BoS minutes for 12/3

Posted on January 17, 2014 | Comments Off on BoS minutes for 12/3

Meeting Minutes
December 3, 2013 draft

PRESENT: Selectmen Fisher, Peterson, DeSorgher; Town Administrator Sullivan; Assistant Town Administrator Trierweiler; Town Counsel Cerel; Administrative Assistant Clarke

The meeting convened at 7:00PM in the Chenery Meeting Room
Chairman Fisher announced the meeting is being recorded. He asked for a moment of appreciation for our brave servicemen and women serving in Afghanistan.

7:00 PM Public Hearing and Vote
Town Counsel Cerel explained that this pUblic hearing has been advertised. It is a statutory process for the Selectmen to exercise General Law Chapter 61, Section 8 First Refusal Option regarding Land of Robin Kenny, et als.; Trustees of Red Gate Farm Realty Trust containing approximately 31 acres located on Foundry and Philip Street for the purchase price of $1,385,000. Resident John Harney was recognized and he asked why this hearing. It seems to him that something is not right that this is now happening after the Town’s overwhelming vote at the polls. Counsel Cerel explained that this process is taking place so that the Town will not be challenged going forward with the purchase; closing in 90 days. The hearing closed at 7:08PM.

VOTE: Selectman Peterson made a motion to adopt the order as presented and sign the purchase and sale agreement, seconded by Selectman DeSorgher. Vote was unanimous

Mr. Peterson remarked that Mr. Harney has raised a few issues and I want to stress that the Board of Selectmen has been forthright with all the details surrounding the purchase of Red Gate Farm.

MEDFIELD CULTURAL COUNCIL
Member Susan Parker said that she is here this evening to discuss a proposal for the town to support the council’s request to match the state allocation of $4,250 for FY 2015. She explained that several cultural events took place due to the state grant; however, because we did not have funding ten other events did not take place. Mr. Sullivan remarked that the matching amount of $4,250 will be placed in the Selectmen’s budget and must be approved by Annual Town Meeting. The Selectmen agree that the Cultural Council has done a tremendous service to the Town with the events that have taken place; Selectmen support the matching fund proposal.

VOTE: On a motion made by Selectmen Peterson, seconded by Selectman DeSorgher, to recommend a line item in the FY2015 budget of $4,250 designated to the Medfield Cultural Council and to be voted at annual Town Meeting. Vote was unanimous.

PRSENTATION FOR PROPOSED CLARK TAVERN, EAST MAIN STREET
Attorney Ted Cannon introduced his clients residents John and Michelle Linnert who will give an overview oftheir proposed project. It is understood that the Selectmen have no jurisdiction
concerning the project.  Michelle Linnert said that they plan to renovate the house located at 353-355 Main Street and return it to its former use as a tavern adding a five room bed and breakfast and a function room for receptions, parties, meetings with seating capacity for 90 maximum. We will do everything we can to keep it as authentic as possible. Parking will meet the Town’s requirement;  here will be an exit and entrance on the west side of the property; landscaping is minimal. A traffic study was conducted which concluded that the proposed gravel driveway on the east side (close to the Peak House) should be eliminated for safety reasons. When the subject of a sidewalk was introduced, Mr. Linnert responded that they are willing to extend the sidewalk at our expense.

Mr. Peterson said that the Selectmen have received copies of letters from the direct neighbors to the property which raises many questions and concerns and was surprised at their reactions to the project.

Selectman DeSorgher remarked that he hopes the Linnerts and the abutters have an opportunity to talk and work out the legitimate concerns of the neighbors as this project is a win-win situation for the Town. As this house has been empty for several years it may face demolition by neglect; it would be very sad to lose this historic property.

MEDFIELD STATE HOSPITAL
Negotiating Committee members Steve Nolan and Ken Richard spoke about the proposal to have the town purchase 132 acres of hospital land. The first price from the state was 4.4 million; Medfield’s counter offer was 1.9 million. In their November 7 letter, DCAMM’s offer is $3.1 million that includes a stipulation that the conveyance ofthe property to the town is no later than December 2014. The Negotiating Committee recommends the town accept this offer as it is the best that will come along.

Mr. Peterson agrees as he feels the Town will control the use of the property should we buy it.

Mr. DeSorgher notes that a new administration is on the horizon that could be to our detriment. The offer to accept or not will be in the hands of a Town Meeting vote.

It was mentioned that at this purchase price the Town would be paying the state $30,000 an acre while a building acre in Medfield costs $350,000. An on-line survey is available for townspeople to have input as to what they would like to see on the property. Also, a Public session will take place on January 11 at the CENTER to gather and discuss any and all ideas about what will happen to it. The Negotiating Committee recommends that the Selectmen on behalf of the Town continue to move forward with the process and sign the term sheet prepared by DCAMM. It does not mean in any way that the Town is buying the property; it is just the first step.

VOTE: On a motion made by Selectman Peterson, seconded by Selectman Desorgher it was voted unanimously to adopt the term sheet as written.

ACTION ITEMS
On a motion made and seconded, it was VOTED unanimously to appoint Ron Gustavson to the Medfield Cultural Council and as recommended by Cultural Council Chair, Jean Mineo

The Selectmen are invited to attend Eagle Scout Court of Honor for Nicholas Sauro on Saturday January 4, 2014 and for Peter Whelan on Saturday January 18, 2014

Mr. Peterson noted that the November S, 2013 meeting minutes listed Ron Griffin as resigning from the Committee to Study Memorials when in fact it is Rob Gregg.
On a motion made and seconded it was VOTED unanimously to accept the meeting minutes of October 22 and November 5,2013 with revisions

LICENSES & PERMITS
On a motion made and seconded, it was VOTED unanimously to approve all alcoholic licenses for the calendar year 2014 to: Basil, Jing’s Garden II, Kingsbury Club Medfield, Noon Hill Grill, Takara, Zebra’s; a club license to American L:egion Beckwith Post #110-; all alcohol package store license to Bullard’s Market, Larkin’s Liquors and Palumbo Liquors; wine and malt license to Medfield Wine Shoppe and Medfield Commons

On.a motion made and seconded it was VOTED unanimously to grant permission to High School student Kathleen Lanzilla to post signs in designated location promoting a food drive to benefit the Medfield Food Cupboard

Mr. DeSorgher interjected that he would like to have the Building Inspector be on the lookout for signs that are non compliant

On a motion made and seconded, it was VOTED unanimously to grant a one-day wine and malt beverage permit to the Council on Aging for the December 18, 2013 Supper Club

PENDING
Nominations have been submitted for appointments to the Pocket Park Steering Committee.

VOTE: On a motion made by Selectman Peterson to appoint Jean Mineo, Matt McCormack, Tim Larkin, Monique Allen, Minta Hissong, Sarah Raposa and Jim Snyder to the Pocket Park Steering Committee, seconded by Selectman DeSorgher, it was voted unanimously

SELECTMEN REPORT
Mr. Peterson announced that the Angel Run will take place this Sunday December 8 at 2 PM. The Run will start and end at the Wheelock School. Also, the Medfield Foundation is looking for Volunteer ofthe Year nominations. Please submit by January 31,2014. He went on to say that it was suggested to him that a sidewalk/pathway from Wild Holly road to the Wheelock School be constructed. Mr. Sullivan replied that it there may be issues with involves conservation land (wetlands) and private property.

Mr. Desorgher requests that Ken should review a DEP sign in the area of Elm Street and Knollwood Road to see if it can be removed. Also have Ken check potholes that should be tarred and filled in at: Philip Street and Elm Street; Harding Street and Longmeadow Road;  also in front of 17 Knollwood Road. Mr. DeSorgher brought up the subject of styrofoam containers and plastic bags noting that Brookline recently approved a ban; Great Barrington has banned plastic bags effective this year; Manchester by the Sea their ban goes into effect in July and Nantucket has enforced a ban since 1990. Perhaps the Selectmen should appoint a committee to research the subject of banning plastic bags and Styrofoam containers in Medfield to present to Town residents. He attended the Planning Board meeting listening to the Roche bros. project.
Selectman DeSorgher offered condolences to the family of Bob McCarthy who recently passed away. Many years ago Bob was a Medfield Policeman, always had a smile and just a great individual.

Mr. Fisher reminded the audience that this Thursday December 5 is First Thursday and invited all to go to the Dwight Derby House and Zullo Gallery, always a pleasant evening. Friday evening the Christmas Tree Lighting will take place at Baxter Park along with caroling. Saturday at 1PM the Christmas Parade will begin. He urges residents and neighbors to come and enjoy.  The Medfield Lions Club is selling Christmas trees, a good selection and good quality  trees that come from Maine.

INFORMATIONAL
Mr. Sullivan highlighted a letter from Nstar wherein they write that they will not reimburse municipalities for police details used during emergency events.

Meeting adjourned at 9:00pm.

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BoS agenda for 1/21

Posted on January 17, 2014 | Comments Off on BoS agenda for 1/21

Tuesday January 21, 2014 @ 7:00 PM

AGENDA (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

7:00 PM William Donovan, Town employee Discuss snow plowing policy for Wastewater Treatment Plant employees

7: 15 PM Park and Recreation
Discuss FY2015 budget

ACTION
An invitation was received from Boy Scout Troop 89 to attend the Eagle Scout Court of Honor for Eric Lundstrom, Jake Lester and Benjamin Wilson on Saturday February 8, 2014 at the United Church of Christ

LICENSES & PERMITS
Church of the Advent respectfully requests a one-day wine and malt permit for annual dinner event on Saturday March 1,2014

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Posted in Select Board matters

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

MMA annual meeting

Posted on January 16, 2014 | Comments Off on MMA annual meeting

The Massachusetts Municipal Association’s annual meeting is coming up at the end of next week, and a lot of Medfield officials are attending.  For the first time in my tenure as a selectman, all three selectmen will reportedly be attending.  Mike Sullivan shared with me that numerous other town employees will attend this year as well.

I find that I always get a multitude of great ideas on how to approach Town of Medfield governing issues from the many presentations by the myriad of those who have already been dealing with the same issues we face, whether they be the paid experts looking to sell their wares, or more importantly the state and municipal officials who are voluntarily sharing of their time and expertise in already having dealt with the issues.  The major lesson is that Medfield is one of 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, and that all 351 are dealing with the same issues and their officials are willing to share what is working well for them.  Correct information and complete data are the basis for any good decision making, and the MMA annual meeting is the best source for getting details about municipal governance, so I am especially pleased that all your selectmen and many other town officials will be taking advantage of the opportunity.

Year ago as I set off to my first MMA annual meeting, Mike Sullivan whispered in my ear that residents would not think well of a selectman costing them large amounts by staying at the hotel, which I took as sage advice, so I cheap out by going to all the informational meetings, but skip the the dinners and the entertainment, and commute home at night.

This was the MMA’s email notice to get last minute sign ups –

MMA Annual Meeting News
January 24 & 25, 2014
Hynes Convention Center & Sheraton Hotel

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN AND BOSTON MAYOR MARTIN WALSH TO ADDRESS MMA ANNUAL MEETING
Register Today to Attend Annual Meeting
United States Senator Elizabeth Warren and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh will address local officials at the MMA Business Meeting on Saturday, January 25, 2014 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.  The MMA Business Meeting will start at 11:15 a.m. on Jan. 25.  Local officials will want to hear from these exciting new leaders!

Other Event Highlights:

  • Opening Session Keynote address by Pulitzer Prize winning author Jon Meacham
  • Closing session features a Gubernatorial Candidates’ Forum moderated by Jon Keller.
  • WEMO luncheon with Public Safety Secretary Andrea Cabral.
  • A robust Trade Show featuring many companies that provide the latest products and services needed to run communities including Massachusetts State 911 Department’s Mobile Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP)
  • Meet with key legislators and state officials
  • Attend information-packed workshops and three emerging issues forums on key municipal issues
  • Opening Reception
  • Friday Evening Banquet with Liz Walker
  • Networking opportunities
  • Member Associations’ Business Meetings
  • Innovation Awards, Town Report Contest and Municipal Website Awards
  • President’s Reception
  • Saturday Evening Banquet with Second City

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Posted in Massachusetts Municipal Association

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

POCKET PARK NAMING CONTEST

Posted on January 15, 2014 | 3 comments
This from Jean Mineo –
POCKET PARK NAMING CONTEST
Deadline: Thursday Jan. 23, 2014 at 5 pm
The Town of Medfield owns a small 5,352 square foot parcel of land between Zebra’s and Starbuck’s that has affectionately been called the Pocket Park for lack of an official name. The Pocket Park Steering Committee was appointed in Oct. 2013 to initiate a public planning process to both propose a design for the park and establish its name.
Naming Contest
Medfield residents are invited to vote on, or propose, a name for the Pocket Park by completing an on-line survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PocketPark
History of the site is included in the short survey.
As an added incentive, Woodland Theater has generously donated two tickets to a Jan. 24 – 26 performance of Spelling Bee, one of Broadway’s most buzzed about Tony award winning musicals. The winner for the tickets will be selected at random from among all entries. The performance takes place in the Lowell Mason Theatre at the Medfield High School and additional tickets may be purchased at www.Woodland-Theatre.com.
The Pocket Park Steering Committee will select the name from among the entries and forward for approval at Town Meeting. Thank you for participating in this exciting opportunity to name our Pocket Park!
For questions or more information, please email JeanMineo@aol.com

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Posted in Cultural, Development, Downtown, Open space

Medfield Press article on volunteer awards

Posted on January 15, 2014 | Comments Off on Medfield Press article on volunteer awards

The Medfield Press has an article this week on the Medfield Foundation volunteer awards, with a nice photo of Albert Manganello, Jr. at the 2013 reception discussing his volunteer work on behalf of veterans.  Al received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.

This is my nice photo of Al, out doing his work for the veterans.

al manganello, jr

Nominations of volunteers for recognition in 2014 must be in by Jan. 31.  The form to nominate a volunteer is at www.MedfieldFoundation.org.

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Volunteer nominations due 1/31

Posted on January 13, 2014 | Comments Off on Volunteer nominations due 1/31

Nominations Open until Jan. 31 for Medfield Foundation Volunteer Awards

Nominate an extraordinary person for the 2014 Medfield Foundation volunteer awards by 1/31/14.

Cynthia Greene
Cynde Greene was nominated for last year’s Medfield Foundation Volunteer Awards.

Cynthia Greene was recognized for her work with the Medfield Energy Committee, the Medfield League of Women Voters, SEPAC, and the Town’s Charter & Bylaw Review Committee

Nominate someone for the 2014 Medfield Foundation volunteer awards by downloading the form from http://www.medfieldfoundation.org, and e-mailing your nomination as an attachment to MfiVolunteerAward@gmail.com no later than January 31, 2014.

The MFi’s 2014 volunteer recognition reception, again sponsored through the generous community spirit of the Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation, will be held from 3 -5 PM on Sunday, March 23, 2014 at The Center – all are welcome.

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CPA

Posted on January 8, 2014 | Comments Off on CPA

I was just looking over a great source of information about Massachusetts’ Community Preservation Act (CPA).  The CPA is the opt in system in Massachusetts that gives towns state matching monies once adopted.  See the Community Preservation Coalition’s website – http://www.communitypreservation.org/   Unfortunately, to date, Medfield has yet to opt in, so while we continue to pay in, we are leaving the state monies on the table.

This is the Community Preservation Coalition’s summary description of the CPA –

CPA is a smart growth tool that helps communities preserve open space and historic sites, create affordable housing, and develop outdoor recreational facilities. CPA also helps strengthen the state and local economies by expanding housing opportunities and construction jobs for the Commonwealth’s workforce, and by supporting the tourism industry through preservation of the Commonwealth’s historic and natural resources.

Over a decade of work went into the creation of the CPA; it was ultimately signed into law by Governor Paul Cellucci and Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift on September 14, 2000. Read more about the history of CPA.

CPA allows communities to create a local Community Preservation Fund for open space protection, historic preservation, affordable housing and outdoor recreation. Community preservation monies are raised locally through the imposition of a surcharge of not more than 3% of the tax levy against real property, and municipalities must adopt CPA by ballot referendum. View a map of all CPA communities, or learn more about CPA adoption.

The CPA statute also creates a statewide Community Preservation Trust Fund, administered by the Department of Revenue (DOR), which provides distributions each year to communities that have adopted CPA. These annual disbursements serve as an incentive for communities to pass CPA. Learn more about the distribution amounts received to date by CPA communities.

Each CPA community creates a local Community Preservation Committee (CPC) upon adoption of the Act, and this five-to-nine member board makes recommendations on CPA projects to the community’s legislative body. To explore CPA projects completed to date, visit our CPA Projects Database.

Property taxes traditionally fund the day-to-day operating needs of safety, health, schools, roads, maintenance, and more. But until CPA was enacted, there was no steady funding source for preserving and improving a community’s character and quality of life. The Community Preservation Act gives a community the funds needed to control its future.

CPA Accomplishments To-Date

  • 155 communities have adopted CPA (44% of the Commonwealth’s cities and towns)
  • Close to $1.2 billion has been raised to date for community preservation funding statewide
  • Over 6,600 projects approved
  • Over 7,300 affordable housing units have been created or supported
  • Nearly 19,200 acres of open space have been preserved
  • Over 3,200 appropriations have been made for historic preservation projects
  • Nearly 1,000 outdoor recreation projects have been initiated
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Posted in Affordable housing / 40B, Budgets, History, Open space, Recreation

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