Chamber Delays Pushing for Cross-Street Banners

The Marblehead Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee has decided not to press the issue of cross-street banners until the town votes on the proposed improvements to the Pleasant Street Corridor and an independent assessment of the Marblehead Police Department is completed.

The 400-member Chamber sent the Board of Selectmen a letter last month requesting that the town lift its ban on banners that promote upcoming events. The ban was imposed after an August traffic accident killed 15-year-old Allie Castner on Pleasant Street.

"We are not going to press the issue," said Ann Marie Casey, executive director of the chamber. "It is still important to us. But we feel it might be counterproductive to push the issue now. We will continue to monitor it. For now, we decided to step back."

The selectmen voted last month to table the issue of lifting the ban until after the town's special election on June 15, when the voters will decide if they want to pay for the redesign of several intersections on Pleasant Street, including the crosswalk at Pleasant and Mohawk Road where Castner was killed.

The chamber had asked the selectmen to consider lifting the banner ban because they are "a significant marketing tool" for the town, Casey said last week. The chamber has about $15,000 to $20,000 invested in banners that are in the chamber's attic, she said. And retailers and event planners have told her that town have not been as well attended as in previous years when the banners were used, she said.

There were no banners promoting the Spring Home and Garden Show or Art Walk, and it appears there will be no banners for the Marblehead Festival of the Arts in July and possibly not for the Fall Festival in September.

Selectman Bill Woolfin, who made the motion to table the banner issue until after the June 15 special election, said last week that he would be willing to consider the issue again soon.  "The issue is not dead," he said.

He also pointed out that there was no banner across Pleasant Street at the time Castner was killed. The town prohibited the banners after the accident out of concern that they might be distract drivers.

Casey has asked the Municipal Light Department if there is a better alternative location than on Pleasant Street, but no other site has yet been offered.

Contributing to the chamber's decision to delay the banner issue is an upcoming independent assessment of the police department's practices that includes the investigation of the Castner traffic accident.

No charges have been filed in the accident, which has created some concerns in the community about the department's handling of the accident, according to several sources.  

Four independent consulting firms are being considered for the contract to perform the review. They are PSSI Public Safety Solutions, Inc., of Maryland, Charles D. Hale Resource Management Association of Illinois, Strategic Policy Partnership of West Tisbury and TSD Security Consulting Group, Inc., of Boston. TSD Security is owned by Marblehead resident Tanya DeGenova, a former FBI agent.

A committee that includes Selectmen Chairman Jim Nye, Town Administrator Tony Sasso and town Procurement Officer Becky Curran will select one firm. Then the selectmen will vote to approve or disapprove the recommended firm.  

The proposed improvements, spawned by frustrations among drivers and pedestrians about Pleasant Street, would redesign several intersections, curbs and sidewalks along about 3,000 feet of the heavily traveled street. The proposed changes would provide safety measures for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

At Mohawk Drive, for an estimated $355,000, the crosswalk would be raised two to three inches to make it more visible. Signs would also be installed that caution pedestrians to look both ways before crossing the street.