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I went for my first Friday office hours and discovered The Center closed and not yet plowed out.  I will hold my office hours next Friday from 9 – 10 AM instead.

Interestingly I learned that the town had already plowed out the Kingsbury Club, but not The Center.  I will ask why and also see if the town can start to mow the grass at The Center come spring.

DRAFT ANNUAL TOWN MEETING WARRANT ARTICLES, to date.

Still time to submit things you want addressed at the ATM.

1.Town Election.
2. Report of Town Officers.
3. Accept Cemetery Perpetual Care Funds.
4.  Reauthorize Fire Alarm Revolving Fund (Chapter 44, Section 53E 1/2).
5.  Reauthorize Ambulance Revolving Fund  (Chapter 44, Section 53E 1/2).
6.  Reauthorize Advance Life Support Fund (Chapter 44, Section 53E 1/2).
7.  Reauthorize Community Gardens Fund (Chapter 44, Section 53E 1/2).
8.  Reauthorize Rental Income Revolving Fund (Chapter 44, Section 53E 1/2).
9.  Reauthorize Library Revolving Fund (Chapter 44, Section 53E 1/2)
10.  Reauthorize Respite Care Revolving Fund (Chapter 44, Section 53E 1/2).
11.  Vote to reduce residency requirements for qualified veterans from five years to one year as provided in last paragraph of Chapter 59, Section 5, Clause 22.
12.  Accept Provisions of Section four, Chapter 73 of the Acts of 1986; tax-exemptions  (routine-voted every year)
13.  Accept MGL Chapter 60A, Section 1, Paragraphs 6, 7 & 8, exempting from motor vehicle excise tax qualifying active and full time military members or veterans with qualifying disabilities
14.  Accept MGL Chapter 60A, Section 9 to permit deferral of motor vehicle excise tax for a member of the Mass National Guard or reservist or dependent of a member of the Mass National Guard or reservist for up to 180 days after completion of that service.
15.  Fix Salary and Compensation of Elected Officials.
16.  Amend Personnel Administration Plan-Classification of Positions and Pay Schedule as set out in the Warrant.
17.  Operating budgets.
18.  Capital Budgets.
19.  Appropriate a sum of money to provide for payments under the Senior Tax Work-off Program and the Veterans Volunteer Work Tax Abatement Program
20.  Amend the Town of Medfield By-laws to regulate public consumption of  marijuana.
21.  Appropriate sewer betterments paid-in-advance to Sewer Stabilization Fund.
22  Transfer funds from Fy14  County Retirement budget to  the Unfunded Retiree
Health Insurance Stabilization Fund and appropriate funds and transfer a sum of money  from free cash to the Unfunded Retiree Health Insurance Stabilization Fund.
23 Accept MGL, Chapter 32B, Section 20 establishing an Other Post Employment Benefits    Liability Trust Fund and (?) appoint a Health Care Security Trust board of trustees, as provided in MGL, Chapter 29D, Section 4, and transfer all monies in the Unfunded Retiree Health Insurance Stabilization Fund to the Other Post Employment Benefits Liability Trust Fund
24 Appropriate funds and authorize borrowing for preparation of design and construction documents and for the construction, equipping, furnishing and landscaping of a public safety building.
25 Appropriate funds for the reconstruction of a sidewalk on Main and South Streets and transfer the balance of funds appropriated under Article 30 of the 2013 Annual Town Meeting for preservation of the Lord’s sign. 
26 Appropriate funds and authorize borrowing and easements for the construction of a replacement water tower and associated water mains at the site of the former Medfield State Hospital.
27 Appropriate the sum of $139,207 said sum to be transferred from the Water Enterprise Fund unrestricted fund balance to the General Fund Stabilization Fund, to reimburse the General Fund Stabilization Fund for monies appropriated under Article 2 of the October 2013 Special Town Meeting to pay for design of a water tower and associated water mains
28 Appropriate sums of money from the Water and Sewer Enterprise Funds for the purpose of inspecting, repairing and upgrading the water and sewer infrastructures. 
29 Authorize Board of Selectmen to lease Lot 3, a parcel of Town-owned land off Ice House Road, for ? purposes.
30 Appropriate a sum of money to match the funds received from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for Cultural Council awards or put in Selectmen’s budget?
31 Appropriate a sum of money for the Veteran’s Day recognition breakfast or put in Veteran’s Services budget?
32 Articles for updating of by-laws? Remove limitation on number of town meeting speakers. Anything else?
33. Establish by right zoning district or overlay zone for solar generation and/or other uses (R & D, manufacturing, generation).
34.  Vote to adopt stretch code for building construction (Energy Committee not sure how it will proceed) (Planning Board will not sponsor. Should Selectmen co-sponsor?)
35. Appropriate a sum of money for hiring consultants to advise on matters relating to former Medfield State Hospital site.  
35 Appropriate funds for construction of a pocket park on Town-owned land between Starbucks and Zebra’s.
36  Appropriate free cash to reduce tax rate

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 21,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 8 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

As selectman, I  hold regular monthly office hours at The Center on the first Friday of every month from 9:00 to 10:00 AM.   I will be there this Friday.

Residents are welcome to stop by to talk in person about any town matters.  Residents can also have coffee and see the Council on Aging in action (a vibrant organization with lots going on).  I can be reached via my cell at 508-359-9190 or you can follow my blog about Medfield matters  – https://medfield02052.wordpress.com.

Email from David & Annie Domeshek –

12/05/2013 8:32AM
Light a Candle
===========================================================

Sunday, December 8th, is the night set aside to light a candle all over the world for children who have died. Unfortunately, the list of children we light for has grown every year. Please light a candle, for one hour, for Natasha and all the others, at 7:00 p.m. this Sunday night. It goes around the world so that for 24 hours they will all see our lights.

As the Compassionate Friends newsletter says, “It takes only you and one candle to join hearts with the world.”

Gratefully,

Annie and David

The Board of Selectmen last night signed a letter (copy inserted below) to send our sent comments to DCAMM about the latest plans to clean up the volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) at the Medfield State Hospital site.  Boss’s comments were developed for us by the State Hospital Environmental Review Committee (SHERC), composed of four Licensed Site Professionals (LSP’s) and an attorney.  Bill Massaro also submitted his own, which appear below.

The status of the VOC clean up was discussed at both the meeting and by this participant with Bill Massaro after the meeting, and there seems to be general agreement that the state by DCAMM is pursuing the proper plan to clean up those VOC’s.  The VOC plume extends from under the former laundry building (recently demolished) at the crest of the hill over looking the Charles River, down the hill towards the Charles River.  In general terms, the state clean up will involve the insertion of chemicals into wells to oxidize the VOC’s, and DCAMM has recently decided upon the agent to use, hydrogen peroxide.  The method is reported to be both proper and effective, such that the VOC’s will eventually be removed from the ground, and the area will meet ground water drinking standards.  The VOC’s present in the soil now actually only exceed the ground water drinking standards by a small increment at this time.

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

TOWN OF MEDFIELD
Office of BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MICHAEL J. SULLIVAN
Town Administrator
TOWN HOUSE, 459 MAIN STREET
MEDFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS 02052-0315

November 21, 2013

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Division of Capital Asset Management
One Ashburton Place, lS’h Floor
Boston, MA 02108

Attention: Mr. Allen Wiggin

RE: Comments on DCAMM Submittal for Former Medfield State Hospital Draft Phase IV – SPD Area and Power Plant Area Groundwater Remedy Implementation Plan, November 2013
DEP RTN 2-3020799

To Whom it May Concern:

On November 7, 2013 DCAMM and Weston & Sampson presented their Draft Phase IV – Special Project Designation Area & Power Plant Area Groundwater Remedy Implementation Plan.  Copies of this document were released to the Town for review. These reports were reviewed by some members of the PIP Group, the State Hospital Environmental Review Committee (SHERe), along with the Town’s consultants. The Town was given 20 days to review and comment on the Plan.

The following comments do not include a discussion of the petroleum issue related to the Power Plant underground storage tanks, as this issue will be discussed at a future technical meeting with DCAMM and the Town. In order to facilitate the discussions, draft comments on the petroleum issue are being sent to DCAMM under separate cover.

We appreciate the opportunity to comment on these draft submittals.

Sincerely,
Mark L. Fisher
Osler L. Peterson
Richard P. DeSorgher

Phase IV – SPD Area Groundwater RIP

1. We appreciate that the areas of highest concentration ofPCE are planned to undergo ISCO remediation. What is the plan, natural attenuation or otherwise, for addressing wells within the Potentially Productive Aquifer that have dissolved PCE above G W -I standards so that permanent closure can be achieved (PP-MW-IOI, 102, 103, CD-MW-IOO, 101, etc)?

2. As acknowledged in Section 3.2.1 on page 3-1 of the RIP, the specific source locations of PCE in the groundwater (if they exist) have not been identified, and PCE has not been identified at elevated concentrations in the soil suggesting a source area. The report should consider that the sewer line from the Laundry building to the river could be a source area, such as in the area of SPD-MW-50I near the Laundry building, near PP-MW-205 at the former power plant, and SPDMW-508 and 506 near the river. The old sewer construction, which appears to be brick, may not have been tight. If low levels of PCE still exist in soil around this piping, continued leaching may result in continued rebound above GW-I standards in the groundwater.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to comment on these documents.

cc: Ms. Carole Cornelison, Commissioner, DCAM
Mr. John O’Donnell, PE, lSP, Deputy Director, DCAM
Ms. Sandra Duran, Director, DCAM
Mr. Mark Baldi, Section Chief, MassDEP Central Regional Office
Mr. Frank RiCCiardi, P.E., lSP, Weston & Sampson
Ms. Margaret Van Deusen, Deputy Director and General Counsel, CRWA
Mr. John Thompson, lSP, SHERC Chairman
Ms. Deborah Bero, Esq., Medfield Conservation Commission, SHERC
Nancy Benotti, Board of Health
Mr. Ralph Tella, lSP, SHERC
Mr. Cole Worthy, LSP, SHERC
Ms. Andrea Stiller, lSP, ADS
Dr. Cheryl Montgomery, US ACE – ERDC
Town of Medfield Repository, Public library

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

William J. Massaro
36 Evergreen Way
Medfield, MA 02052

26 November 2013

Mr. Allen Wiggin
MassachusettDs ivision of Capital AssetM anagement
AshburtonP lace,l5 thF loor
Boston,M A 02108

Re: Comments – Draft Phase IV- dated November 2013 SPD Area & Power Plant Area GW RIP RTN 2-3020799

Dear Mr. Wiggin:

This letter is written in responseto DCAMM’s requestf or comments/questions/concerrns regarding the subject Draft PhaseI V RemedyI mplementationP lan presentedb y Mr. John O’Donnell and Mr. Frank Ricciardio n 7 November2 013t o Medfield Selectmen, representatives of the Selectmen’s State Hospital Environmental Review Committee (SHERC), PIP members, and concerned residents.

Although the initial draft of my comments/questions/concems had also addressed unresolved Power Plant Area petroleum issues, they have not been included in this final letter based on discussions with SHERC and correspondence from DCAMM confirming that they will be the subject of joint technical discussions in the near future.

Regarding the Groundwater Remedy Implementation Plan :
There are two exceedences of GW-l standards within the C&D Area at CD-MW-101 and at CDMW-100.  Although these locations and their PCE concentrations are clearly shown on Figure 3 and Figure 5, I could not find them on any of the Tables or in any of the text. While these 2 locations are not in the “Power Plant” or the “SPD Area”, they were the subject of previous comments sent on 3l January 2011  regarding the Supplemental Phase II SOW-CVOC Issue dated January 2011. These comments had specifically requested additional monitoring wells downgradient of CD-MW-101.

The Settlemen Agreement for Remediation of the C&D Area calls fbr monitoring in the C&D Area until “detected contaminants are below drinking water standards for 4 consecutive quarters, but in no event less than 2 years”.

a. Why have C D-MW-100 and C D-MW-101, the only remaining CVOC exceedences to GW-l associated with the plume, been omitted from this discussion of the GW RIP?

b. Excavation of C&D Area contaminateds oil is currently scheduled to begin Summer 2014 and to complete by Fall of 2015. What is the post-injection CVOC monitoring plan for CD-MW-100 and CD-MW-101?

Thank you for the opportunity to submit these questions.

cc:

Mr. Mark Baldi, Mass DEP CERO-BWSC
Mr. John O’Donnell, Mass Division of Capital Asset Management
Medfield Town Administration (M. Sullivan, K. Trierweiler)
Medfield Town Selectmen( M. Fisher,O . Peterson, R . DeSorgher)
SHERC
Ms. Andrea Stiller

From Jean Mineo

As an update, we were only able to install 2 of the 4 sides of the first Art Box today – the temperature was just too cold for the materials and it makes the vinyl brittle so it cracks and rips. I am working on a way to set up a tent and heaters for a few hours to finish it before long and just wanted to ask you to reassure people who may ask you about it that it is NOT complete, but will be soon. There was SO much interest from people on the street today, everyone who walked by stopped to talk about it. ACD Pest Control has since emailed to ask if they can sponsor a box (YES!)….

Here’s the link to the information on the Medfield Historical Society about Monks and the images: 

http://medfieldhistoricalsociety.org/art-box-project-j-a-s-monks

Many thanks,

Jean

Baxter Park ceremony to honor veterans at Baxter Park, thanks to Michelle Doucette.  Beautiful, poignant, and short ceremony.

Dennis Garlick addresses the first Medfield Veterans Day breakfast organized by Veterans Service Officer, Ron Griffin, at The Center.  Senator Jim Timilty and Congressman Joe Kennedy also attended to recognize and honor our veterans.

The servers were MHS students from the group Warriors for the Warriors, and the cooks were the many town residents and employees.
Luminaries at 5PM at Baxter Park this afternoon to honor veterans.