Monthly Archives: July 2011

Michael Sullivan, Kristine Trierweiler, and I met this afternoon with people from the State’s Executive Office for Administration and Finance and its DCAM about the Medfield State Hospital site.  It was unanimously agreed that it made sense to take a fresh look at the currently proposed housing project and the assumptions that underlie that present housing proposal, to see if there are other better uses to be made of the site.

The meeting was chaired by the Secretary of Administration and Finance, Jay Gonzalez.  Also in attendance were DCAM Commissioner Carole Cornelison, her Chief of Staff, General Counsel, and its Acting Deputy Commissioner for Real Estate, and from A&F its General Counsel and a couple of more individuals.

The Town of Medfield representatives described the issues with respect to the Medfield State Hospital site as we see them, that
•    440 units of housing is a large project for our town where it would increase our housing stock by more than 10%
•    we thought that the biggest concerns for the residents are the impacts on the municipal services (especially the schools) and the clean up of the existing environmental issues
•    there has not been sufficient engagement to date with the residents about the current project for it to have received support
•    residents do not fully appreciate how much of the site will remain as open space and not see any development, even under the current proposal where only 86 acres will be built upon of the 225 acres in play and that many more than that are already protected open space

The state representatives described their issues as
•    Medfield State Hospital is a state asset that must produce some return for the state,  although maximizing a financial return is not their goal
•    they would like to take a fresh look at what is feasible and desirable to do at the site
•    they want to work collaboratively with the town to develop a use of the site that works for both the state’s and the town’s interests
•    the environmental issues at the site must be cleaned up, and they want the town’s assistance in facilitating that process
•    they want the process to move fairly expeditiously, in ten months rather than ten years

The fresh look that was agreed upon will start with DCAM updating its market feasability study to see what uses can realistically be made of the property.  We were told that they want the Town of Medfield to have input into that updated feasability study.   Additionally, it was generally agreed that all would be best served if this new fresh look process should move along quickly, and that we should develop a joint schedule.

The Town of Medfield representatives bid farewell to the DCAM people, while being told that they would see us in Medfield Wednesday and Thursday evenings this week to discuss the environmental clean up issues at the Conservation Commission and the PIP meeting respectively.  Both of those take place at the Town House.

I have uploaded DCAM’s hand out from the start of the meeting, the “Medfield State Hospital Fact Sheet.”  The two attached plans are too large for me to be able to scan them, but similar plans are available at the Town of Medfield’s website.  One plan shows the parcels and their sizes while the second shows the environmental clean up areas.

Last night DCAM petitioned the Medfield Conservation Commission for permission to clean up the construction and debris area, which is literally along the banks of the Charles River, and to underscore the importance of the request, Carole Cornelison, the new Commissioner of DCAM attended the meeting.  John O’Donnell, DCAM environmental engineer, explained that when testing was done in the Charles River that sampling in the floor of the river disturbed oil that was there, causing an oil sheen on the water, one that disappeared when the disturbance ceased, and that fact is causing DEP to insist that remedial measures be undertaken immediately.  The main presentation was made by DCAM’s paid consultants from Weston & Sampson.

The proposal calls for placement of a layer of AquaBlok, a natural clay material, over the oil.  The source of the oil is still being investigated.  However, it is known that it is not the thick number 6  diesel oil that used to power the now removed power plant that formerly stood on the adjoining river front land.

DCAM also proposed to pull back from the bank of the river the materials the Medfield State Hospital dumped into the river for years, and to form a more normal sloped embankment, which they propose to armor with a combination of plastic sheeting, fill, and rip rap.  The work was described as a temporary fix, made necessary now because of DEP insistence resulting from the former presence of the oil sheen.  DCAM wants to do this work this year, during the low water flow time in the river, which means either in August or September.

The timing is poor, as the final massive report on DCAM’s multi-year environmental investigations and suggested solutions is due out in early August.  When that information is released in several weeks, the Town of Medfield will then have a much better data on which to evaluate the extent of the issues and to rate the solutions that are proposed.

In response to my suggestion to Commissioner Cornelison that the state would be far better off when they undertook such massive land use projects in smaller towns if at the outset they provided the towns monies to do the necessary planning necessitated by the projects so the towns are better equipped to address the multitude of issues, she invited the Town of Medfield to resubmit the request for $100,000 for such funds that had been denied by the last commissioner.

Please share with me your ideas of what the Medfield State Hospital site should become, so that I can carry your ideas to the Monday meeting Mike Sullivan, Kristine Trierweiler and I have set up with Secretary of Administration and Finance Jay Gonzales and DCAM Commissioner Carole Cornelison.  Sounds like the state feels the realm of possibilities door is wide open, based on quotes from Carole Cornelison in the Boston Globe this morning.

Some of my ideas:

1.  Town of Medfield buys the site – but for what?  It would be too expensive to just make it a park.

2.  Have it become the state’s premier regional sports and fitness destination, with activities from all the usual sports like basketball, baseball, volleyball, soccer and lacrosse to equestrian, kayaking, and boating, with both indoor and outdoor facilities, and residential facilities for participants.

Please send me your ideas via osler.peterson@verizon.net, and I will carry your ideas to the state officials.