Barry Gaffey lived in Marion as a child, and continued to summer here before moving here full time after he retired.

Now that he is retired he has been able to go to more town meetings and wants to use his time to give back to the town.

Gaffey thinks that helping small businesses could be an important way to revitalize the center of town. 

“We have to help the Mom and Pop [stores]. Like Mattapoisett, they are all mom and pop stores, Would like to solve things and see businesses there, but parking is the biggest problem.”

However he also sees a place for larger businesses to move into town, especially on the Route 6 or Route 105 corridor.

“Marion’s got to change. We’ve said no to everything [in terms of businesses]. We shouldn’t be that anal toward working with a developer,” he said.

Another of his concerns that he’s observed in 60 years in town is for drainage and water management issues.

“From a Planning Board perspective the first thing to deal with is the stormwater management,” Gaffey said. “If you take out three acres of trees for a subdivision, what is going to capture and contain the water? I would like to ensure that it won’t exacerbate the situation for the neighbors.”

However, he also thinks that town boards need to consider that an increasing number of summer residents will be retiring and living in Marion as full-time residents.

“The town isn’t seeing the whole picture. It’s going to require water 12 months, not three, sewer 12 months not three, trash 12 months, not three,” he explained. He believes his time wintering in Canton may help him there, as Canton has already been through much of the process.