Natick Report

More than you really want to know about Natick, Mass.

Natick asks: What to do with that found $630,000 from MathWorks?

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The Natick Planning Board last week wrapped up its meeting with an informal discussion about what to do with the little old sum of $630,000 discovered to have been sitting around since MathWorks expanded into its Apple Hill campus on Rte. 9 east more than 10 years ago.

MathWorks Apple Hill Campus

Natick Open Space Planner Marianne Iarossi said that over the past 6 months she, former head of Community & Economic Development James Freas and current Town Administrator Jamie Errickson discovered the money, which had been contributed by MathWorks as part of the Apple Hill site plan review largely to address traffic issues that might arise. Now the goal is to figure out how to reappropriate the money, possibly for open space and other projects, and get Planning and later Town Meeting’s blessing for those plans, Iarossi said.

Most of the items on the extensive traffic mitigation list crafted back when MathWorks was expanding have been checked off. “The reason why… there’s about $600,000 left from the mitigation money from 2008 is that [the Massachusetts Department of Transportation] ended  up carrying forward some of the projects, so the town ended up saving that money if you will. So there’s extra that’s been sitting there for a number of years,” Iarossi said.

The big one yet to be completed is the Walnut and Bacon Street intersection, which the Department of Public Works is already moving ahead on. That project will gobble up as much as half of the MathWorks mitigation money, especially when a you-know-what (consultant) gets brought in to address engineering complexities. That intersection project was thought to be about a $60K one back in the day, but in today’s climate many years later the cost has ballooned.

walnut st bacon st intersection

 

Even after that project, plenty of money would be in play for other projects, including open space ones such as a trailhead improvement for the Town Forest at Rte. 9 (maybe a $5K project() and possible boardwalk connections between north and south Pickerel Pond trails. Trail improvements could make it easier for MathWorks employees to access the Cochituate Rail Trail and Natick Center. The key is to ensure the projects have some relation to MathWorks, which is being kept in the loop on all this.

Improvements that could help MathWorks employees who cycle or walk through the Rte. 27 and Bacon Street intersection could also be a possibility, and the DPW has improvements planned for this summer. More upgrades could come as part of the big Rte. 9 and 27 intersection overhaul that’s in the works, too.

Iarossi was looking to take the Planning Board’s pulse on all this, and the feedback was positive.

Among those in support, as long as the projects truly tie in to MathWorks, was Planning Board member Andy Meyer.

“The fact that essentially we have leftover money, I think those are great proposals, totally justifiable,” he said. “Gosh I’d like to get started on all this as soon as we possibly can.”

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Natick town-wide office candidates for 2022

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Candidates seeking town-wide office in Natick had until Jan. 11 to return their nomination papers, and we can now see the list of those willing to contribute their time and talents to the town’s local government.

(Names are presented below as they were shared by the Town Clerk’s office. Please contact us if any change is required: natickreport@gmail.com)

The election is set for March 29.

Most seats are uncontested, though voters will need to choose between three candidates for 2 Select Board seats and five candidates for three School Committee vacancies.

Candidates can withdraw by Jan. 27 if they don’t want to appear on the ballot. Expect a sample ballot on the town website by early February.

Your candidates…

Select Board (vote for up to 2; 3-year term)

  • Kathryn Coughlin
  • Bruce Evans
  • Cody Jacobs

School Committee (vote for up to 3; 3-year term)

  • Cathi Collins
  • Elise Gorseth
  • Kathleen Flathers
  • Henry W. Haugland II
  • Julie M. McDonough

Planning Board (vote for up to 1; 5-year term)

  • Douglas L. Landry

Associate Planning Board (vote for up to 1; 2-year-term)

  • Christine Therrien

Recreation & Parks Commission (vote for up to 2; 3-year term)

  • David Ordway
  • Jessica Ordway

Board of Assessors (vote for up to 1; 3-year term)

  • Paul B. Griesmer

Board of Health (vote for up to 1; 3-year term)

  •  Donald Breda Sr.

Natick Housing Authority (vote for up to 1; 4-year term)

  • Kimberly M. Condon

Moderator (vote for up to 1; 3-year-term)

  • Frank W. Foss

Town clerk (vote for up to 1; 3-year term)

  • Diane B. Packer

Constable (vote for not more than 6; 1-year-term)

  • Kevin F. Flynn
  • Todd M. Gillenwater
  • Joseph Spurling

All current Town Meeting Members, unless they physically moved to a new home in a different precinct, will run as incumbents, regardless of whether their current address is in a different precinct. Incumbent Town Meeting Members must sign the intent to run form which has been sent to them.  If you did not receive one, please call (508) 647-6432 or email townclerk@natickma.org. The last day to submit incumbent Town Meeting nomination papers is 5pm on Tuesday, Feb. 1. Nomination papers for new town meeting members will be available as soon as the State provides the data to assure that all precincts are captured correctly in the voter database, based on redistricting which occurred after the completion of the 2020 Federal Census.

The last day to register to vote for the March 29 Annual Town Election is Wednesday, March 9. 

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Lucid Motors targets September for Natick Mall luxury electric vehicle sales & service shop

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The Natick Mall’s efforts to refill the 200,000 sq. ft. once occupied by Sears continues with the planned arrival of Lucid Motors, an electric vehicle maker whose cars start at just under $80,000 and can go much higher.

Lucid’s vehicles can go 500-plus miles per charge, and the charging is fast, according to its marketing materials, peppered with footnotes to clarify bold claims about its various Air editions.

Newark, Calif.-based Lucid launched in 2007 and started delivering vehicles in 2021. It seeks to have its first floor mall space, including a showroom (with virtual reality available for designing your car), service area, merch shop and more, serve the greater Boston area.

There are also plans for a private space where new customers can have a special experience when picking up their vehicle (that brings me back to the mortifying memory of Saturn sales people circling us and clapping in unison when we bought one of their cars many years ago). One Natick Planning Board member, upon hearing Lucid’s plans, referred to this as the “conjugal visit space.”

A barebones plan initially was introduced to the Natick Planning Board last summer, and raised some concerns about Natick developing the “auto mall” version of an “auto mile.” Tesla already has a showroom on the first level of the Mall.

Brookfield Properties says the plan will enable it to fill nearly 70% of the former two-floor Sears space, which already has seen Dave & Buster’s, Level99 and Night Shift consume the top tier with its food, drink, and entertainment venues. Sears was shuttered three years ago.

lucid natick

 

Lucid, as a modern company, is prone to terms like “adaptive reusability,” “intervention,” and “brand experience” when discussing its plans, as it did in meeting with the Natick Planning Board this week. It proposes few exterior changes other than signage and a vehicular driveway into the building that will require some related landscaping work.

The Lucid team thanked the Board for supporting a zoning change approved at Fall Town Meeting allowing a motor vehicle sales operation to include limited enclosed service of its own vehicles, too. A decision on the plan could be made at Planning’s next meeting on Jan. 19.

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Natick mask mandate goes into effect Jan. 17

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Natick’s Health Department has put a mask mandate into effect come Monday, Jan. 17 through Feb. 28.

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You’ll be required to wear a face covering or mask if you’re two or older in all indoor public spaces or private spaces open to the public. There is an exception for those unable to wear a face covering due to a medical condition or disability.

The mandate applies to facilities such as restaurants, retail establishments, houses of worship, gyms and indoor fitness centers, performance spaces and theaters, lodging, and personal services establishments. You can take off your mask while eating in a restaurant. The mandate doesn’t apply to private businesses that aren’t public-facing, and they can put in place their own policies.

“We have seen public health metrics trending in the wrong direction over the past several weeks. This, coupled with the CDC’s recommendation for indoor masking in Middlesex County, informs the decision to institute this mandate,” according to the town.

The list of communities across the state imposing similar rules is on the rise.

A civil fine of up to $300 can be issued in Natick to anyone not complying after verbal and written warnings.

Nearby, Wellesley has resisted a mask mandate to this point, with Board of Health members concerned about the mixed messages masks can send depending upon the type of masks people wear and how they wear them.

mask mandate

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