Mike Sullivan penned his goals for the next year at the selectmen’s request a couple of weeks ago –
Medfield Town Administrator Goals 2015-2016
I. Communications
1. Schedule Town Boards and Committees to meet with Board of Selectmen on a regular basis to discuss opportunities, plans and obstacles in providing services to Town residents.
2. Investigating new website companies, working with Community Compact for transparent budgeting options
3. Creating opt in email communication system through the website
4. Maintain a running three month calendar of Town events and post it to the Town’s website.
II. Planning
1. Include funding in fy17 budget to prepare town-wide master plan and work with Planning Board and Town Planner to prepare.
2. Continue to work with Selectmen, Personnel Board and Town boards and commissions to plan, recruit and hire management staff. For fy16 plan for a transition in the Public Works Department.
3. Department heads, boards and committees will be asked to prepare a five-year operating and capital plan, as well as an estimate of budgetary requirements.
4. A draft Housing Production Plan was submitted to the Selectmen at the beginning of 2015. For fyl6, ask the Board of Selectmen, the Planning Board and the Housing Authority to refine and adopt an Affordable Housing Plan based on this draft. Also, ask the State Hospital Re-use Committee to include provisions in its re-use plan for an affordable housing component addressing the Town’s
40B requirements and a plan to provide moderate income 55 and older housing and/or assisted living housing.
5. The Town has adopted four of the five components necessary to qualify for Green Community Act status. An article will be placed on the 2016 Annual Town Meeting Warrant to adopt the fifth component, the “stretch code”.
6. Ground has broken on the town’s first public solar project at the wastewater treatment plant. It is expected to be completed and on line by the spring of 2016. Following up on that project, begin the plan for installation of a solar array on the roof of the town garage and the public safety building.
7. Medfield is a progressive Tree City. In addition to the 350 trees the Public Works Department planted and maintained during the Town’s 3501 Anniversary celebration, the Town has been active planting trees along Main and North Streets. This year the DPW and the Tree Warden have planted 12 trees on
Green Street and seven trees in Vine Lake Cemetery and has been replacing existing trees as needed. Certain restrictions established by the Americans with Disabilities Act for accessibility and the Department of Transportation requirements for bike paths, have created problems in planting street
trees on older roads, with narrow widths, but whenever possible the tree department replaces, plants new trees and does whatever it can to encourage Tree City standards. In addition, the Planning Board requires tree planting in new subdivisions. This year the new public safety building will include substantial tree plantings along Dale Street and the Tree Department will
continue to evaluate trees at the Medfield State Hospital site.
8. The Town has worked cooperatively with the School Department to fund, facilitate and support quality education. The combined Information Technology Departments, the coordination of energy and facilities improvements, coordination of snow removal operations to keep school closings to a minimum, conversion of the accounting system to provide for better financial reporting are
testament to this. For this year we are working with the school department to achieve compliance with the federal Affordable Care Act reporting requirements and to avoid high fines for not achieving compliance. The facilities manager will be working with the Library, the Council on Aging and the Public Works Departments to improve the efficiency of operations and develop reliable maintenance procedures to reduce the need for costly capital expenditures and to reduce the costs of energy usage. Among items to be looked at are roof and portico repairs at the library, solar power at The CENTER at Medfield and the DPW garage.
Ill. Capital Projects
1. Continue to work with the State Hospital Redevelopment Committee and the MSH Building and Grounds committee
2. In addition to the weekly on-site construction meetings, monthly meetings are held at the Town Hall to update the full Permanent Planning and Building Committee on the progress of the new Public Safety Building. To date the project is on time and within budget. Financing was completed during the summer to take advantage of the low interest rates. Town departments will provide assistance as requested.
IV. Finances
1. I held my annual financial program for the Warrant Committee in October and focused on fund accounting in order to give the Warrant Committee members an understanding of the Town’s broad financial picture. Also, scheduled an early budget meeting with the Selectmen and the Warrant Committee to get a head start on the fy17 budget process.
2. I will prepare a three year budget forecast. While cities and towns are very limited by state control of taxation, I will explore new opportunities to seek new revenues and will work to cut expenditures.
3. Police contracts are up for renewal next year and we expect they will be completed on time. Fire contracts are several years past due for renewals. We thought we had reached agreement with the negotiating team, but the membership rejected the proposed settlement. We will try to get the fire union back to the bargaining table and finish negotiations, but the fire union has shown little interest in doing so.
4. We will prepare an analysis of overtime expenditures, if requested by the Board of Selectmen.
5. Will submit an article for funding of a 20-year Capital Budget for the 2016 Annual Town Meeting Warrant.
V. Downtown
1. Replace the Main Street/Route 109 railroad crossing. Construct the Ed Doherty Memorial at Meeting House Pond. Complete construction of Straw Hat Park. Work with developers of downtown projects (Macready, Borrelli, Larkin family and the owners of the North Meadows Road strip mall) to complete their projects, along with landscaping improvements, parking and other amenities. Assist MedfieldTV with their move to the downtown and renovation of its new quarters.
2. Work with Police Chief and Town Planner on a MAPC sponsored 109 traffic study. Work with developer of old Ord’s Block to add 12 public parking spaces on Town owned land off Janes Avenue. Get the North Street reconstruction project moving.
3. Work with Town Planner and Economic Development Committee on the Downtown Summit and work to implement its recommendations.
4. Complete Straw Hat Park during the summer of 2016.
5. Set up meeting with Planning Board, Board of Selectmen, Historical Commission and Town Counsel to explore development of a Design Review bylaw. Review past Selectmen’s votes on sidewalk types/locations and work with DPW, Police Department and School Department and residents to develop a priority list for new sidewalk construction
