Category Archives: Planning

Master plan

Posted on May 8, 2014 | Comments Off on Master plan

Andover’s Master Plan

Kris has shared with the Board of Selectmen two examples of master plans.  Below is the summary introduction to the 2012 Andover master plan and the above link is the whole master plan.  This is the link to the Norwell master plan.  It would serve Medfield well to go through both the rigors and process of creating a master plan.  –

What is the purpose of the Master Plan?
As citizens of Andover, we believe that our town is an exceptionally good place to live and to raise a family. At the same time, we recognize powerful trends in changing land use, resource availability, evolving responsibilities and expectations, and new technology that could dramatically alter our town. We have a choice. We can simply accept how the town evolves or we can creatively manage change.
To manage change, we need to understand ourselves and what is important to us — our values, our aspirations and the goals that we share for our community. The Master Plan provides a framework for decision-making that elevates the importance of these shared elements and desires. It is a policy guide and a framework for future land use and development. It includes assessments of existing resources and issues, as well as projections of future conditions and needs in consideration of community goals and desires. In sum, a Master Plan describes what the community is like today and what direction it should go in the future.
The Master Plan can play an important role in the ongoing work of Town Officials and Town Departments as a consistent point of reference for evaluating and prioritizing potential actions.
The data and analysis contained in the plan can be used for documentation in funding applications as well as for monitoring change over time.
Under Massachusetts Law, Section 81-D, it is the responsibility of the Planning Board to adopt and amend the Master Plan, but it is essential that the Board of Selectmen, the Town Manager, the
Finance Committee and Town Departments work together to ensure that the policies and actions are consistent with the Master Plan.

What is included in the 2012 Master Plan?
 Section 1 includes:
 The Vision which identifies the core values that bind Andover residents together. Shared values become critical guidelines for our elected officials and town staff as they make decisions on our behalf. The Vision was crafted over a two and a half-year period by the Vision 21 Committee, a Committee created by the Board of Selectmen, the Finance Committee and the School Committee. The Vision 21 Committee debated how to create a truly useful Vision, reviewed similar efforts by other communities, held open public input meetings and focus groups, conducted a survey at Town Meeting, and held roundtable discussions with town leaders. It invited experts on issues related to community and regional planning and the task of building a Vision. With this information, the Committee developed lists of shared values and potential strategies and used them to write this Vision.

 Main Goals are stated to provide direction on how to best implement the community Vision. The main goals for all seven elements of the plan are provided in Section 1 for easy reference.

 Sections 2 through 8 includes:
A reiteration of the Goals with specific and detailed Objectives and Information for each of the following:
Section 2 Land Use
Section 3 Housing
Section 4 Economic Development
Section 5 Open Space and Recreation
Section 6 Natural, Historic, and Cultural Resources
Section 7 Transportation and Circulation
Section 8 Municipal Facilities and Town Services
The Goals and Objectives are based on community input and are meant to reflect Andover’s residents’ broad desires for the Town’s future. If possible, indicators have been identified.
Indicators can be used to measure the effectiveness of policies and progress toward the Master Plan goals. Please note that Sections 2 through 8 provide detailed Objectives for each Goal.

 Section 9 outlines a plan for Implementation, which includes a variety of options, the assignment of responsibilities and target timeframes.

 The Appendices provide supporting documentation for the census charts, surveys, referenced plans and other relevant information that support the 2011 Master Plan.  The 2012 Master Plan was officially adopted by the Andover Planning Board per Massachusetts General Laws, Section 81-D on February 14, 2012.

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Posted in Planning

Pavement management plan needed

Posted on April 23, 2014 | Comments Off on Pavement management plan needed

The Massachusetts Municipal Association’s magazine is called the Municipal Advocate.  They had the recent article (below) on the benefits on having a pavement management plan.  I will be asking that Medfield institute a pavement management plan.

MUNICIPAL ADVOCATE Vol. 27, No. 2 25

Investing in Pavement Management

CAN IMPROVE ROADS, SAVE MONEY

The largest portion of your community’s infrastructure is literally under your feet—or your tires. A community’s pavement network allows residents and commerce to move from place to place, provides for efficient response time during emergencies, and offers safe bus routes to get children to school. Paved roads are, by far, the nation’s primary mode of transportation. For this reason, rebuilding, maintaining and preserving the condition of our pavement should be a top priority.
The aftereffects of serious winter storms can serve to remind us of the generally poor state of local roadway networks throughout Massachusetts. The reoccurring potholes, crumbling roadway edges, and new and deeper cracks that emerge in late winter and early spring are a fact of life, due largely to New England’s freeze/thaw cycles. The American Society of Civil Engineers reports that 41 percent of the major roads in Massachusetts are in poor or mediocre condition. Funding to repair and rebuild municipal roads is woefully inadequate, however. (See related stories, this issue.) A solution to this quandary for cities and towns may be an effective pavement management system.
A pavement management system—most likely the oldest type of asset management known to highway and transportation officials—is a long-term, formalized approach to gathering information about a community’s roadway network. Municipal officials then use the data to make informed roadway repair and maintenance decisions, prioritizing work to ensure the best return on investment. A pavement management system is a cost-effective tool for improving pavement conditions and maximizing the limited roadway repair and reinvestment dollars available to municipalities. A pavement management system can also help to build a case for additional funding for roadway infrastructure.
Some municipalities do an excellent job of pavement management, says John Livsey, the town engineer in Lexington, but most don’t have a strong enough grasp of the concept to benefit from its use. “I find that there is not a good understanding of pavement management among many of my peers,” he says. “For the majority of the towns I’m familiar with, the people who manage the roads don’t follow a pavement management process.”
WHAT IS PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT?
A pavement management system is a geographic information system-based technology used to measure a community’s entire road system, evaluate its road conditions, and log this data in a comprehensive database. The data are then analyzed and used to develop several important tracking metrics, including the average Pavement Condition Index (PCI). The backlog of needs is expressed in
both miles and dollars. Public works staff and other municipal officials respon-
Investing in Pavement Management
CAN IMPROVE ROADS, SAVE MONEY
By William Scarpati and Jerry Guerra
A public works crew does preventive maintenance on a road rated in “good” condition, which will extend its lifespan.
COURTESY PHOTO
William Scarpati is Senior Asset Management Specialist and Jerry Guerra is Manager of Marketing & Strategic Business Development for Fay, Spofford & Thorndike, a transportation engineering, planning and environmental consulting firm based in Burlington.
MUNICIPAL ADVOCATE Vol. 27, No. 2 23
sible for the pavement management
program monitor the metrics, setting and
measuring goals and results relative to
pavement condition and sustainability.
The idea is to take a comprehensive,
long-range view of a community’s roadway
assets. After completion of an initial
pavement management study, communities
usually make an upfront commitment to an
annual investment in maintenance,
including a strategic and balanced program
of resurfacing and base rehabilitation
improvement projects. Major reconstruction
projects are typically scheduled in later
years of the plan.
After conducting the study, communities
will sometimes, though not always, increase
their roadway budget. Rarely is the
additional investment enough to cover all
the work that’s needed, but with a strategic
program of maintenance and repair in
place (i.e., a pavement management system),
the dollars spent go a lot farther.
Livsey has overseen pavement
management programs in two towns, first
in Billerica and now in Lexington. “One
thing I hear from a lot of my peers is that
they can’t have a pavement management
program because they don’t have enough
funding,” he says. “I’d argue that it’s even
more important to follow a pavement
management program if funding is tight.
Once you begin following the early steps
and seeing how it works, you can make a
stronger case to the community to fund
roadway improvements. It builds on itself.”
A pavement management system can
alter the way municipal leaders think about
roadway maintenance. Typically, it will
turn the “worst-first” mentality completely
around. Fixing streets in the worst condition
first may seem like common sense, but it is
actually not the most efficient or costeffective
way to proceed. With a pavement
management system, municipalities can
clearly see the flaw in this thinking. Rather
than exhausting their budget to reconstruct
a one-mile stretch of roadway in poor
condition, with the same dollars a
community may be able to preserve or treat
eight miles of roadway in somewhat less
dire condition.
“The most important thing to understand
is that you need to do basic repairs and
general road maintenance early in the
process or pavement lifecycle,” says Steven
Tyler, superintendent of utilities and
facilities for the town of Spencer. “Those
are the least expensive repairs and, because
of it, they’re the most valued repairs. That’s
Failed
Very Poor
Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
Pavement Deterioration Curve
40% Drop
in Quality
40% Drop
in Quality
12% of Life
Will Cost $8
to $10 Here
75% of Life $1 for Renovation Here
Time
Condition
DO NOTHING
PCI Band #1 (100–88 PCI)
Excellent Condition — in need of no immediate maintenance.
ROUTINE MAINTENANCE
PCI Band #2 (87–68 PCI)
Good Condition — may be in need of crack sealing or minor localized repair
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE
PCI Band #3 (37–47 PCI)
Fair Condition — pavement surface in need of surface sealing or thin overlay
STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENT
PCI Band #4 (46–21 PCI)
Poor Condition — pavement structure in need of additional thickness to resist traffic loading
BASE REHABILITATION
PCI Band #5 (20–0 PCI)
Failed Condition — in need of full depth reconstruction/reclamation.
The PCI ranges given in this table are general averages. The actual treatment band threshold numbers depend on pavement surface type and
functional classification
(PCI) Treatment Band Ranges
24 MUNICIPAL ADVOCATE Vol. 27, No. 2
where the gap is. A lot of people in my
position don’t understand how critical it is
to spend money on roads in good condition
before you spend it on roads in bad condition.”
It’s a lot less expensive to maintain
pavement in decent condition—thereby
extending its useful lifecycle before it needs
replacement—than it is to completely
reconstruct a road that’s in poor condition.
At the same time, good maintenance of a
large portion of a community’s roadway
system helps to build public support and a
greater willingness to finance additional
repairs. “When people see the town doing
maintenance, and see that we’re taking care
of fifteen miles of road instead of three,
and it’s not just raw improvements, that
helps to get buy-in from the community,”
says Livsey.
THE PAVEMENT
MANAGEMENT
PROCESS
There are many ways to do pavement
management. Many cities and towns hire
an outside engineering firm or pavement
management consultant that incorporates
advanced software products, while others
choose to perform the duties in-house.
In the latter case, communities may use
technology as simple as spreadsheet software.
One approach to pavement management
includes the following steps:
1. Project Initiation Meeting: Consultants
meet with key community officials (e.g.,
DPW director, town/city manager, town/
city engineer) to establish goals, collect
existing data and prioritize the work areas.
2. Database Construction: The project
team collects and enters existing data
into the software, configuring the program
to prepare it for additional data entry.
3. Pavement Data Collection: An
inventory and evaluation of pavement
conditions is conducted for the agreedupon
roadway miles. Factors considered
include material type, age, geometry,
drainage, substructure conditions and
construction history, as well as basic
geophysical segmentation, average daily
traffic (if available), functional class,
curb reveal, and thickness (if available).
The comparative measure of this
information is the Pavement Condition
Index, which is rated on a scale of 0
(worst) to 100 (best). PCI surveying
practices and calculation methods
have been standardized by ASTM
International and accepted by the
American Association of State Highway
Transportation Officials. Typically,
communities strive for a PCI in the low
80s on their major arterial/collector
streets and high 70s on their local
roadway network.
4. Quality Assurance, Strategy Meeting
and Data Analysis: After ensuring
the integrity of the data, the consultant
and municipal officials meet to review
the findings, discuss the community’s
repair policies and prioritize objectives
to develop a long-term pavement management
strategy. The consultant then
determines what the repair “backlog” is
and establishes priorities, costs and
alternatives for stemming the pavement
network’s deterioration and moving
toward improvement.
5. Report of Findings: Data, costs and
alternatives are condensed into a report,
expressed in layman’s terms and
incorporating graphs, charts, tables and
other illustrations to better explain the
findings and proposed solutions.
6. GIS Integration: If a community has a
geographic information system available,
analysts develop a linear route system to
aid in the development of a new pavement
data layer in the system.
7. Training and Guidance: Consultants
will train community officials to
understand and use the software, while
remaining available to assist with the
implementation of the program. In many
cases, when the consultation is ongoing,
an annual status report is also part of
the process.
Even if a community is not willing or
able to engage an outside expert to
implement a pavement management system,
this should not prevent officials from
benefitting from the concept.
“It can be done at many different levels,”
says Lexington’s Livsey. “We had the
money to hire a consultant, so that’s what
we did. But a town can still go out there and
do an evaluation of their roads using a more
rudimentary scaling system. You need
some knowledge of the process, but you
can put together a system in a spreadsheet.
With in-house staff, you wouldn’t have the
power of [a commercial software] model,
and you don’t have someone whose sole
focus is the pavement management system
like you do with a consultant, but you
would at least get a decent understanding of
the funding you need.”
Realistically, communities with more than
100 miles of roadway may have a difficult
time conducting a comprehensive pavement
management review in-house. But the
bottom line is that any pavement management
system is better than nothing at all.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
Even communities that invest the time and
money in a pavement management system
can falter in the process. Turnover in key
positions or a shift in funding priorities can
spell trouble.
There are, however, some prescribed
steps that can improve a community’s
chances of benefitting from an investment
in pavement management.
• Ensure buy-in at the top. If a municipality’s
governing bodies and officials don’t
support the pavement management
system—or worse, don’t understand why
they’re doing it—it will more than likely
run off the rails. Communities with the
best pavement management results tend to
have political leadership with a strong
commitment to changing for the better
their approach to pavement repair and
maintenance.
• Identify project champions. Change is
often met with fear and resistance. The
person in the organization charged with
ensuring implementation of the pavement
management system must also be its
greatest advocate, stopping at nothing
until it is accepted and considered the

guiding force behind the pavement repair and maintenance process. The higher in the organization this person is, the better. It is also critical to identify additional champions to carry on this leadership should the primary person move on to another job.
• Select a software package that is best suited for your organization. Employing technology to solve problems can sometimes complicate a process, especially in the short term. As noted earlier, small and rural communities with a relatively low number of roadway miles can use a simple spreadsheet program. Larger and more urbanized municipalities should consider investing in a comprehensive asset/work order management software program that can address not only pavement, but also water, sewer, sidewalks, ramps, signs, signals and other systems. Whichever approach a community takes, officials should ensure that the program is robust enough to address issues such as short- and long-term prioritization, spending optimization, reporting and querying capabilities, and so on. And don’t skimp on training; the best system in the world is useless if the people who matter don’t know what it can do or how to use it.
• Conduct a quality assurance review of pavement management data. Proper analysis and planning require accurate data. Identify what you’re going to collect, why you need the information, how you will use it and so on. Identify the appropriate data and models required to produce the desired output. Conduct a pilot—select a snow route, district or ward to test data collection and modeling. Perform tests to ensure that the collected data is uniform and consistent, especially when multiple personnel are gathering and entering data.
• Deliver a readable and useful report. The people reading the data are likely to have a range of technical knowledge, so it is imperative to use language that is understandable to a wide audience. Express data and recommendations with terms such as dollars, miles, and months or years. Recommendations should be clear and candid. Tell it like it is.
• Continually update the pavement management database. Pavement/asset management is a living process. It should not be done once and then followed—or worse, forgotten. If pavement management is to be beneficial, the community needs to maintain accurate and up-to-date records of repairs, costs, schedules and so on. One rule of thumb is to inspect between one-quarter and one-third of the roadway network every year.
LONG-TERM BENEFITS
It’s tempting to look at pavement management as a quick fix or a silver bullet for all of a community’s roadway woes. While pavement management does offer some immediate benefits, this is not the primary motivation. A pavement management system is a long-range plan that will stretch a roadway repair budget and will eventually result in a vastly improved system. The plan typically covers a period of three to five years, with a focus on the work that is necessary to bring the roadway system up to more acceptable standards.
Identifying a community’s backlog of work, and the costs associated with addressing these needs, helps the community effectively manage the finances of its roadway infrastructure program. The pavement management system becomes the blueprint for a proactive, cost-effective preservation and maintenance program, as well as the foundation for a strategic capital infrastructure improvement plan.
The benefits don’t end with roads, however. Pavement management systems can be shared and coordinated with utility companies, for example. Before a city or town invests in a resurfacing project, it can ensure that any conflicts with utility infrastructure are addressed.
A pavement management plan overlaid with other condition assessments can help communities make better decisions about all of their assets. One example is sidewalk condition data, which allows a community to address issues related to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act by identifying problem areas. This includes costs and a timetable for corrective measures.
So what should a community do first? “I suggest talking to some neighboring communities to see what they’re doing and what’s working for them,” says Tyler. “When taking on a challenge of this nature, I feel more comfortable talking with my peers. If they have a pavement management plan, what do they like and what don’t they like, what works, how do they manage the data?
“Despite the challenges, pavement management has definitely benefitted Spencer. We’ve used it to make the public more aware of these concepts, and it has helped us get additional funding to improve the condition of our roads. When you document the issues and show the level of dollars needed, it makes you feel better about the decisions being made on where to spend money.”

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Posted in DPW, Planning

MSH visioning report

Posted on April 17, 2014 | Comments Off on MSH visioning report

The Medfield State Hospital visioning report is available, per email today from the Town Planner, Sarah Raposa –

Hi all,

Apologies for the delay in getting the final version of the report to you. It’s a large document so here is the link to download it from Dropbox. Let me know if you have difficulties accessing it.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hmiznbxp6xbqyow/MSH%20VISIONING%20REPORT%20HSH-DF%20Final%2004.15.14.pdf

All the best,

Sarah

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Posted in Medfield State Hospital, Planning

People needed to plan MSH uses

Posted on April 11, 2014 | Comments Off on People needed to plan MSH uses

Now that the town voted to buy the Medfield State Hospital site, the town needs to plan what to do with the land.  The Board of Selectmen will soon be creating a committee to do that planning work for the MSH site.  If anyone has an interest in working on that committee, they should submit their interest and relevant credentials to the Board of Selectmen as soon as possible.

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Posted in Development, Medfield State Hospital, Planning

Pocket park name

Posted on February 24, 2014 | Comments Off on Pocket park name

This press release from the Pocket Park Committee –

 Park Naming Contest Winner Announced

Medfield, MA: The Steering Committee responsible for the public process to design and name the town owned parcel between Zebra’s and Starbucks is pleased to announce the winning name of Straw Hat Park.

Chair Jean Mineo said the Committee would have been happy with either name. “But Straw Hat Park references a history rich in imagery and materials we hope to incorporate into the park design to connect people to the past in a meaningful and fun way.”

The Straw Hat Park name was overwhelmingly selected by 65% of the voters over Isaac Fiske Park which received 35% of the votes.” Mineo notes, “We were thrilled that 284 people cast a vote in the second round, indicating strong interest in the park and the process. Our sincere thanks to everyone who took time to read about the history of the park area and vote.”

Voting was conducted through an on-line survey and promoted in the press, social media, an email campaign, and in blogs through town leadership. In the first round, voters were asked to select a name or write in a suggestion of their own. The Committee launched a second round of voting for the two most popular names as a result. The Straw Hat Park name will appear as part of the Warrant Article for approval by residents at Town Meeting on April 28, 2014.

In addition to the naming contest, the Steering Committee has been working to develop a preliminary budget for the park and expects to complete the design concept this summer and begin work and plantings later this fall. For more information, contact JeanMineo@aol.com.

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Posted in Downtown, Planning

MAPC housing study

Posted on January 17, 2014 | Comments Off on MAPC housing study

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is our regional planning agency, and the MAPC has released a study about our area’s expected changes over the next several decades.  Medfield is not projected to add much in the way of housing units.  What did interest me most was

  • Medfield is not expected to add housing units, and may even lose some, despite the region needing to add 400,000 units;
  • Medfield was rated in the highest category for household size, but even we are expected to drop in size to 2040; and
  • generally the sort of units needed will change with more units needed for smaller households.

The need for all those new housing units may indicate an opportunity for the Medfield State Hospital site.  The following is from the introduction to the study –

New projections describe the challenges facing Metro Boston

To help the region and its communities plan for a changing and uncertain future, MAPC has prepared projections of population change, household growth, and housing demand for Metro Boston and its municipalities. The projections confirm that the aging and retirement of the Baby Boomers will have profound implications for the region, and that our economic future depends on attracting more young workers. More than 400,000 new housing units–mostly multifamily, and mostly in urban areas–will be needed by the year 2040 if the region is to keep growing its economic base.

LINK TO THE STUDY

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Posted in Development, Medfield State Hospital, Planning

MSH visioning

Posted on January 15, 2014 | Comments Off on MSH visioning

Last Saturday the State Hospital Advisory Committee (SHAC) held a visioning session to engage residents in a discussion about the future of the Medfield State Hospital.  Attached is the Agenda and Handout from that session.  The session was spectacularly successful, far exceeding my expectations.  There were many, many ideas floated and discussed, and the final report should make for fascinating reading.  These were my favorite take aways  –

  • per DCAMM, demolishing the building would run the town $11-14 per sq. ft. (all in) and there are about 658,000 sq. ft. of building, so $724K to $921K for the town to demolish all the buildings, including all costs.  Demolition would be cheaper if as planned it was done by the developer, who does not pay prevailing wages.  Everyone agrees the Lee Building should be saved.  The rest could be saved, but probably only at such high costs that Medfield residents will be unlikely to want to pay to save them, as residents would have to do via property tax increases
  • housing for older residents was a common theme
  • much open green space was a common theme, especially the square in the midst of the campus development.
  • include an outdoor public amphitheater – I suggest we locate the gazebo in Medfield at the back of the property so that the guests would actually be seated in the Dover on land that will not otherwise be used
  • Tom Sweeney’s idea to relocate Hospital Road to where it was formerly located (the current access road to McCarthy Park), so as to enlarge the grass expanse and vista at the front of the site

Below is the preliminary report on Saturday from SHAC visioning subcommittee member Ros Smythe, one of the primary planners of the event –

=======================

Visioning Session write up

 

Over 100 residents, including Medfield Selectmen and the Town Manager, and State Senator James Timilty, attended a Visioning Session hosted by the State Hospital Advisory Committee (SHAC) on Saturday, January 11 from 10 AM to 3 PM.   The purpose of the meeting was to educate townspeople on the issues and opportunities surrounding the potential $3.1 million purchase of approximately 137 acres of the hospital property, and to hear what the participants envision for the use of the land, if purchased.  Professional consultants, Ted Brovitz of Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates and Peter Flinker of Dodson and Flinker ran the session.

 

The morning was comprised of many presentations about different aspects of the history of the property, the condition of the land and buildings, and current considerations regarding the possible purchase of the property.  Participants formed into break-out groups in which they voiced the issues and opportunities they saw regarding the possible purchase of the land.  The overriding and major opportunity identified was the Town’s ability to control the re-use of the property.

The major issue was the uncertainty over additional costs to the Town beyond the purchase price.  The main expenses identified were: renovation or demolition of the structures; asbestos and lead paint removal; and maintenance and security costs until disposition.

 

The afternoon was devoted to scenario-building and at the end of the session each group presented a “vision” for the property, if purchased by the Town.  Although every plan was different. some common ideas were apparent. Consistent themes were: a Park and Recreation building on the approximately 37 acre sledding hill parcel; a desire to keep the view across the sledding hill as open space; height limitations of any reuse to allow the continued appreciation of the natural setting; the use of legislation to guarantee that the parcels adjacent to the core campus, which are to be retained by the State, remain as open space in perpetuity; paths and walkways throughout the whole parcel allowing connectivity between the various parcels of land and to adjacent open space properties;  maintaining the core campus village square feel; the development of a community space, utilizing the Chapel Building if suitable, for cultural activities; development of some commercial/professional space; and, fulfillment of 40B housing requirements and construction of “empty nester” homes through a mixed use development.

 

The SHAC would like to thank all the participants who attended the session.  We are grateful for your time and thoughtful comments.

 

For more information regarding the Medfield State Hospital, please go to mshvision.net or www.facebook.com/MSHVision.

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Posted in Development, Medfield State Hospital, Open space, Planning

MSH visioning this Sat.

Posted on January 8, 2014 | Comments Off on MSH visioning this Sat.

The town’s State Hospital Advisory Committee (SHAC) is holding a public visioning session this coming Saturday from 10 AM to 3 PM at The Center, to get input from all residents about what to do with the Medfield State Hospital site.  There will be a special town meeting (STM) in February or March for the town to decide whether to buy the MSH site for the $3.1 m. price the selectmen recently struck with DCAMM, so all residents are encouraged to attend to learn more and to give the town the benefit of their thoughts.

Buying the MSH site allows the town to control the ultimate uses of the site, and DCAMM has offered easy financial terms – they will finance the purchase over ten years, so that we only need to pay $310,000 per year.  In a worse case situation, the town would have to pay about $10 m. to demolish all the buildings, but it would be preferable to develop the core campus and have the developer do the demolitions, where they can do it less expensively since they do not have to follow prevailing wage law requirements so they can do it cheaper.

The scenario and time constraints are such that the town will need to first make the decision to buy, before the town can decide upon the ultimate uses of the land.  This inverted process results because:

  • the town would like to respond to the pending purchase opportunity before Governor Patrick and his administration leave office in a year (when that opportunity may disappear),
  • the required special legislation will need to be crafted and passed by July when the legislative session ends.
  • Semator Timilty opines that the legislation will need to be submitted by April to have any chance at passage in the legislature by July, and
  • the town has to have made the decision to buy the MSH site at the special town meeting (in February or March) before the legislature will even consider that needed legislation.

Hence the need to have a special town meeting (STM) in the next two months.

POSSIBLE USES

The SHAC recently circulated a survey to the residents, and got 258 responses.  The most popular suggested uses were for open spaces, trails, recreation, farming, and housing, more or less in that order.  The good news is that the site is sufficiently large that all of those uses can be accommodated along with the development that will provide the appropriate economic returns to the town.

OPEN SPACES & TRAILS – The town would be buying 134 acres that is surrounded by hundreds of other acres of land that is currently open space and will continue to be open space.  Those other lands that the town will not purchase contain many fields and trails that will continue to be open to the public to use, just as they are now.  All the lands along the river and the large fields to the east and west of the MSH buildings will continue to be public lands, open to all, just as now.

The 134 acres being bought by the town consists of two parcels, the 40 acres that surround the sledding hill and the 94 acres where the buildings are currently located.  While there are 40 acres around the sledding hill, only twelve of those acres on that side of Hospital Road will be able to be developed, due to state restrictions against development of lands containing agricultural soils.  Hence, 28 acres on that side of Hospital Road will not be developed and will remain open land.

I can today go out the door of my house (adjoining the MSH area) and jog or cross country ski for miles and hours, without ever being on roads, except to cross them, and there is so much open spaces in the area that fact will not change.

FARM – DCAMM has indicated that the town can discuss with the state’s Dept. of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the state entity that will acquire ownership and control of the fields to the east and west of the MSH buildings, about farm and/or CSA use of those lands.  I personally like exploring having a farm and/or a CSA operation in town, and I think the DCR lands at the MSH could be an excellent location, just as the town’s Holmquist lands would be as well.

RECREATION – As noted above, there will always be much open space available for passive recreation uses in that general vicinity.  The town can also opt to have any of the rest of the lands it buys made available for recreational uses.  One of the suggestions for development at the site is as a regional recreational facility.

HOUSING – There should be plenty of land on which to develop housing of the sort that is lacking and therefore needed in town, housing that which will not entail large municipal costs, such as housing for the elderly, housing for empty nesters, and/or dense developments such as Olde Medfield Square which has only one school child in its first 27 occupied units.

I have suggested that the town should develop a master plan to look at all our options for locating affordable housing and other town needs throughout the town, and I hope that we can integrate the MSH site into a town-wide plan that addresses all our future needs in a well thought out and integrated manner.  Planning the development at the MSH could then become part of our plan for the development of all the rest of the town.

Bill Massaro has been a close follower of and participant in the MSH clean up and development process.  His email this week does a nice job of summarizing our current situation –

=======================================
Sent: Saturday, January 4, 2014 7:15:34 PM
Subject: State Hospital Property Reuse Visioning Workshop 1-11-14 : What Would You Like To See There?

 Hi Everyone,

Because of your continuing  concern and support,  after 5 years of struggles we were able to reach agreement with DCAMM on the cleanup and restoration  of  the 100-year old hazardous landfill  alongside and in the Charles River at the former State Hospital.

So 2013 will be remembered as the year we not only protected the Town’s main well, but  left another  priceless gift to the future generations who will  take advantage of the safe recreational opportunities you have made possible, and who will forever appreciate the restored beauty on this stretch of the Charles.

The next few months present us with the opportunity to decide what gift we will leave for future generations on the rest of the Hospital  property .

After the Hospital closed  in 2003, DCAMM’s refusal to sell any of the property to the Town led to the 2008 Legislation authorizing  2 parcels for Developer sale and their reuse for 440 housing units.

As part of the new cooperative relationship, the current administration at DCAMM has offered to sell these 2 parcels to the Town.  The Board of Selectmen have accepted DCAMM’s offer and have begun defining a detailed purchase and sale agreement, and sometime within the next few months a Special Town meeting will be called to give residents the opportunity to approve or reject the purchase.

On Saturday January 11 at 10:00 a.m. at the Center on Ice House Road, the State Hospital Advisory Committee (SHAC) will hold a Visioning Workshop to get your views for potential uses of the property.  SHAC members will first present background information on the parcels  being offered,  provide details on the proposed terms of sale, and provide a summary of recent resident surveys and consultant studies on potential reuse of the property.

You will then have the opportunity in small break-out groups to discuss issues and opportunities.  Lunch will be provided and afterwards you can join in developing  scenarios for alternative future use of the property.

The attached invitation  provides additional information on the meeting time and a link for further information.

This meeting will give you the opportunity to have your voice heard in deciding how 2014 will be remembered by future Medfield generations.

I hope you can  attend.

The RSVP address is sraposa@medfield.net

Thanks

Bill

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Posted in Affordable housing / 40B, Development, Medfield State Hospital, Nature, Open space, Planning, Select Board matters, Sports, Town Meeting

Visions and Voices: Community Art Project

Posted on October 29, 2013 | Comments Off on Visions and Voices: Community Art Project

From Jean Mineo of the Cultural District –

Visions and Voices: Community Art Project

Pocket park between Zebra’s (21 North Street, Medfield) and Starbucks

(Medfield, MA): The Medfield Cultural District Committee is pleased to announce the second and final installation of the community art project Visions and Voices in the pocket park between Zebra’s and Starbucks.

During Medfield Day, a chalkboard kiosk was set up in the park for visitors to write their ideas for the park. Medfield photographer Connie Thomson took portraits of visitors which were then printed poster sized. These paper portraits are now temporarily installed along the sidewalk through the park to further capture public interest in this public space. The posters are adhered with a natural wheat paste and the paper will be completely removed within a few weeks; the duration is weather dependent.

Project Coordinator Jean Mineo says, “this project provided a way for people to reflect on their community and share their ideas publicly. Over 150 comments were left on the chalkboards during the two weeks they were in the park.” The portraits are part of the global on-line art project Inside Out, a creation of the artist JR, recipient of the 2011 TED prize.

Medfield Selectmen are appointing a Steering Committee to manage a public planning process over the winter. Anyone interested in participating in planning workshops can contact Jean Mineo at JeanMineo@aol.com or 508-242-9991 for more information.

Visions and Voices is supported in part by donations from Will’s Hardware and Photographs by Connie Thomson.

For More Information:

www.MedfieldCulturalDistrict.com

http://www.insideoutproject.net/en/group-actions/usa-medfield

Contact: Jean Mineo

508-242-9991


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Posted in Cultural, Downtown, Planning

Survey on MSH

Posted on October 28, 2013 | Comments Off on Survey on MSH

The State Hospital Advisory Committee’s subcommittee on the visioning process has a robust website and has also created and circulated a survey of residents’ desires with respect to the Medfield State Hospital site.

Alec Stevens says that the subcommittee wants people to answer the survey, and have them sign up on facebook or on the mailing list that is on the website so that the subcommittee can get a good contact list established to keep people informed as to the subcommittee’s progress, which they feel will be especially important as they soon get the word out about their visioning session.

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Posted in Development, Medfield State Hospital, Open space, Planning