Shared use path, wastewater treatment upgrades up for vote at Special Town Meeting
From left: Select Board members Toby Burr, John Hoagland and Randy Parker at a Tuesday, Sept. 15 Select Board meeting. Photo by Grace Roche
From left: Select Board members Toby Burr, John Hoagland and Randy Parker at a Tuesday, Sept. 15 Select Board meeting. Photo by Grace Roche
MARION — Town Meeting will vote on three items this fall, two regarding the ongoing shared use path project and one to fund phosphorus mitigation upgrades.
Town Administrator Geoffrey Gorman explained the short list of issues voters will decide during a Tuesday, Sept. 15 Select Board meeting.
Voters will be asked to approve transferring the right of way for the shared use path from current property owners to the Select Board so the path can be constructed. Some right of ways would be temporary, and return to property owners upon the completion of construction, while others would be permanent.
Town Meeting will also consider changing Washburn Park Road and Spring Street to public ways to support building the path. A temporary Select Board vote can enable the project to move forward, but Town Meeting must ultimately approve it.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires Marion to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant with phosphorus mitigation by May 2027.
To do so, the town must set aside funds to cover the cost of construction.
Toll Brothers, the developer building Marion Pointe, has paid the town nearly $1.3 million in fees, which were paid to the sewer enterprise fund. Voters at Town Meeting will be asked to approve using these fees to pay for the wastewater treatment plant upgrades.
Gorman said if approved, the funding would allow the town to break ground in May next year “without taking a penny of debt.”
Marion’s Special Town meeting will be held Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. at Sippican School.
