MARION — Marion voters packed into the Sippican School multi-purpose room on Monday, Oct. 23 and had their say on 12 items on the 2023 Special Fall Town Meeting agenda.

The most contentious issue of the night was a vote to allow the borrowing of $922,000 for the construction of a new harbormaster facility on Island Wharf, which saw opponents and supporters of the project voice their opinions.

According to the Town Meeting agenda, no borrowing shall occur until $1,603,000 of grant funding is used for the project and payments made towaward the borrowed funds will me made from the town’s waterways account. 

The total cost of the proposed 1,500 square-foot facility will be $3,505,688. According to Marion Town Administrator Geoff Gorman seaport grants and a previous Town Meeting appropriation will cover about $2.3 million of the cost. 

Gorman added that if this item were not passed at Town Meeting, the project would lose its grant funding and there would be “a pretty slim chance” that the town will receive the same grants in the future.

“The grants we received are contingent on us building this building,” he said, adding that the state grants received for the project require the building to follow Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines and have a certain amount of publicly accessible space. “There are other meeting rooms in town, but it will be very nice for people to hold … [marine-based classes] right at the water.”

The new facility would allow all functions of the harbormaster’s office to be performed in one place, rather than employees having to divide their time between the current building and Town Hall, said Marion Harbormaster Adam Murphy at an information session on Tuesday, Oct. 17.

The new facility would be a single story raised about 22 feet off the ground. A raised deck that faces the water will surround the facility, which will also include an elevator to make the structure handicapped accessible, engineers working on the project have said.

Marion resident Eileen Marum, who has previously spoken out about the proposed harbormaster facility, argued that the construction of the facility as proposed in a “hurricane-susceptible area of the United States is unwise on so many levels.”

“I do not believe it is prudent or possible to construct a safe and secure building that can withstand tropical cyclones … let alone a category five hurricane,” said Marum. “Therefore, in the interest of health and public safety, I am voting nay on this project.”

Marion resident John Henry responded that “if the existing building hasn’t blown away by now, I don’t think there’s any sweat about [a building] designed to withstand those kinds of forces.”

According to Marion resident Doug Thackeray, who said he has made most of his living on Sippican Harbor, “if you want the best help, you give [the harbormaster department] the best equipment.”

“You have many personnel in Marion who go out on the harbor all summer who put themselves in harm's way to save irresponsible people. I want them there for me because I’m out there every day,” said Thackeray. “I would like to see this pass. It’s not going to affect our tax dollars. [Let] the grant pay for it, and let the people who own the boats pay for it. Because all it is, is a parking lot for fiberglass and I believe they should pay for it.”

The vote passed by a clear majority. All other items on the Marion Special Fall Town Meeting agenda passed, except for item nine which was indefinitely postponed.