SWAMPSCOTT — Town Meeting members approved eight of nine articles regarding town finances on Monday night with relatively little fanfare, but the evening’s business was overshadowed by a surprise retirement ceremony for Fire Chief Kevin Breen.
Breen was honored by Town Meeting for his 43 years of service to the Swampscott Fire Department, which kicked off with a video featuring remarks from his wife, Leslie, Gov. Charlie Baker and Select Board chairman Peter Spellios, and concluded with a standing ovation from those in attendance.
While surrounded by family members, his fellow firefighters and his successor, Capt. Graham Archer, Breen was presented with citations from state Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn) and the state senate and was gifted with an engraved chair from the town of Swampscott, which included his years of service from 1976 to 2019.
“The turnout here is really a testament to how we feel about Chief Breen,” said Archer, the town’s next fire chief. “This is really a lot different than a lot of the retirements we’ve seen. This is the end of an era.”
Breen said the day had been a rollercoaster of emotions, which started with him and other members of the fire department attending Worcester Fire Lt. Jason Menard’s funeral and concluded with the surprise send-off.
“It has been my honor and privilege to have served you for these 43 years in the various roles that I have undertaken and I have truly enjoyed nearly every minute of all those roles,” said Breen, adding that the most important thing that makes the fire department what it is are the people.
Although most articles passed with relatively little discussion, there were two that prompted some debate before ultimately being approved.
One concerned the transfer of $1 million of free cash, which was aimed at reducing the tax levy for fiscal year 2020. Finance Committee chairman Timothy Dorsey said the transfer would reduce the average single-family tax bill by $23.
Town Meeting members voiced concern about the use of free cash for taxes while there are future anticipated high expenses to the town, such as the pending teachers’ contact and the ongoing Stacey Brook sewer main rehabilitation project.
But Dorsey said the transfer would still leave $3.4 million in available free cash.
“What we’re trying to do is find a balance,” Dorsey said. “We will be maintaining the fiscal discipline and focusing on keeping our taxes from growing.”
Another article that prompted some discussion, though mostly due to some confusion, was an amendment to the zoning bylaw, “Fees-in-Lieu-of-Affordable Housing Unit Provision.”
The change is meant to help the town negotiate payments from developers for its Affordable Housing Trust in lieu of a developer not building affordable housing units triggered by the town’s inclusionary zoning bylaw.
“(The change will) make it easier to calculate and not leave funds on the table when a developer cannot produce the units and then is directed to make a payment,” said Kimberly Martin-Epstein, chairwoman of the Affordable Housing Trust.
The housing trust would determine what the amount would be, and would only allow a payment to be made if the panel determines building affordable housing units are not feasible for a proposed development, she said.
Another noteworthy financial transaction included amending a budget line to raise and appropriate $198,420 from the sewer rates for the operation of the Sewer Enterprise Fund.
The adjustment was needed based on changes that happened with the Lynn Water and Sewer Commission’s proportional costs to Swampscott after Garelick Farms closed down, according to Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald.
Town Meeting members also voted to transfer $135,000 from the Sewer Enterprise Fund to be used by the Select Board for reduction of the sewer rate. The purpose was to offset the impact of the sewer rate change and keep it at 3 percent, which Fitzgerald said is a reasonable rate.
In the midst of stalled contract negotiations between the Swampscott Education Association and school administration, Town Meeting members, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, voted to indefinitely postpone an article that would have transferred free cash to settle union contracts.
Earlier in the evening, Superintendent Pamela Angelakis addressed the standstill with the teachers’ union, which included another failed negotiating session last Friday, where both sides accused the other of unprofessional behavior.
Angelakis said the union has turned down several offers from the school administration since April. The most recent offer was a three-year contract that included raises of 1 percent for the first year and 2 percent for the following two years.
“I feel the need to remind everyone that I was a teacher in this district for 14 years, which means I was on the other side of the bargaining table for many contract negotiations,” Angelakis said. “In all my years in this district, no matter what side of the bargaining table I have been on, I have never seen more disingenuous and unproductive tactics as I have seen this year, led by the Massachusetts Teachers’ Association.”
It’s unclear when negotiations will resume as Angelakis is seeking to enlist a third party mediator, which has to be approved by the Department of Labor Relations. Despite the standstill, the superintendent said no contract negotiation will take away from the respect and appreciation the district has for its teachers.
