By Carol Britton Meyer
After a planned vote to advance the town meeting-approved change in the light plant’s management structure was mistakenly left off Wednesday’s select board agenda, members agreed to bring up the issue at next week’s board retreat.
The select board now will vote on Tuesday at its retreat on whether to submit a transmittal letter – a formal introductory document crafted by Town Counsel Brian Winner – to the state Legislature as part of a home-rule petition related to the passage of Article 40 at the spring town meeting.
There was standing room only at Wednesday night’s meeting in the Louis C. Costa Meeting Room at town hall, with the audience spilling out into the hallway. Article 40 was in the form of a citizen’s petition calling for the removal of the town manager from the light plant manager role, which requires Legislative approval. Town meeting voters overwhelmingly approved the proposal by a vote of 236-82 in May, reaffirming a similar vote in 2025 on Article 37, which also called for removing the town manager as light plant manager.
Certification of the warrant article vote by the town clerk is also required before a home-rule petition can be filed with the Legislature.
At the board’s last meeting two weeks ago, the plan was to take the vote this Wednesday, but the item was mistakenly removed from the agenda, according to Town Manager Jennifer Constable in response to a concern expressed by resident Kathleen Wolf that the vote was not taken as planned.
Chair Brian McCarthy and Vice Chair Jerry Taverna brought up the absence of this issue as an agenda item this week before Wolf mentioned it.
“This is a mistake that needs to be fixed,” Taverna said. “We were going to vote on it tonight.”
In response, McCarthy said the board will talk about it at the June 30 retreat, which begins at 5 p.m. The plan is to take a vote closer to the end of the meeting since Taverna was unsure when he would arrive, “with no public discussion,” McCarthy said.
“It should take five minutes. Let’s get this behind us,” he said. “We keep kicking the can down the road, and I’m getting sick of it.”
McCarthy noted that when he left town hall Monday night after finalizing the agenda with Constable, the Article 40 “vote was on there. Some time [later this agenda item] got deleted between the town manager’s office and Lori,” referring to Town Clerk Lori West in her role with the select board’s office to send the final agenda and the informational packet to the board on Monday.
“To be fair here,” Constable said that due to some missing information that required the wording of the agenda item to be changed, the entire agenda item was removed by mistake.
In other business
• The board approved the transfer of the all-alcohol license from the former Nantasket Flatts restaurant to a new restaurant, Tide and Flames, at the request of manager Phuong Tran, and also common victualler and entertainment licenses. The closing date for the sale of the property is June 30. The restaurant is expected to open in the next few months. The menu will include seafood, steak, and various Vietnamese dishes.
In response to concerns from some neighbors about potential noise problems from piped-in/recorded music on the patio, Tran offered to share his phone number with neighbors to address any issues that might come up and encouraged them to contact him. Live music and karaoke will be limited to the inside of the restaurant.
• Engineers gave an update and made a number of recommendations on Nantasket Avenue Seawall Project at the base of Allerton Hill, which the board approved. These related to reduced speed limits in some areas as well as changing the traffic flow on the section of Nantasket Avenue along the new seawall from two-way to one-way northbound (toward Hull Village). This configuration is consistent with the resident feedback, in which more than 75% of participants supported this option, according to the engineers.
Another recommendation was to maintain two-way traffic along Nantasket Avenue between Beacon Road and Point Allerton Avenue and two-way traffic along Fitzpatrick Way. Any alternatives sending all traffic over Allerton Hill were unpopular with residents at public meetings.
At the intersection of Nantasket Avenue, Beacon Road, and Fitzpatrick Way, the current configuration appears to be operating smoothly and no changes were recommended. Other options may be considered for a long-term solution if additional development or other change occurs.
Click here for the full presentation.
• Daniel Lampke’s request to have the crosswalk near Monument Square painted red, white, and blue in honor of America’s 250th anniversary was not approved, but his alternate recommendation of painting the crosswalk in the Nantasket Avenue/L Street area was, subject to private funding. He has found someone to perform the work, which could be completed by July 4.
• The board approved the August 15 USA 250th celebration parade route and the plan to stage it from Nantasket Road to Revere Street.
Parade staging and participant lineup will begin at Revere Street at approximately 9 a.m.
The parade step-off will begin at 11 a.m. from Revere Street traveling to N Street, followed by a fun-filled field day.
USA 250th Committee Vice Chair Lori West said she thinks “the community needs these uplifting events – [resulting in] positivity for the town.”
