DANVERS — Danvers Town Meeting representatives will gather in the Danvers High School auditorium on Monday to vote on proposals such as establishing election recall provisions and requesting an environmental impact report from Beverly Airport.
They’re also expected to consider items like a retail Styrofoam ban, pavement/sidewalk improvements, maintenance and improvements of town properties, and reversing the imposition of the trash fee.
Three bylaw recommendations will also be before Town Meeting, aimed at trying to help preserve local historic sites like Ingersoll’s Tavern.
The Ad-Hoc Historic Preservation Study Committee has issued a report that recommends adopting a revised Demolition Delay Bylaw, revised Historic District Bylaw (with edits pertaining to grammar and clarity only) and a new Demolition by Neglect bylaw.
The proposed bylaw would prohibit demolition by neglect only for homes on the National Register that have been deemed the “most nationally significant structures.” It would potentially apply to 104 parcels in the town’s historic districts and eight homes outside of them.
Article 7 seeks to have representatives vote on the establishment of a “Citizen Committee” made up of seven town meeting members, appointed by the town moderator, for the purpose of reviewing and updating the “Danvers Town Meeting Act” and “Danvers Town Manager Act”, which dictate how town meeting decisions are enacted and the authority of the town manager.
“It’s been quite a while since we last visited this document,” said Select Board member Matthew Duggan, who recently initiated an unsuccessful reelection bid. “I know some communities do this on a periodic basis and revisit it every five years or so, as a sort of living document.”
The last time that either of these acts were reviewed was in 1997. Any recommended revisions the committee would make would be subsequently placed on the warrant for the 2025 Town Meeting.
Article 8 is a proposal to amend the town bylaws with the addition of a Styrofoam, or polystyrene, product ban for all retail and food businesses in town. In March, Ann Freitas, an assistant to the town manager, sent out messages to every business in Danvers with a food license, informing them of the potential change.
Residents Linda Leonard and Robert Gamer, who originally brought the matter before the Select Board, have also been working with businesses to make sure the change would be economically feasible.
“In addition to what the town manager pointed out about them contacting businesses, we also spent two months contacting businesses as to their use of Styrofoam, and we found that most of them do not use it, and those who do were quite willing to switch if necessary,” Gamer said.
Pending the Town Meeting vote, Danvers would join the list of 56 Massachusetts communities that have elected to ban Styrofoam to protect public health and address environmental damages.
Representatives are also scheduled to vote to approve the appropriation of $573,500 for the repair and maintenance of town buildings, to be supported by $504,500 in free cash and $69,000 in Electric & Electric Efficiency Upgrades. The buildings receiving repairs and maintenance include the town’s public schools, Endicott Park’s conference room, the Peabody Institute Library, the Senior Center, Town Hall, and other town-owned properties.
The Finance Committee sent the item, Article 25, forward to the Town Meeting with a favorable recommendation. Appropriation of funds for improvements of the town’s grounds, recreation facilities, and amenities are also on the warrant.
Article 38 is a citizens petition that seeks to implement a recall process for elected officials in Danvers. The process would first require 350 resident signatures be submitted to the town clerk. After those signatures are verified, the petitioner has 20 business days to get 20% of the registered voter’s signatures.
If those signatures are submitted, the town would hold a special election in which more than 50% of the voters would have to vote to recall the individual. Danvers resident Michael Trainor has brought the article to Town Meetings twice before, from which the Finance Committee sent it forward with no recommendation and it was never implemented at town meeting.
“Danvers does not have any sort of recall process for any elected officials, and a lot of these positions are four year positions,” he said. “If there’s an egregious act that an elected official did that just citizens don’t represent the town in a positive light, we’d have no recourse. It would be up to that person, whether or not they want to reign.”
The Select Board and Finance Committee both suggested the item be referred to the Citizens Committee to be established by Article 7.
Article 42, submitted by resident Mark Zuberek, seeks to reverse the imposition of the $200 annual trash fee enacted later last year. He argues that the authorization of this fee was introduced without legislative body consultation or approval.
Zuberek also claimed the resulting shortfall could be supported by an appropriation of $1.3 million from free cash. The Select Board once again voted 3-2 to send the item forward with an unfavorable recommendation, and the Finance Committee voted no action.
“At the last Town Meeting, the town attorney clearly stated that state law leaves this authority with the executive board, the Select Board,” board member Gardner Trask said (Trask also recently lost a reelection bid). “This board voted 3-2, that law hasn’t changed. While we can sit here and say we can find money in free cash, all five of us sat in the all-day (budget) session, and there wasn’t a single motion to reduce the budget to accommodate any amount of money.
“We passed that budget in its entirety because the services we wanted to provide the citizens were there and written down — this will cut those services.”
The annual Town Meeting is scheduled for May 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Danvers High School Auditorium. The full warrant can be found here.
Michael McHugh can be contacted at mmchugh@northofboston.com or at 781-799-5202.
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