The Townwide Master Planning  Committee held its first public forum last night to hear from residents as to what residents feel are our town’s issues.  Over 100 citizens gathered for a community dinner and brainstorming session at the Blake Middle School cafeteria to discuss:

• our favorite things about Medfield,
• our least favorite things,
• what is missing,
• the issues we see, and
• what can be done to improve the town.

I included the sheets that Casey compiled of what our table discussed, how we voted, and at the end our tally.  The dots are the five votes each person at the table got to use with respect to each of the three topics on which we voted.

Townwide Master Planning Committee

Public Forum

October 20, 2019

Our Table

1. Favorite things – (& # of votes received)
   1. Open spaces 8
   2. Schools 7
   3. Safety 7
   4. Small town 6
   5. Library 6
   6. Rural ambiance 5
   7. SWAP 5
   8. Government participation 4
   9. Engaged citizens 4
   10. Sports (fields) 4
   11. Volunteer opportunities 1

2. Least favorite
   1. High taxes 12
   2. Lack of empty nester houses 10
   3. Non-existent tax base 9
   4. Traffic 6
   5. Delay & procrastination 5
   6. Lack of sidewalks 5
   7. No indoor sports facility 5
   8. Town meeting 4
   9. Lack of diversity 3
   10. Poor snow removal 3
   11. Stress of kids in schools 1

3. Missing
   1. Public transportation
   2. Sidewalks
   3. Trader Joe’s
   4. Commercial tax base
   5. Entertainment
   6. Empty nester housing
   7. Senior housing
   8. Indoor sports facility
   9. Well maintained open spaces
   10. Town buildings do not recycle

4. Important Issues
   1. Opportunities
      1. Medfield State Hospital
      2. Expand commercial base
   2. Challenges
      1. Aging senior population
      2. Growing school age population
      3. Desires versus budgets
      4. Tax base
      5. Senior flight
      6. Senior appreciation
      7. Traffic and parking

5. Improvements needed (# of vote first)
   1. 15 – Start Medfield State Hospital development
   2. 11 – Balance needs of different demographics (elderly versus school age)
   3. 8 – Reduce traffic congestion
   4. 7 – expand senior center
   5. 7 – rail trail
   6. 4 – more outdoor activities

That last post was intended to be scheduled for Sunday AM, not released right away.  The Townwide Master Planning  Committee community dinner and planning event is this Sunday at 5PM at the Blake Middle School.

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