Marblehead Town Meeting Members Vote To Increase Taxes To Pay For Roof, HVAC Repairs

MARBLEHEAD, MA — Marblehead town meeting voters approved more than $14 million in roof and HVAC repairs at the high school and Mary A. Alley Municipal Building during a four-hour opening night of the annual town meeting on Tuesday.

The first night of town meeting was postponed for a day and moved to the high school after more than 2,000 residents sought to cram into the middle school because of three "high-interest" warrant articles — the two capital improvement projects and the MBTA Community Act zoning compliance — that were moved to the front of the warrant via an amendment presented at the outset of the town meeting.

• Marblehead Town Meeting Makes Zoning Bylaw Decision After Heated Debate
• Marblehead Resident Seeks To 'Turn Town Meeting Inside Out'
• Marblehead High School Roof Fix Cost Rises $8M With HVAC Replacement
• Crowd Crunch Postpones Marblehead Town Meeting

While the zoning debate took up the majority of opening night, voters did ultimately also approve authorization to bond $8.6 million for a new HVAC system at the high school to be installed at the same time as a previously approved $5.3 million roof replacement. They also voted for $5.6 million in renovations to the Mary A. Alley Building.

If approved in a townwide referendum in June, Marblehead Finance Director Aleesha Nunley Benjamin the tax increases from the new projects would essentially offset the savings from having the original debt off the high school — built in 1999 — roll off tax bills in 2026. She said the median single-family homeowner of a house worth $956,000 would save about $5 per year.

Supporters of doing the HVAC at the same time as the high school roof said that the aging HVAC system may not survive the roof replacement and would have to be replaced in the coming years anyway as it becomes obsolete — and that doing the roof and HVAC separately would ultimately cost more than doing them at the same time.

Those who spoke out against the additional $8.6 million for the school HVAC argued that it was unnecessary to replace the HVAC at this time and that it could, in fact, survive for another few years after the installation of the new roof.

Several students and teachers spoke at the town meeting about barrels full of rainwater in classrooms, equipment damage, a musty, sewer-like smell, and the presence of mold in the school following rainstorms.

If approved at the June vote, both projects would begin around June 2026. The high school work would start immediately following graduation. The Mary A. Alley work would be phased in so as not to require the relocation of municipal services.

The school project was approved by a 804-283 vote, and the Alley building project was approved by a 671-103 vote. Both votes required a two-thirds majority to pass.

Town meeting will continue starting with Article 2 on Wednesday night at the high school at 7 p.m.

"We need you to show up (Wednesday) night to do the rest of the town business, please," Moderator Jack Attridge said shortly before night one adjourned.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)