From Holly: “Thank you, George Austin and The Sentinel, for this feature article! Equally as important is to complete the Prysmian permitting process so that they can overcome the hurdles and state appeals imposed by my opponent’s special interest groups. These appeals have delayed the project significantly and have delated all major tax revenue to the town. I am happy to see that after years of opposition, my opponent is finally starting to come around during this election season. I would be honored to have your vote, for me, Holly McNamara, for Somerset Selectmen, this coming Monday, April 8th. Thank you! #VoteWisely #April8“
McNamara says her most important goal would be hiring a town planner
By GEORGE AUSTIN
SOMERSET – Holly McNamara, who previously served for five years on the Board of Selectmen, is looking to return to the board in this year’s Annual Town Election.
McNamara said she was honored to serve the public for five years in office from 2016 to 2021 and is grateful for the opportunity to potentially serve again. When she first got on the Board of Selectmen, said there was a major sense of urgency to plan for the looming closure of the power plants. She said the board made massive strides to prepare by supporting new business, bringing in the town’s first full-time town planner and updating the town’s master plan that had been overdue for a decade. She said the town planner and master plan helped the town to not only plan for the future, but to bring in grants. She said the town had already begun to receive millions of dollars that ignited significant economic development that in turn would bring in more revenue.
“I aim to rebuild the momentum that the town had three years ago and emphasize the need for economic growth and stability in Somerset,” McNamara said.
McNamara, a 1995 graduate of Somerset High School who is a structural engineer for the state, said the town planner helped to bring in a hotel, Solar Therapeutics and the National Grid substation project and many others. She said the selectmen also worked on development of the former Wilbur School, while preserving its history and helped to bring in a grant to reconstruct Riverside Avenue with new sidewalks and enhanced crosswalks.
During her first term on the Board of Selectmen, McNamara said the decade long awaited restoration of the Quaker Meeting House on Prospect Street was started, using a newly formed non-profit organization named the Friends of Somerset Historic Preservation. The Quaker Meeting House was built in 1701 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
McNamara says the town needs to revitalize not only its seven miles of waterfront, but also its identity. She wants the town to define its culture while maintaining its treasured history. McNamara says Somerset’s solid public safety departments and its coveted education system need to be embraced and maintained.
McNamara said she is known for being on budget and on time in the construction industry where she has worked on design, construction and project management during the last 23 years.
When McNamara was on the Board of Selectmen, they implemented putting descriptions under Town Meeting articles so that they were easier to understand for the public.
If elected to the Board of Selectmen, McNamara said her most important goal would be hiring a town planner, which the town has not had since 2021, and to continue to work with the community to implement Somerset’s master plan, a document that addresses economic development, housing, transportation and other aspects of a town. She said she would look at the town as a whole to bring in new business, revenue and investors. McNamara said support needs to be provided for the Prysmian submarine cable manufacturing facility and South Coast Wind projects to make sure they are successful and get up and operating quickly.
“We really need to bring revenue into the town to offset the tax base,” McNamara said.
McNamara said two other of her priorities would be focusing on getting the Prysmian project completed and making sure the town’s facilities are taken care of. She said residents always ask why buildings are falling apart and why they are not maintained. She said more money needs to be put towards those buildings.
McNamara said her biggest accomplishment in her last term as a selectman was hiring the town’s first ever town planner. She said the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District had been pushing the town to hire a town planner for decades. She said hiring the town planner was followed up by updating a master plan, which had been overdue by 10 years. She said the town obtained grants to move forward with updating the master plan. She said the town planner brought in $1.2 million to the town from a grant she applied for in her first week on the job. She said the hotel that was recently built in town would not have happened without the work of the town planner. The selectmen decided not to renew the contract of the town planner in 2021.
Asked what she thought should be done with the additional $6.8 million that the Massachusetts School Building Authority has awarded to the Somerset Public Schools for the new middle school building project, McNamara said creative ways needed to be found to complete the project and construct the fields, which were cut out of the plans when Town Meeting voters turned down a request from the new Somerset Middle School building committee to add $9.9 million to the project. McNamara said the fields are needed at the middle school or it would be an incomplete project. McNamara said some costs for materials for the middle school project have come down in price.
A Special Town Meeting that was held during the past year went until 12:30 a.m. at night. McNamara said she agreed that is too late for a Town Meeting. She said it is difficult for most people to attend meetings. McNamara said she remembered going to her first Town Meeting and being shocked because she thought the process was antiquated. She said there were a few hundred people at that Town Meeting. She said Town Meetings in Somerset go back to the 18th century. McNamara said if all of the voters in Somerset wanted to come to a Town Meeting, they would not fit in the performing arts center at the high school where the Town Meetings are held. She said the Town Meeting process needs to be revamped. She said everyone needs to be able to speak at a Town Meeting. She said it is the purest form of government. McNamara said she would consider having Town Meetings during the day on Saturdays. She said it is going to be difficult for some people to attend, no matter what days Town Meetings are held. She said there is always something going on, such as activities for children. She said they started a babysitting service at Town Meetings when she was in office as a selectman. She said the service was successful, but did not change the turnout at Town Meetings that much.
“We need to fix the form of government and make it more efficient so everyone can have a voice,” McNamara said.
McNamara said the town’s infrastructure has been a huge concern to her since 2016 when she was elected to the Board of Selectmen. She said she is a civil engineer who inspects buildings. McNamara said she inspected the town buildings in Somerset during her own time. McNamara said she went to a Massachusetts Municipal Association conference where there was a discussion about having a person in a town who not only maintains buildings, but inspects them on a regular basis, rather than a custodian without the experience in heating, ventilation and air conditioning, electrical work and other aspects of buildings to do that. McNamara said the town needs to be more efficient in the maintenance of its buildings so that it can save money for the future.
On the subject of preserving the Somerset Old Town Hall or not, McNamara said the Old Town Hall is a very historically significant building in Somerset. She said the Historical Commission and its former chair, James O’Rourke, were working hard to do some work on the building, but the COVID-19 pandemic complicated that project. Quotes that the town has received estimate the cost to repair the building at $900,000 and a new building to replace it at $1 million. McNamara said she thinks the building should be used for town government meetings.
“We need to find a way to preserve our historic structures in town,” McNamara said.
Asked about using free cash or the stabilization fund to keep taxes down, McNamara said the stabilization fund should never be touched, if the town can help it. She said the fund has not been touched since the Brayton Point power plant closed, decreasing the amount of revenue coming into Somerset. McNamara said having a healthy stabilization fund helps the town to get high bond ratings so it can get a low interest rate when it borrows money for capital projects. McNamara said she would like to use some free cash to offset taxes if the town doesn’t have enough revenue that year, but she would also like to put money from free cash into the town’s stabilization fund to save for the future. Free cash is money left over from the town’s budgets, unanticipated revenue, like more money coming in from the excise tax and building permits than was expected, and one-time revenues. McNamara said the town needs to plan ahead and look at ways to bring in more revenue. She said the town can’t cut its way out of financial problems, but must bring in more revenue to offset costs.
McNamara said that in 2016, the selectmen knew the $3.5 million per year in Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative funds the town was receiving were sunsetting, so the selectmen were planning ahead. She said there were major projects coming into town and Brayton Point was going to be redeveloped. She said the town is three years behind in that development because special interest groups delayed it.
Asked about if the town should fund public celebrations and to what extent, McNamara said she really feels that public celebrations, whether they are town funded or not, are really important for a community. She said they help with morale and overall happiness. She said the Spirit of Somerset Family Fun Day that has been held in town for over 20 years is really important for the community as a whole. She said people really enjoy it. She said the town can’t fund every single event, but can have a balance of events it pays for. She said that is why resident David Berube formed a non-profit organization for the Spirit of Somerset. She said the Somerset Friends of Music is a non-profit organization that pays for most of its festival, but said the town pays for some of it.
Asked about whether the Route 103 property of about 100 acres that the town owns should be put up for sale, McNamara said the property is an important part of the town. She said the land was supposed to be kept as open space. McNamara said the town had about 100 people at a master plan round table discussion who brainstormed ideas for the property that could bring in revenue for the town and also keep part of it as open space. She said the property should be developed in a smart way. She said housing for people who are over 55 years old should be considered for the property. She said the town’s master plan says there is a need for that type of housing.
McNamara said she used to think that the town clerk’s position should be appointed rather than elected, but after a long conversation with retired town clerk Dolores Bence and some research, she thinks the job should be elected, as it is now. She said an appointed town clerk would become beholden to the board that may or may not have the best interest of the town in mind. She said it would then become a political position when it needs to be a neutral position with no bias.
McNamara first ran for selectman in 2016 after moving back to Somerset because she knew the town would be her forever home.
“I promise to continue to focus on smart growth, while limiting spending and ensuring that our necessary services are not cut,” McNamara said.
McNamara said she cares about the entire town.
“I want to create a better town so that our seniors want to stay and can afford to stay,” McNamara said. “I want our community to thrive as a whole, not as a division of parts. I promise to work hard and to steer the town back in the right direction. This is not about me. This is about us. This is about our town. I hope to bring Somerset to its fullest potential. We need to get Somerset back on track.”