpful to reach out to other communities to see how they are handling the requirements of this new legislation. It has been made clear by the state that communities that do not comply with the new law will have reduced access to state grant money in the future.

There was mention of the fact that development projects take significant time and effort, and that public procurement laws need to be revisited to facilitate more affordable housing projects.

HOME Consortium ARPA funds

McDonough announced that the HOME Consortium has a significant amount of ARPA money available to address homelessness. She mentioned that every year in February there is a statewide count of homeless people. In Marblehead, this survey is conducted by the Police Department.

Louis Meyi suggested that the School Department and Council on Aging be included in the survey since they are likely sources of information about homeless people in town. State rep invite Noonan would like to invite state Rep. Jenny Armini to a future meeting to talk about opportunities for affordable housing.

The next meeting is scheduled for June 27 at 3:30 p.m. at Abbot Hall.