SAUGUS — The Board of Selectmen on Thursday evening voted unanimously to extend Town Manager Scott Crabtree’s contract into August 2027.
The contract renewal came after hours of discussion on projects Crabtree has undertaken to boost the town and board members offering individual evaluations, which primarily focused on the need for greater communication from Crabtree’s office and praise for his work on the town’s finances.
Crabtree has spent roughly a decade in town hall’s corner office following a tenure on the Board of Selectmen. Board Chairman Anthony Cogliano appeared reluctant to vote to extend Crabtree’s contract once the board returned from executive session, but said he felt it was best for the town to present a unified front from the board rather than a split vote, which likely would have been 3-2, with Corrine Riley joining Cogliano.
“Do Scott and I have differing opinions, styles, and views? Absolutely,” said Cogliano, who has been outspoken about his belief that Saugus should amend its charter and become a city. “But we’ve managed to work in unison for the betterment of Saugus and will continue to do so.”
During the evaluation, Crabtree emphasized his role in essentially reshaping the town’s financial position since becoming town manager, bringing Saugus from the brink of receivership to a AA+ bond rating from Standard and Poor’s, and creating stability in an office that previously had not seen much of it. He also walked the board through the status of a handful of key projects affecting Saugus that he has played a key role in or that he expects to have a significant impact on the town in the coming months.
Projects discussed included the construction of a third fire station, a water meter replacement program, the Northeast Regional Vocational School building project, the public safety fiber optic communications project, and Cliftondale Square revitalization efforts.
Discussion of the third fire station project, a long pending, long discussed idea to construct a station west of Route 1 to serve West Saugus and North Saugus, dominated the conversation.
All five board members have stressed the importance of moving the project forward, after a study on response time to emergency calls found that Saugus lags behind.
Crabtree told the board that he has placed orders for a ladder truck and an engine/pumper truck to support the needs of the future station, but warned that the project was likely to cost millions and would require an operational override and debt exclusion as well as support from Town Meeting. The “conservative” estimate floated by Crabtree was $30 million, along with between $1.2 million and $1.6 million in annual costs for equipment and staffing.
The best way to move forward, he said, was to begin the process of hiring a company to undertake a feasibility study and identify a location where the fire station would be most beneficial. Fire Chief Michael Newbury suggested a property on the north end of the southbound side of Route 1 would work best, according to Crabtree, and board members discussed the possibility of constructing a station at the Curley property.
“That’s a great location for it,” Cogliano said.
Board member Jeff Cicolini emphasized the need to be able to effectively message the project, and inform residents what the impact on their tax bill would be should the fire station project win approval.
“In order to put it before the voters to see if there’s an appetite we have to gauge … what the impact would be,” he said.
Crabtree then updated board members on the status of the water meter replacement program, which the town allocated American Rescue Plan Act funds to and is intended to reduce rate increases to water and sewer services. Both water meter systems will need to be monitored and serviced at the same time, he said.
“They’re at the end of their useful life,” Crabtree said of the meters.
The project should take two to three years, he said, though town officials will try to expedite the process.
The vocational school project, much like the fire station, will require a debt exclusion and/or an operational override to ensure Saugus can pay into the more than $300 million project. That school is attended by students from Saugus and other surrounding communities, all of which are on the hook for financial contributions to a new school building.
Crabtree said Saugus is anticipating an annual assessment of between $1.5 million and $2 million, and the assessment will be a 30 year commitment.
“This is something that’s a legitimate cost that the community’s going to bear,” he said.
The project will up the number of students at the school by 400, and Crabtree praised the school for the opportunities it presents to Saugus students.
“Honestly it is a great school,” he said. “Part of that I think is the hands on problem solving stuff they learn.”
Crabtree then walked the board through two congressional directed spending grants the town had received, totaling $3.3 million — with $1 million going to upgrade and update the public safety fiber optic communications and $2.3 million going to the revitalization of Cliftondale Square.
Thus far, Comcast has run new fiber optics cable to public safety fiber box sites through the town, with an estimated cost of $1.5 million for the total project, including the new additional federal funds. The new cable is replacing older copper cables, which provided less reliable connections, he said.
The project will take one to two years to complete, he said, and town officials are preparing a designer solicitation to engage full specs for the project, which would be put out to bid once completed.
In addition to the federal grant, Crabtree, with the support of Town Meeting and the board, arranged for the purchase of two adjacent properties in Cliftondale for a total of $1.6 million. The total investment in the revitalization, including the grant, comes to nearly $4 million.
While no specific plans have been identified for Cliftondale, Crabtree noted that the property purchases and the grant gave the town an opportunity to really make Cliftondale an economic center for the town.
Cicolini said it was his belief that the town needed something, likely a restaurant, to serve as the “anchor” of Cliftondale.
The town needs “one company to take a risk,” he said.
After Crabtree concluded the specific project updates, he listened to feedback from each member of the board, with most praising his work on finance and urging him to improve communication.
Riley said she loved Crabtree’s “conservative fiscal approach” but would like to see more communication from his office, either on social media or elsewhere, and urged Crabtree to update the town website, which she said is outdated and difficult to navigate.
Crabtree acknowledged that communication from his office could be improved, but said he has faced criticism in the past for issuing statements about actions he is taking.
Cicolini also praised his conservative fiscal approach, noting that in his experience it’s more difficult to remain in good financial standing than to go from poor financial standing to good financial standing.
“You’ve made great strides,” he said.
He also urged Crabtree to budget for a social media coordinator for the town, explaining that many rely on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for news, instead of going to a website or reading a newspaper.
Cicolini also said he would like Crabtree to come before the board quarterly for meetings like the one Thursday.
Vice Chair Debra Panetta, who was on the board when Crabtree was hired, echoed her colleagues, saying he “took the town from rags to riches.”
“Our finances are in great shape because of your leadership,” she said.
She advocated for the hiring of a public relations person in the town manager’s office to ensure residents are kept in the loop on the goings-on around Saugus. She also urged Crabtree to inform the board of significant hires in town departments.
Board member Michael Serino, who served alongside Crabtree on the Board of Selectmen, said his former colleague was “doing a great job.”
Cogliano was the most critical of Crabtree, but said there was “no taking away” from the things he has accomplished. He expressed frustration with the speed with which Crabtree acts in key areas and that the contract extension talks took place in an election year, with the possibility of a new board taking shape in November.
“I’m not happy this took place at this time as I felt the board coming in in November should have handled his contract extension, however our charter, as it presently reads, only requires three votes to extend a manager’s contract and he had them,” he said in a statement.
The board then adjourned to executive session to discuss Crabtree’s contract and back pay he is owed, before returning to open session and unanimously approving the contract extension.
“I don’t take this for granted,” Crabtree said.
Cogliano said despite voting to extend Crabtree’s contract, he would continue to push forward to change Saugus’s charter, and planned to have the charter change along with a Charter Commission on the ballot in November.
“If all goes well we could be electing our first mayor or town manager in mid 2026 for a temporary term,” he said. “The first full four year term for mayor could take place in November 2027, the same time [the] contract expires.”
“As always, Saugus first,” he continued.