[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
by Geena Matuson
Hometown Weekly Staff
The Annual Medfield Town Meeting was held at 7:30 p.m. last Monday night, April 25th, covering a range of topics with minor debate. Led by Town Moderator Scott F. McDermott, town officials stood at the head of the Amos Clark Kingsbury High School gymnasium and opened the meeting with a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, performed by talented Medfield High School student Lori Barney. Barney previously performed as Fairy Godmother in the high school’s production of ‘Cinderella’ in mid-March.
The meeting commenced with several acknowledgements of Town Council members. Most notable was the recognition of Town Administrator Mike Sullivan’s 41-years on the council, possibly the longest-serving Town Administrator across 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts. Additionally, it was noted this is Greg Sullivan’s sixth and final year on the Warrant Committee.
With 43 articles to cover, Moderator Scott McDermott noted that ‘expedience may be a prevailing force’ at the meeting. Prior to reviewing and voting on these articles, a council representative stated that the town is paying-down $5 million in debt per year; in four years, the town will have paid-down $20 million and will put Medfield back into an acceptable debt range of around $20-30 million. At that point, the town will look towards rebuilding the elementary schools.
The Council quickly opened articles to re-authorize numerous funds to areas such as Community Gardens, Public Library, Transfer Station, and Respite Care. This portion of the meeting moved quickly and, at 8:15, the lottery began; McDermott listed remaining articles on which to vote. At the mention of article 28, to determine whether or not the town will appropriate funds for a new Parks and Recreation Center to replace the Pfaff Center, one town attendee asked the question that was on everyone’s mind: “What will happen to the Pfaff Center?” Mike Sullivan joked, “Probably a stick of dynamite,” and the gym erupted in laughter. It was mentioned that there may be problems with the existing building, and it would be good to build a new recreation center.
The focus was then shifted to article 41, to vote whether or not the town accepts amendments to town zoning laws. A chart was included in the Town Meeting report booklet provided to every attendee; however, the chart contained only acronyms, and went largely unexplained. While several town attendees stepped up to question these new zoning laws, along with the meaning of these acronyms (e.g. ‘RE,’ ‘BI’) answers were cloudy. That is, until Mike Sullivan defined each acronym, and explained the size of land each acronym represents; for example ‘A’ relates to acre allotment. Many attendees questioned whether or not these zoning changes were a smokescreen to allow the LCB Senior Living Facility into the town under the ‘exceptions’ clause, a stipulation noted aloud but not recorded in the provided Town Meeting booklet. While the article passed with a majority vote, it seems there are still questions to be answered.
Article 34 was also a hot topic; the ‘Stretch Energy Code’ would allow the town to amend Building Construction laws and move towards becoming a recognized ‘Green Community.’ Many questioned whether or not becoming part of this new energy initiative would cause future implications due to unforeseen code standards. However, after several presentations, the article passed.
Thereafter, articles 30 and 31, to see if the town will vote to appropriate $50,000 to hire project managers for the state hospital site, caused a stir. Some questioned why additional funds were needed when it seems funds are already available, and some questioned why the town would want to hire another outside project-management company when the previous managers took the money, and didn’t seem to manage a thing. The article was approved, and it will be interesting to see what plans are made in the near future.
However, it seems the topic that interested most was article 21 to ‘Upgrade High School Multi-Purpose Field.’ After a thorough presentation by Superintendent of Medfield Public Schools Jeffrey Marsden, all attendee questions were answered with facts. It was assured that a new track and field at the high school would be non-toxic, last longer than the 12-year lifespan of the current synthetic turf, and would also include a new layer beneath the track to act as a shock absorber. This new ‘shock absorbent’ layer would help to prevent concussions and other injuries, giving the track a G-max test rating of about 120, similar to natural grass and dirt. (G-max testing measures the shock absorbency of sports surfaces; turf with a close G-max rating to that of natural grass and dirt is safer than turf with a typical layer of rock and dirt directly beneath it.)
It will be interesting to see what changes are made, and what progress grows out of the town meeting articles covered on the evening. For more information, visit www.town.medfield.net.
