By Adam Swift
The town council is seeking a break on toll fees for Winthrop residents.
At its meeting last week, it approved a motion by Council President Jim Letterie asking that the town’s legislative delegation file legislation seeking lower tolls for private vehicles for the Sumner Tunnel and Tobin Bridge.
“This has been discussed before in the past, I don’t think we have ever actually gone to the point of asking our legislative (delegation) to file specific legislation for Winthrop,” said Letterie.
The discounts are offered to residents in East Boston, Chelsea, the North End, and Charlestown.
Chelsea and Charlestown residents get a reduction on the bridge tolls, while East Boston and Charlestown residents get a break on the tunnel tolls, Councilor-at-Large Max Tassinari noted.
“The reasoning has been pretty much that that is where the properties come up,” said Letterie. “The tunnel comes up in East Boston and the bridge lands in East Boston. I was reading the Revere Journal last week and saw a similar item on their agenda.”
Letterie said he feels that Winthrop gets left behind when it comes to attention from the state.
“We get forgotten in a lot of ways, we are a small, little peninsula that sometimes people don’t see the effects, but in terms of the congestion and the traffic, this is to me a no-brainer to ask for,” said Letterie. “We do know that we will get nothing if we don’t ask.”
Letterie said Town Manager Tony Marino will draft a letter that the council would then approve to send to the town’s legislative delegation regarding the request.
In other business at last week’s meeting, Marino announced that the town has hired Cheryl McCormick as the new assistant town manager.
McCormick began work for the town on Nov. 18, and Marino said she will be focused on working with the zoning and planning boards. He also said McCormick will begin creating a schedule for grant applications as well as gathering information the town will need to complete applications.