Category Archives: Buildings

DPW Garage Public Presentation 10 AM Sat. at DPW

Posted on April 12, 2013 | Comments Off on DPW Garage Public Presentation 10 AM Sat. at DPW

This from the Building Committee –

The Town of Medfield Permanent Building Committee (MPBC)  invites you to attend a Public Hearing regarding the  proposed Public Works Facility for use by the Department of Public Works (DPW). The intent of this meeting is to furnish residents with information that will be helpful when this matter comes to a vote during the April 29th Town Meeting and at the  April 30th debt exclusion vote. It is also  an opportunity to have your concerns heard and your questions answered.

 

The Public Works Facility  was  approved at the 2011  Town Meeting and  failed at the debt exclusion vote. Addressing the town’s concerns about the cost of the facility – the PBC  has  reduced the scope by; deleting  two  bays, reducing  the office space by 20%, and decreasing  the size of the heating system and generator. The current DPW facility was built 40 years  ago in 1973.  Since then the town population has increased 39%, the total number of roads has increased 33%, the number of households has increased 66%, the size of our sewer system has increased 1020%  and our water system 113%,  and the number of DPW workers has increased from 9 to 19.

 

The new DPW facility will increase the life and reduce the fuel consumption of the towns DPW equipment, meet current environmental  regulations, protect the health and safety of the DPW workers and protect our  aquifer of which we all depend on for our drinking water.

 

We strongly encourage you to come to this meeting and learn more about the plans for this important asset to our town on:

 

The PBC also maintains a website  http://www.medfieldpbc.org  where additional information can be found or you can email  any questions you might have to  info@medfieldpbc.org

 

Meeting date

Saturday April 13, 2013 at 10:00am at the DPW

55 North Meadows Road (RT 27)

 

 

Please send this email around

Thanks.

Thomas D. Erb

Electric Time Company, Inc.

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Posted in Buildings, DPW

Patch article on garage

Posted on April 9, 2013 | Comments Off on Patch article on garage

I just posted the following at Patch on their article about the new DPW garage –

Kudos to the Building Committee for both (1) their diligence in pursuing the town’s best interests in a transparent process, and (2) the complete explanations they have provided to us. I wish garages were not so expensive, but after attending most of the Building Committee’s meetings, they have convinced me both that garages are, and that this iteration is our current best option. I am told that the final bids will be opened on 4/19/13, so the voters will know the actual cost when we are asked to vote at the 2/29/13 annual town meeting (ATM) and at the election the next day on 4/30/13.

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Posted in Budgets, Buildings, DPW

New DPW garage

Posted on April 3, 2013 | Comments Off on New DPW garage

This year I got all my questions answered, thanks to the Building Committee, and I am strongly behind getting the DPW garage built.  There will be two votes, one at the annual town meeting (ATM) on 4/29 and then at the polls the next day on 4/30 (also the primary election day for the special Massachusetts senate election).  The Building Committee is holding an informational meeting on 4/13 at the existing DPW Garage, or you can view eth existing garage at the hazardous waste collection day this Saturday, 4/6.

Below is a post from Mike Quinlan of the Building Committee on the Medfield Professionals LinkedIn group –

Upcoming Town Meeting

The Town of Medfield Permanent Building will be recommending two warrant articles for approval at Town Meeting at the end of the month. One for funds to complete the proposed DPW facility and one for design funds to complete design for the proposed Public Safety project. In preparation, we invite all residents to join us for upcoming public information sessions. Please visit http://medfieldPBC.org or the Patch for more information.

http://medfield.patch.com/articles/permanent-building-committee-to-discuss-two-projects-on-town-warrant#comments_list

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Posted in Buildings, DPW, Elections, Town Meeting

Building Committee

Posted on March 13, 2013 | Comments Off on Building Committee

At the Building Committee meeting this AM they heard from the architect doing the master plan for the Dale Street municipal campus, on the further work on the public safety building.  The committee decided it will not have enough time to properly vet the plans for the public safety building before that annual town meeting (ATM), so that they will look to a fall special town meeting to get planning monies, at the earliest.

The intersection of Dale and North Streets was discussed as a focal point for the new efforts to connect that area to the downtown, and the architect recommends that spot be well used.

The HNTB engineer opined that the salt shed bids will come in under $300,000.  $1.2 m. has already been appropriated for the salt shed and DPW garage planning.

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Posted in Buildings, Fire Department, Police Department

Building Committee at BoS

Posted on February 27, 2013 | Comments Off on Building Committee at BoS

The Building Committee presented its plans for the new DPW garage to the Board of Selectmen at last night’s meeting.  This time they are providing lots of cogent information about why this building and why it is in this particular configuration.  See its materials at the Building Committee’s website – www.medfieldpbc.org

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Posted in Buildings

On being a selectman

Posted on February 6, 2013 | Comments Off on On being a selectman

Five hours of meetings in last 24 hours – two hours at the Board of Selectmen last night and almost three hours this morning with the Building Committee.  On top of three hours Monday evening (Building Committee and Energy Committee).  It feels like a long week already.

Last night at the Board of Selectmen meeting I was ready to vote no on the liquor license for Medfield Commons, until the Mr. Carrigg, the owner, agreed to move all the liquor back to the area he had originally told us it would be kept the first time we gave liquor license years ago.  That will make it look more like a convenience store that sells beer and wine, rather than the liquor store it appeared to have become.

The Building Committee is doing a commendable job of planning the construction of the needed new DPW garage and the planning for a new public safety building.  The architects doing the master plan for the Dale Street Campus made it sound this morning that the Dale Street School will most likely not be economically able to be anything other than a facility for Medfield Park & Recreation Commission, which would mean tearing down the Pfaff Center (reportedly its too far gone).  The state via the MSBA will probably not pay to have the town rehab to Dale Street School, and rehabbing it into a public safety building would probably exceed the 30% of building value threshold that triggers seismic and other codes that would make it uneconomic.   The architect’s final opinions and report are yet to come, but it was sounding like it will probably be cheaper to build a new school or public safety building, than to rehab and re-purpose the Dale Street School for those uses.  Re-purposing for Medfield Park & Recreation Commission would not need to be as extensive and therefore could be dome more economically.

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Posted in Buildings, On being a selectman, Select Board matters

2/4 meeting on Public Safety Bld. Masterplan

Posted on January 30, 2013 | Comments Off on 2/4 meeting on Public Safety Bld. Masterplan

PUBLIC NOTICE

To: All Residents of Medfield
From: Chief Robert Meaney, Chief William Kingsbury and Medfield Permanent Building Committee

Date: January 28, 2013

Re: Public Discussion ‐ Fire, Police and Public Building Masterplan
Police Chief Robert Meaney, Fire Chief William Kingsbury and the members of the Medfield Permanent Building Committee would like to invite all interested Medfield residents to a public presentation/design forum.

The primary purpose of this public presentation/design forum is to engage residents about the future of the police/fire facilities. In addition, we will be discussing the broader master plan for the municipal district within which it currently resides, including; the Dale Street School and the Pfaff Center (Park and Recreation building).

The discussion will be lead by members of the Permanent Building Committee and the architectural firm HKT Architects.

The meeting will be held at 6:00 pm on Monday, February 4th at the Fire Station.

In case of inclement weather ‐ check the Town of Medfield website for cancellation notice.

There will be a public tour of the facility after the meeting.

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Posted in Buildings, Fire Department, Police Department

Building Committee at 6:30AM

Posted on January 23, 2013 | Comments Off on Building Committee at 6:30AM

I attended the Building Committee meeting this morning – they started at 6:30 AM, and I got there about 15 minutes in.   They heard an update on the DPW garage planning progress from Roland Lavallee of HNTB and started the master planning process for the Dale Street municipal campus with the recently selected architect, HKT Architects, Inc.

Still lots of planning needed to get the DPW garage ready for presentation to the residents at the annual town meeting (ATM) for a vote.  The hope is to also have an annual town meeting (ATM) vote to allocate planning monies to pursue a new public safety building, which is a major part of the master planning.  The committee at 8:30 went off to hold a visioning session with the chiefs of the MPD and the MFD, and I went to work.

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Posted in Buildings

Building Committee

Posted on October 31, 2012 | Comments Off on Building Committee

The Building Committee tested this selectman’s dedication today by holding its meeting at 6:30 AM this morning.

The Building Committee is geared towards presenting their proposal for a new DPW garage at the annual town meeting (ATM) next April.  The current iteration of the garage is basically the same HNTB plan from before, but with two fewer bays and a smaller generator. The HVAC is being examined as well.

This morning’s pricing estimates from town consultant, Shane Nolan of Daedalus, indicate that a block building and a metal buildings are close to same price (ca. $100,000 difference), but lifespan of the block building is substantially longer.

The committee reviewed plans showing how the current equipment would be housed in proposed garage.

This observer was impressed with the level of understanding of the issues exhibited by the committee members.

Next meeting is 11/26 at 6:30 AM.

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Posted in Buildings

Notice of meetings is lacking

Posted on September 26, 2012 | 1 comment

Medfield has a problem – people cannot seem to get notification of upcoming meetings in which they are interested.

I am told that the Bayberry and Stagecoach Road neighbors missed our last Board of Selectmen meeting where their beaver problems were discussed because they were apparently not aware that the Board of Selectmen would be discussing their beaver problems that night.  And this morning I missed a Building Committee meeting that I wanted to attend because I did not get notified that it was happening.

My work around has been to rely on the list of town meetings published daily on Patch to fill in the gaps in what I know and do not know.  However, that does not work when one first reads of the meeting when it is over.

Medfield needs a system on its town website, like the ones already used by other towns, that allow people to sign up to receive notifications of meetings, agendas, and minutes of committees and/or departments in which they are interested.  Technology is too good today for Medfield to not be employing current best practices to make it easier for its residents to be engaged citizens.

1 Comment

Posted in Buildings, Select Board matters, Technology