Manchester accepts its harbor plan as a working document and lets harbor and well contractors start at 7 a.m.

Manchester's Select Board on Monday accepted the town's harbor management plan, three years in the making, as a working document, and said it is not ready to sign off on the plan's list of priorities. The board also let the harbor construction contractor and the Lincoln Street well contractor start work at 7 a.m. on weekdays this winter, and worked through who will move each article at the Nov. 16 special town meeting.

What happened

• The board voted 5 to 0, from the meeting video, to accept the harbor management plan as a working document and thank the committee that wrote it. Town staff will ask the boards and officials named in the plan to report back on each recommendation's status and priority, with a new look at the list early in 2027.
• It voted 5 to 0 to allow construction to begin at 7 a.m., Monday through Friday, for the Harbor Improvement projects and the Lincoln Street well project. The Tappan Street utility project, on a residential street, was left at the usual 8 a.m. start for now.
• Board members asked that the words "or other funds" come out of the draft motion for the senior and community center article, so that grants cannot count toward the $3 million in gifts the town must raise before it borrows.
• The next regular meeting is Nov. 23. There is no meeting Nov. 16 because of town meeting.

A plan with 25 recommendations and no owner yet

Town Administrator Tony Barletta said the plan has five goals and about 25 recommendations, each with a priority label and a list of the parties involved. He recommended accepting it as a local plan only. Taking it to the state would bring Chapter 91 waterways rules into play, he said, and the plan is not at that level.

Vice Chair Catherine Bilotta said most of the recommendations are labeled high priority, which does not help the board choose. She asked who would be the single person responsible for tracking all of the items and reporting back, so the plan does not sit on a shelf the way the town's master plan did after the pandemic. Another member said the coastal vulnerability plan is the only item labeled urgent, and the board should decide whether it agrees with the labels before it adopts a list of priorities. Another said it is hard to call "address capacity concerns" a high priority when the town has not yet determined the harbor's capacity, which is a separate item.

Barletta said 11 of the recommendations are already under way. His office will send the plan to the Planning Board, Conservation Commission, Harbor Advisory Committee, harbormaster, building inspector and others, ask for a status and a suggested priority for each item by a set date, and put the results on the board's action list for the first quarter of next year. Members asked for an updated version of the plan's priority table with a status column. One member offered to go through the appendix, which has blanks and unfinished sentences, and bring small fixes to the committee chair. The board's vote accepts the plan as a working document the board can amend.

Construction hours

Manchester's bylaw allows construction from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, with no work on Sundays or holidays, but the Select Board can approve exceptions for municipal work. The harbor contractor asked to start at 6 a.m. Barletta said staff thought 7 a.m. was reasonable.

Public Works Director Chuck Dam said all three winter projects are separate contracts, that daylight is short in winter, and that the harbor contract includes an incentive to finish the rotunda this winter so it can open in May. He said the Tappan Street contractor had not asked for an earlier start, and that contractors usually work from 7 a.m. to about 3:30 p.m. A 7 a.m. start means no equipment warming up or crews talking on site before 7, he said.

Harrison asked that Tappan Street, a residential street, be left out. A member suggested approving 7 a.m. for the harbor and the well, since the harbor contractor asked, and taking a couple of weeks to ask the Tappan Street neighbors how they feel. The board agreed. Tappan Street comes back at the Nov. 23 meeting. Public works staff said the town will hold a meeting with neighbors before that work starts and construction meetings every two weeks.

Town meeting motions

Barletta walked the board through draft motions for the eight articles, which can still change before Nov. 16. Members took turns as movers and seconders. For Article 4, the senior and community center borrowing, the draft motion would let the town spend up to $100,000 to finish the bid documents before the $3 million in gifts is raised, with that amount coming off the total borrowed. Barletta said the design work was originally budgeted at $350,000, came in at $250,000, and needs $100,000 more. Members did not want donor money spent before the project is certain to go forward, and Barletta said the town could cover the $100,000 with short term borrowing instead. The board also asked that "or other funds" be struck from the motion, since both the board and the Finance Committee agreed earlier that grants would not count toward the $3 million. Barletta said he would check with counsel. He said the article needs a simple majority at town meeting and then a two thirds vote at the ballot, the reverse of the school article.

For Articles 6 and 7, the ballot rule changes, Barletta said the motion on Article 7 depends on whether Article 6 passes. If voters approve the home rule petition in Article 6, the Article 7 motion would add the same sentence to the general bylaws. If not, Article 7 would simply raise the borrowing amount that triggers a ballot question from $1 million to $5 million. Barletta said he will explain the sequence at town meeting. For Article 8, the sign bylaw, the Planning Board holds its public forum Monday, Nov. 9, and any edits would come to town meeting as one amendment.

The town has 750 voting clickers. Barletta said the largest recent turnout was about 900 for the MBTA zoning vote and he expects more than 800 this time. Members noted that the Essex Elementary School article is Article 5 in Manchester and Article 7 of 19 in Essex, so Manchester will likely vote on it first that night.

Sidewalk snow

Barletta brought back the town's sidewalk plowing map, which has not changed, and a draft bylaw that would make property owners clear the sidewalks in front of their homes. He said he was not advocating for it. Members did not want it, pointing to an aging population and sidewalks that run past wetlands and lots with no house. The town keeps its current map. Residents whose sidewalks are on the town's list can call the Department of Public Works if they are not cleared. Dam said the department spent $16,000 to repair its sidewalk tractor and plans to ask for a replacement for its other sidewalk machine in next year's capital budget.

Also discussed

• About 200 homes still do not have new water meters, Round said. About 120 have plumbing or access complications being worked out with the DPW. About 80 have not responded, and those homes are being billed a $250 fee this quarter.
• Barletta said the town's electricity aggregation rate is 14 cents per kilowatt hour, while National Grid's basic service rate rose to 17 cents in August. Residents on National Grid basic service can join with no penalty; those with a third party supplier should check their contract first.
• A regional cable advisory committee held a public hearing Oct. 21 on the Comcast license renewal, which comes up next year.
• Verizon, which leases space on the water tank through 2034, has said it will send the town a proposal for a 50 year easement with an upfront payment in place of a 20 year lease. Members asked about control over who could use the antenna.
• Harrison reported that the school district's audit showed $1.2 million in excess and deficiency, its reserve, so no money goes back to the towns, and that the district's retiree benefit fund is 22.4 percent funded. She said the Finance Committee did not recommend the senior center article. (Read the Finance Committee's vote.)
• The town meeting book was delivered Monday and goes to every registered voter household. A tax bill calculator is on the town website. The Facilities Planning Committee meets Nov. 18, after town meeting. The Downtown Improvement Committee's forum on the Pine Street and Central Street intersection is Wednesday. (Details on the Nov. 4 forum.)
• The Nov. 23 meeting will likely include borrowing approvals and the tax classification hearing. The Board of Assessors meets Nov. 12. The town clerk's office is also catching up on unapproved minutes from 2018 to 2023.

What was decided

• Accept the harbor management plan as a working document and thank the committee: 5 to 0, from the meeting video.
• 7 a.m. construction start, Monday through Friday, for the Harbor Improvement projects and the Lincoln Street well project: 5 to 0, from the meeting video. Tappan Street to be revisited Nov. 23.
• Consent agenda (minutes of Sept. 17, Oct. 5 and Oct. 14, two Eagle Scout acknowledgements): 5 to 0, from the meeting video.

What happens next

• Monday, Nov. 9: Planning Board public forum on the sign bylaw.
• Monday, Nov. 16: special town meeting, followed by the special town election.
• Monday, Nov. 23: next Select Board meeting, with Tappan Street work hours, borrowing approvals and, if the state has certified the values, the tax classification hearing.
• Dec. 21: the board plans to take up beach parking stickers and parking enforcement data together.
• Early 2027: the harbor plan priorities come back to the board.

Where to find the records

• Select Board revised agenda, Nov. 2
• Meeting video, on the public access channel
• Select Board page, where minutes are posted when approved

Earlier coverage: Manchester signs its Nov. 16 warrant (Oct. 21), the board's vote on the articles, and Monday on Cape Ann (Oct. 30), the preview.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the meeting online and checked names against the agenda and the Select Board page on the town website. These are our meeting notes, not the town's minutes.