By Steve Landwehr
IPSWICH — Vacancies on local boards crop up fairly frequently in many communities. The seats can go begging for months at a time — unless the opening is on the Ipswich Public Library board of trustees.
That coveted position typically attracts multiple applicants, and Monday night was no different.
At the request of the selectmen, Sylvia Howe, Doug Stewart and Hugh McCall spent a few minutes talking about their interest in the volunteer job.
All three appeared well-qualified and enthusiastic, so much so board members couldn't decide whom to name.
Selectman Ingrid Miles was absent, and her colleagues were evenly divided between Stewart and McCall.
"Do you guys know how to wrestle?" Chairman Pat McNally asked.
Both professed themselves lovers, not fighters, so the board will await Miles' return to cast the deciding vote.
Oh, for the wisdom of Solomon.
She said, she said
One of the testier exchanges in memory between a resident and selectmen was ignited when Mulholland Drive resident Cynthia Bingham took the microphone during the time allotted for citizens' queries.
Bingham had questions and veiled — some not so thinly — accusations about what she repeatedly referred to as LNWS LLC. Several times she asked if any selectman knew what the initials stood for, and when one suggested it was Little Neck Wastewater System, Bingham went off.
"It doesn't stand for anything," she said, loudly, but it was responsible for siphoning thousands of dollars from the schoolchildren of Ipswich by way of the Feoffees of the Grammar School.
Then she took on the Feoffees and the selectmen who are members of that land trust.
Despite McNally's repeated directions, in a steadily rising voice, that she direct all her comments to him, not individual selectmen, Bingham pressed on until McNally had had enough and told Bingham she'd had her say and it was time to move on.
The next item on the agenda was the aforementioned appointment of a library trustee.
"Huh ... that's really important," Bingham huffed, sotto voce, on her way out the door.
Happy as a clam
The clamming community, buffeted by yearly outbreaks of red tide, flat closings after even modest rainfall and a bruising battle over aquaculture, was the recipient of some good news Monday night.
The state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife has determined the recent completion of a sewer system in Essex has had the desired result. Essex Bay is cleaner after a rainstorm than it has been in years.
So instead of closing clam flats after 0.4 inches of rain, 0.6 inches must now fall before closures. It might not seem like much of an improvement, but Shellfish Constable Scott Lapreste disagreed.
"It's a huge gain for the shellfish community," he said.
Speaking of clams ...
Resident Linda Alexson also spoke up during citizens' queries.
She wanted to know why there is no money allocated for a secretary to record the minutes of Shellfish Advisory Board members.
Long story short, the answer was: no money.
While acting police Chief Paul Nikas seems to have found some money to pay for a secretary in the future, Town Manager Bob Markel reminded Alexson there are 56 or 57 committees and boards in town, and the shellfish board is hardly unique.
"Only the Planning Board, Zoning Board and Conservation Commission have a budget for taking minutes," Markel said. "It's very expensive."
This really old house
It remains to be seen whether anyone will show interest, but the state Division of Conservation and Recreation will soon be looking for an adventurous — or maybe foolish — type willing to take on a daunting project.
Kevin Allen, a DCR representative, said the agency has a well-established practice of auctioning off abandoned properties within state park or forest boundaries to buyers who are willing to exchange seat equity for a low-cost project.
Often, they are old estates such as the Bradley Palmer mansion in Topsfield, now known as the Willowdale Estate.
This case is a little different.
The so-called Whitehead house off Linebrook Road is within the boundaries of Willowdale State Forest, but far removed from park headquarters in Topsfield.
Allen said the property has historic significance.
"It was a farm before Bradley Palmer bought it," he said, but it has fallen into a pretty sad state of repair.
Its best reuse is as a single-family residence, Allen said, provided there's a prospective homeowner out there willing to take on the challenge.
More to come after the first of the year.
Promotion
Congratulations to firefighter — you can call me lieutenant — Richard Smith, who was sworn into his new role by Town Clerk Pam Carakatsane at the opening of the meeting.
