Yesterday I spent a small amount of time on a number of things.
- I communicated with Marie Nolan and Mike Sullivan to have the town apply for a $10,000 state technical assistance grant to help the town implement a photovoltaic (PV) array. There are 10-15 grants on a first come first get basis, so we need to act fast. Same thing with small grants for waste water treatment facilities energy savings. Mike will see that we will try for both.
- Assisted with the Historic Commission’s invitation to Montrose to come to the Board of Selectmen to discuss its Cushman House on North Street that is empty and more dilapidated every day.
- Exchanged emails with our state reps’ offices over the state budget.
- Tried to assist Bob Maguire in finding one more host family for the next school year to house a visiting Chinese high school student.
- I notified the Massachusetts Municipal Association of the Medfield Foundation’s success over ten years – $1.3 m of private monies raised for Medfield public purposes. The MMA had written about the MFi in 2002 as a great new idea in its Mass Innovations column in their monthly Bulletin when the MFi was a nascent entity. Below is that MMA article from 2002. Note that Kevin framed the MFi mission as “capital” projects, where others saw it doing most anything.
Medfield opens community chest
The town of Medfield has established a new public charity foundation to raise funds for capital projects.
The newly incorporated Medfield Foundation will serve as a repository for donations to fund a variety of capital needs throughout the community.
Founders hope that the foundation will make it possible for the town to complete needed capital improvement projects. such as a new adult community center, without relying solely on property tax increases.
“Any money the foundation can funnel to town projects is one less dollar we have to raise in property taxes.” said Osler Peterson, a selectman and member of the foundation*s steering committee.
The foundation may be used for fund raising to pay for a portion of a specific project and thereby lessen the amount that the town must borrow. This relieves the town of future tax burdens, explained Kevin Hem, chair of the steering committee.
The foundation is a proposed solution to help the town cope with the ongoing need for capital improvements without relying solely on property tax increases for funding.
Rising property taxes in Medfield were becoming burdensome for some residents. The serious impact property tax increases were having on residents became apparent during the contentious approval process for a $50 million school renovation project.
“It was a difficult battle and we leamed a lot about each other,” said Hem of the school renovation approval process. It became apparent that it was necessary to “find vehicles to help deal with some capital improvements in town,” he said.
“A lot of the reason why such an idea is worth a try is that the projected real estate tax increase of 50 percent over the next 10 years facing the town is alarming.” Peterson said.
Donors may designate tax-deductible contributions to areas of town they have an interest in supporting. such as the library, the fire department, the schools or any other town department. Giving donors the opportunity to select the projects they wish to fund shows that the foundation*s focus is community-wide. its founders say.
It is “critical to its success to get broad-based community involvement and convince people it is a way to help the whole town.” Hem said.
Last month the foundation launched the MFI Tax Rebate Challenge. which encourages people to donate their 2001 federal tax rebates to the foundation.
The steering committee envisions having one central repository for funds, which would relieve the burden of fund raising on many local groups in town. Peterson said. Community groups such as sports teams and ~ th groups would then be eligible for funding from the foundation.
Peterson said the foundation will be careful not to do anything that interferes with the work of the Medfield Coalition for Public Education. The coalition concentrates on raising money for school enrichment programs.
The foundation*s funds will be controlled by its board of directors, which is still being assembled. The steering committee uses its Web site (www.medfieldfoundation.org) to share information with the community and encourage people to become involved with the foundation.
For more information, visit
This monthly column highlights some of the innovative approaches and strategies Massachusetts municipalities are using to deliver services and solve problems. If you know of a Mass Innovation that could be featured in this column, contact Katie Carroll at the MMA
Medfield02052's Blog 