Three of the smaller towns in our coverage area had their select boards in session this week, and the posted agendas show a Town Meeting warrant being closed in Swampscott, two drive-through windows proposed for Route 1 in Saugus, and a Lynnfield budget workshop on Friday morning that lists “possible reductions impacts” for the police department. None of the three towns had posted minutes or a vote record for these meetings when this story was published. What follows is what each board put on its agenda, from the notices filed with the three town clerks.
Swampscott: Town Meeting warrant, narrow streets, a speech policy
The Swampscott Select Board met Wednesday, November 4 at 6:30 p.m. in Room B129 at Swampscott High School, 200 Essex Street, its regular meeting place this fall. Chair Catherine Phelan, Vice Chair Danielle Leonard, MaryEllen Fletcher, Ted Dooley and Wayne Spritz make up the board; Nicholas Connors is the town administrator.
The longest item on the agenda, budgeted at 30 minutes, was the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting on Monday, December 7, 2026. The board was scheduled to review the articles and vote on which ones go into the warrant. The board had already discussed closing the warrant at its October 21 meeting, when the item was listed as a “possible vote to close the warrant.” Once the warrant is printed, Town Meeting members get the final list of articles they will act on.
Two parking items opened the business portion. The first was a discussion of parking restrictions and emergency vehicle access on narrow streets, a problem the fire department faces on the older streets near the water. The second was a discussion and possible vote on resident parking on Cedar Hill and Ingalls Terrace.
The board also had on its list a first-quarter financial update covering the operating budget, the enterprise funds and the status of capital projects; a discussion and possible vote on “Government Speech Policies”; and a discussion with possible votes on the Charter Review Committee, which was also on the October 21 agenda. The consent agenda carried a one-day change to all town liquor licenses to allow a 9 a.m. start on Sunday, November 15.
The speech policy item follows directly from the October 21 meeting. That night the board set aside time for a “presentation and discussion with residents regarding rainbow painted crosswalks,” along with the board’s flag policy, its policy on posting flags, displays, signs, artwork and banners on town property, and a utility box policy. The agenda said votes could be taken and that the board would suspend its usual public comment limit for that item only, giving each speaker up to five minutes “to discuss the recent crosswalk repainting and future considerations for Town crosswalks.” A town that writes a government speech policy is generally deciding which messages it will put on its own property and which it will not. The November 4 agenda does not say what the draft policy contains.
The October 21 meeting also held a public hearing at 6:45 p.m. on an application from First Watch Restaurants, Inc. for a new on-premises all-alcoholic beverages license at 450 Paradise Road, and the consent agenda that night appointed Joe Strafaci as a full member of the Zoning Board of Appeals for a five-year term ending June 30, 2031. The outcome of the hearing has not been posted.
Swampscott streams its meetings on Swampscott Government Access TV, on the town’s Facebook page and on Comcast channel 22 and Verizon channel 41.
Saugus: drive-throughs on Broadway and a no-U-turn sign at Putnam Street
The Saugus Board of Selectmen met Wednesday, November 4 at 7 p.m. in the second-floor auditorium at Town Hall, 298 Central Street. The notice was signed by Meredith Casagrande and filed with the town clerk on Monday, November 2.
The board scheduled three public hearings. The first, under the town’s traffic rules and regulations, was a request for both a “No U-Turn” sign and a “$100 fine” sign at the entrance to Putnam Street. The second was from William Wong and Madeline C. Wong, WM Realty and M&W Trust, under Section 12.5D of the zoning bylaw, asking to operate two drive-through windows, one at 928 to 936 and 948 Broadway and one at 950 Broadway. Broadway is Route 1, and drive-through windows along it require the board’s approval under the bylaw. The third hearing was a request from Michael Mei of Peabody, owner of Shoyu Group LLC doing business as Shoyu Restaurant at 124 Broadway, Suite D, to change the hours on the restaurant’s common victualer and entertainment licenses to noon to midnight on Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, and 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
Under correspondence the board listed a citation recognizing the 40th anniversary of Tiger Institute Tae Kwon Do, traffic speed monitor results for Juniper Drive, Route 1 traffic, parking at Saugus Middle High School, Rail Trail signage, and a request from Dennis Gould of 6 Serino Way to hang a Saugus Cultural Council banner at Main Street and Vine Street and at Essex Street and School Street.
Three reappointments were up: Joseph Gould to the Saugus Cultural Council, and Darren Ring and Carla Moschella to the Saugus TV Board of Directors. The board was also set to approve the minutes of October 7. Members’ comments listed the MEG Foundation’s 16th annual Christmas Tree Festival fundraiser and Veterans Day ceremonies on November 11.
Lynnfield: ambulance fees Monday, police and fire budgets Friday
The Lynnfield Select Board met Monday, November 2 at 6 p.m. in the Maney Room at 55 Summer Street, and meets again Friday, November 6 at 10 a.m. in the same room for a budget workshop.
Monday’s agenda led with a vote to adopt a new ambulance fee schedule, described as “proposed rate updates for emergency medical transport and services.” The board was also asked to declare a 2008 Ford Explorer fire department vehicle surplus and approve its disposal by auction, trade-in or salvage; to continue its review of jet ski regulations and motorized watercraft on Pillings Pond; to discuss and decide the membership composition of the Capital Improvement Planning Committee; and to act on a request from Market Street for extended hours on three dates: retail opening at 8 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. on Friday, November 27, retail opening at 9:30 a.m. instead of 10 a.m. on Sunday, December 20, and restaurants staying open until 12:30 a.m. instead of 11 p.m. on Sunday, February 14, 2027, “to allow guests to watch the full game.” The board was also scheduled to approve the minutes of October 19, hear a Human Resources update from the town administrator, and act on facility use permits.
The meeting ended in executive session under the collective bargaining exemption of the Open Meeting Law to discuss strategy on contracts with the Lynnfield Police Association, the Lynnfield Firefighters, the DPW employees, the Library Staff Association and the Town Hall and clerical staff, as well as non-union contracts. The board did not reconvene in open session.
Friday’s workshop agenda, filed with the town clerk at 11:23 a.m. on November 2, is built around fiscal 2028. Finance Director Dave Castellarin is to present the budget assumptions and the budget calendar. The agenda then lists a “Fire and EMS Department Review” covering “staffing, operational challenges, and departmental concerns,” a presentation to the board described only as the “Glen Proposal,” followed by Castellarin’s “fiscal risk and strength analysis” of that proposal, a question and answer period, and a “Police Department Budget Review” with “discussion of current departmental concerns, and possible reductions impacts.” The agenda does not identify who Glen is or what the proposal contains.
What to watch
Swampscott’s warrant sets the agenda for the December 7 Town Meeting; the articles the board voted in on Wednesday will appear in the printed warrant. Saugus will have to decide the two Broadway drive-through requests under the zoning bylaw. In Lynnfield, the Friday morning session is a working meeting rather than a hearing, but it is the first public look at how the town plans to handle fiscal 2028, and the police and fire items are listed in the language of cuts. We will report the votes from all three boards when minutes or recordings are posted.
The agendas are posted on each town’s agenda center: Swampscott October 21 and November 4, Saugus November 4, and Lynnfield November 2 and November 6.
