Swampscott Select Board Votes 4-1 to Restore Decades-Old Community Welcome Sign

SWAMPSCOTT -- February 4, 2015, Swampscott's Select Board voted 4-1 to temporarily restore a student-made welcome sign near the Lynn border at no cost to taxpayers. The sign, created around 2000 in art teacher Anita Bolero's class and stored at the high school for roughly a year, will be refurbished and reinstalled by Derek Peterson of Sequoia Builders, a Swampscott native who offered his services as a donation; the board agreed it will remain only until the Municipal Design Committee completes a town-wide signage plan estimated to take at least 14 months. The board also unanimously approved the transfer of an all-alcohol off-premises retail license at 205 Burrell Street from Railroad Records LLC to Railroad Liquors LLC, and approved a manager change at Uno Chicago Grill on Paradise Road. A lengthy capital planning discussion, drawing Finance Committee and Capital Improvement Committee members, produced no formal vote but surfaced a recurring concern: Town Administrator Thomas Younger told the board that a dedicated facilities manager is needed, as infrastructure oversight is currently split among staff whose core duties lie elsewhere.