The third night of Natick Spring Annual Town Meeting on May 2 focused on the capital spending budget, plus officially took the Johnson Elementary School off of the School Committee’s hands.
But first, a feel-good moment, as a resolution was read for uh, retired, Town Clerk Diane Packer (she has returned on an interim basis after retiring last year) for her contributions to the town as Town Clerk and before that, with the Senior Community Center. Packer said she was honored, surprised, “and it will probably be the only time I’ll be speechless.”
Interim Town Clerk Diane Packer (Natick Pegasus screenshot)
Capital spending budget: battery hybrids, stormwater management & fixing bunkers
While the last session of Spring Annual Town Meeting handled the operating budget, this edition in Article 12 focused on capital spending—the cool stuff like trucks, playgrounds, water pump boosters, and playing fields. Monies—totaling more than $15.4M, come from borrowing, free cash, and retained earnings from enterprise funds (golf course, water & sewer).
Three motions under article all passed easily, though Town Meeting members (and not all usual suspects) raised questions handled by Deputy Town Administrator Jon Marshall and others.
Questions focused on areas such as stormwater management (the town is investing to comply with federal regs), landfill gas collection (it is taken off site and burned), and replacing a grass playing field at the high school with turf (the field is used for high impact sports, though design and engineering work will determine the eventual surface). Natick officials also responded to questions about spending to solve flooding problems in certain areas around town and purchasing battery hybrid vehicles for the fire and police departments (plug-in hybrids may also be on the way in future requests, Marshall said).
Town Meeting member Andy Meyer, acknowledging he’s hit a few golf balls into the bunkers at the Sassamon Trace golf course, sought clarification on plans to fix bunkers (to which Moderator Frank Foss pondered whether the bunkers might be fixed to keep Meyer’s golf balls from going into them). Marshall said the plan is to not shut down the course, but perhaps there will need to be some redirecting of golfers during the work. Meyer also made some suggestions to make the course even better than it is (including a possible snack and adult beverage shop…”a lifelong dream”).
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Johnson Elementary School building changing hands
Article 16 dealt with transferring care, custody and ownership of the property at 99 South Main St., that is, Johnson Elementary School, from the School Committee to the Select Board. This is prompted by the closing of Johnson at the end of this academic year (attend a May 8 public forum to share thoughts on future uses for the property).
Moderator Foss sought to fend off any wider discussion of the 2021 decision to close Johnson school by emphasizing that questions and debate would be limited to the issue of the property’s transfer.
Questions were raised about whether the decision could hurt future grant opportunities for the School Committee. Interim Natick Public Schools Superintendent Bella Wong said the Johnson closure is disclosed in the school system’s application to the MSBA to help fund a new or renovated Memorial Elementary School and the closure is seen as a possibly favorable move. It shows that Natick has been taking a thoughtful approach to its school resources in light of falling enrollment and shifting where students will attend school in town, Wong said.
Town Meeting approved the motion 98-14-3.
Police officer gets article of his own
It’s pretty unusual for an article to be about just one person, but that was the case with Article 19, which would allow Natick Police Officer John Haswell to bump his retirement age from 65 (the mandatory retirement age for Massachusetts police personnel) to 68 through a home rule process with the state. The well respected detective has been on the force for about 40 years and is considered a valued team member who has much knowledge to share with younger colleagues. Haswell is among those on the force who worked the notorious eBay cyberstalking case.
There were a few questions about issues such as Haswell’s pension (it would stop being contributed to once he turns 65 later this year) and whether this could set a precedent for other officers (each case is different, town counsel said).
The motion passed by a count of 108-3-2.
Speedier permitting
While more zoning-related articles are on the agenda for the May 7 session, Town Meeting got things started on May 2, with Director of Community & Economic Development Amanda Loomis taking center stage.
Article 20 focused on accepting provisions of Chapter 43D of Massachusetts General Allow for expedited permitting of proposed developments. Nearly 100 communities across the state have adopted this for at least one priority development site.
Natick is zeroing in on two properties within the Golden Triangle for this initially: Cloverleaf Mall and Sherwood Plaza. Among other things, the Planning Board would need to make decisions on permits within 180 days as part of this effort to boost economic development in Natick. Adopting the provisions would also make Natick eligible for certain state funding that could help it attract more life sciences and other types of businesses. This change would not affect the zoning of these properties.
Asked about why the article doesn’t include other properties, such as Natick Mall, Loomis responded that the two included in the article were the ones that Natick could get to agree on buy-in from the start.
Town Meeting approved the motion 109-4-1.
Getting into zoning
More zoning articles are on tap for the May 7 session, but Loomis whetted Town Meeting members’ appetite for this subject with article 24, which would include North Main Street within the Center Gateway Zoning District approved last year by Town Meeting. This marked completion, and expansion of, an effort brought before Fall Annual Town Meeting to include some North Main Street properties (including the former Natick Appliance building at 30 North Main St.) within the Center Gateway Zoning District, which allows for mixed retail-residential zoning.
Town Meeting accepted this update 97-2-1, without any questions or debate.
Tree replacement
The May 2 Town Meeting sessions ended with Article 26, which sought to amend Article 79 of the town bylaws to improve protection of wetland resources and associated buffers. It would add a section requiring replacement of healthy trees over 6 caliper inches on either a 1:1 or 1:2 basis depending on the location (in other words, remove a tree, replace it with either one or two native trees). In addition to protecting the town’s tree canopy, the change would also help to streamline the permitting process, said Planner & Conservation Agent Claire Rundelli.
Town Meeting approved the motion under this article, which served as a bit of a sneak preview for upcoming discussion at the Conservation Commission regarding a possible tree protection bylaw (check out the Commission’s May 16 meeting for the first public discussion of this potential bylaw for tree protection outside the Commission’s jurisdiction over stormwater and wetlands bylaws).
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