To the Editor:

In 2014, the town of Marion embarked on the creation of a comprehensive Master Plan for the community. Developed by the citizens of Marion, it identified the near and long term needs of the community. Over a three-year period, it established a well-defined, detailed outline for the focus of our future development.

The Master Plan is intended to guide our elected officials as they make decisions for the Town. However, there is little evidence they are following the Master Plan and, without constant prompting by interested citizens, little is being accomplished. At a time when we need to make critical investments in our sewer and water infrastructure, our leaders seem to think the Town House renovation is the most essential project facing the Town. Full disclosure…I chaired the Master Plan Infrastructure Committee, but I was one of eight participants on that committee, so these aren’t my opinions alone.

The Master Plan identified water and wastewater improvements as key priorities for our Town. Here are just a few examples. Our waste treatment plant is underperforming. For years, the Town has had to ration sewer hookups, when, for environmental reasons, the Town should provide incentives to connect to the sewer. The EPA is requiring that our lagoons for holding waste be lined for our treatment facility to maintain its permit. The storm water inflow into our old and broken sewer pipes is costing the town up to an estimated $15,000 a day in additional treatment costs.

On average, half the daily volume of waste water being processed today at our waste treatment facility is storm water, and not waste. What is really disturbing is our Town DPW had $190,000 a year each of the last five years in their budget to start to address the I & I problem and our leaders did nothing until last fall when they lined a short section of pipe, apparently only after significant pressure by concerned citizens. Where’s the accountability?

To say we have a significant financial burden to upgrade our infrastructure looming on the horizon for the citizens of Marion is an understatement. And, I haven’t even touched on the condition of our streets and sidewalks. Who is setting the priorities for the town? It certainly doesn’t seem to be the citizens who pay handsomely to live here. It is obvious that the number one priority to our elected leaders now is the Town House renovation. This article is not intended to argue for or against the replacement or renovation of the Town House. However, I am disturbed with the process followed by our Town leaders to get to where we are today. My understanding is that a sub-committee of the Town House Building Committee was formed and funded to evaluate a new building alternative at the VFW site and its findings subsequently presented to our Selectmen.

Our Selectmen independently decided not to share the full findings of this sub-committee and the estimates of the costs with the public, the people who ultimately are going to foot the bill. The Selectmen went a step further and removed Article 15 for approving a new building at the VFW site from the Warrant for our Town meeting in May. Not to allow the taxpayer the opportunity to make an educated decision on what they want to spend their money on is a travesty. These are elected officials and this is a democracy…it’s just not how it’s done.

As a community we need to get back on track. Take the work that is clearly identified in the Master Plan and execute in a fully transparent manner. Stick with the identified priorities and plan their execution in a way that is clearly viable and cost effective. Our elected officials owe it to us and we owe it to ourselves.

Ray Cullum

Marion