Natick’s Marshall brothers to be honored with square dedication

August 19, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The Natick Select Board on Wednesday, Aug. 24 will hold a public hearing regarding a request to dedicate the square at the corner of West Central Street and Boden Lane in honor of three Marshall brothers who served in the U.S. military. The dedication would take place at noon on Aug. 27.

In the request, Natick Director of Veterans Services Paul Carew lists the credentials of the Marshall brothers, all of whom have passed:

Joseph Marshall: Tec 3, Army, WWII, Honorable Discharge, decorations Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Distinguished Unit Badge CO Hq AAAF/MTO, European African Middle Eastern THEATER Campaign Ribbon, Meritorious Service Unit Plaque CO 44 Hq AAF/MTO 45
Robert Marshall: SGT Army, WWII, Honorable Discharge, decorations Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory Medal, European African Middle Eastern Theater Campaign Ribbon, Distinguished Unit Badge CO 258 9th AF
John Marshall: Seaman First Class Navy, Honorable Discharge, decorations Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory Medal, American Theatre Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Medal

More: Natick square dedication: Atherton & High for the Radock family

Golden Tones chorus back in action

August 8, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The Golden Tones chorus, a singing group consisting of dozens of retirees from about a dozen area communities, will be performing an outdoor sing-along at the Natick Farmers’ Market on Natick Common this Saturday, Aug. 13 from 12:15-12:45pm.

This will be the group’s first public performance since March of 2020.

That concert will be followed by an indoors open rehearsal on Tuesday, Aug. 16 from 11am-12:30pm (call 508 318 6318 for details).

The Natick-based group, which has been around since 1988, has no auditions and invites anyone who wants to sing with the group to do so. No choir experience or ability to read music needed.

Golden Tones performs throughout the MetroWest area.

Golden Tones photo — Golden Tones on the shore of Lake Cochituate in Natick, along the Cochituate Rail Trail (photo courtesy of Golden Tones)

More: Resources for Natick seniors

Please send tips, photos, ideas to natickreport@gmail.com
Subscribe to our Natick Report daily email
If you like what we’re doing and want to reach our growing audience, please ask about advertising

Resources for seniors in Natick, Mass.

According to the 2020 U.S. Census data, nearly 17% of Natick residents are age 65 or older. Natick offers many opportunities for seniors, from educational to entertainment to outdoors and community activities, including volunteer positions.

At the heart of these opportunities is the Natick Community-Senior Center located at 117 East Central St. (Rte. 135 east) and open on weekdays (facilities within the building can be rented evenings and weekends).

The Center is home to Human Services, the Council on Aging, and Veterans’ Services.

The Friends of Natick Senior Center’s mission is to raise money to support the many Council on Aging programs. Volunteers are welcome.

Natick also includes a host of senior living residences and day programs, including Anthology Senior Living, Elder-Well, Home Instead, and Whitney Place,

BayPath Elder Services (meals, mental health, and more)
Council on Aging newsletter
Let’s Talk Natick Community initiative encouraging Natick residents 18 and older to talk with one another about aging, mortality, and their personal values for quality of life – throughout life
Minor home repair and chore service
Natick Housing Authority
Natick Neighbor Brigade (seek help, volunteer to help)
Natick Service Council (Food pantry & more)
Programs, including education, exercise, and arts
Transportation resources, including Natick Connector bus and MBTA Commuter Rail discounts for seniors

Natick seniors would get new tax break option under this plan

August 13, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

A Natick committee that for 2 years has been studying the possibility of shifting the property tax burden of seniors to others is getting closer to getting an article before Town Meeting that could then trigger a referendum on the matter to be put before all town voters.

The Select Board was pitched this week (about 1 hour and 15 minutes into its meeting) by the Senior Property Tax Exemption Study Committee to sponsor such an article. Three Board members voted “Yes “and 2 abstained on the motion.

Select Board Sue Salamoff, chair of the study committee, said the group will work with town counsel to bring a cleaned up version of its proposed home rule petition to Town Meeting (see the current summary sheet and embedded below). The study committee will debrief on the Select Board meeting on Aug. 17. It had previously gone before the Select Board at least 2 other times.

The impetus for the proposed property tax exemption would give seniors on fixed incomes and limited options to downsize a break on property taxes in light of Natick’s assessed property values skyrocketing with no slowdown in sight. Natick has seen other communities, such as Sudbury and Wayland, take similar action.

The study committee’s current summary sheet describes its mission:

The goal of a senior property tax exemption is to have seniors pay no more than 10% of their income in real estate tax. This is the same goal that underlies the MA Circuit Breaker Credit applied for on an individual’s personal income tax return. If after applying for and receiving the maximum CB credit (currently $1,150 in 2020), a senior’s real estate tax bill still exceeds 10% of qualifying income, Natick seniors would be able to apply for a Natick credit to further reduce the gap.

The town would set aside a pool of money to cover the credits, and it would come from raising others’ taxes.

Salamoff said the committee revisited its work after the last time it met with the Board, and has found that the property value situation “has become substantially worse.” The proposal would put the exemption in place for 3 years and would require a new Town Meeting vote to extend the program.

Challenged by Board member Michael Hickey about whether the program would be feasible, committee members said it would be, based in part on what they’ve seen from other communities. Though committee member Patricia Sciarra did say it was difficult to figure out how many people would actually use such a program.

Sciarra noted that other options are already available for seniors. This includes a way to defer property taxes by taking out loans based on their home equity.

Natick lists a series of tax relief options, including the circuit breaker and work-off program, on its town website.

Despite such options, Board member Paul Joseph said “We’ve got an. affordability challenge in Natick,” and that coming up with new ways to address the situation is a Board obligation.

One big question is whether those who would have more of the tax burden shifted to them, even as Natick faces the prospect of tax overrides in coming years, will bite. Board Chair Karen Adelman-Foster, who abstained on vote, said she feels uncomfortable making such tax exceptions on an ad hoc basis rather than as part of a longer-term financial plan.

Subscribe to our Natick Report daily email

Download (PDF, 81KB)

A whirlwind tour of Natick’s highest profile chain link fences

July 22, 2021 by Bob Brown 3 Comments

Natick’s finest new presumably temporary chain link fence extravaganza can be seen just past the Community-Senior Center and stretching from 119 to 131 East Central St. (Rte. 135 east). Natick is truly showing its metal these days.

We can debate all day whether this spectacular stretch of galvanized steel wire mesh is more or less stunning than the Natick Center display that promises to be home in the future to an enclave of pop-up shops or the now covered fencing outside the former St. Patrick’s complex, the site of a future mixed use development. You may even ask: Which is the weakest link?

But the important thing to know is that the homes fenced off and set to be leveled this coming week on East Central will pave the way for an assisted living development that prompted one online observer to quip: “We’re going to need a bigger senior center.”

The last time we recall hearing discussion of this project was at a mid-February Planning Board meeting under the agenda item dubbed “ALOOP (Assisted Living Overlay Option Plan), 119, 121, 123, 125 & 131 East Central Street.” Michael Duggan of a project developer called Anthology said the contractor hoped to start construction by this May or June. We’ve reached out to Anthology to ask if there’s a site update anywhere online that we can point you to, and will update this post if we hear back about one.

The project was earlier brought to the Planning Board in 2019 by Barberry Homes, which outlined plans for a 95,180 sq. ft. three-story building containing 86 assisted living units and 50 parking spaces. Anthology took over this project.

Update (7/26/21): Boom! down go the houses…

Read on for a round-up of other chained-off areas of Natick. Admittedly, none of these is too edgy…didn’t spy any barbed wire, for instance:

St. Patrick’s redevelopment

Stonegate Group recently gave an update on its project at 45 East Central St., the location of the former St. Patrick’s School, where a mixed use development is being erected.

The developer says its current proposal for the property consists of restaurant and retail space on the ground floor with residential units above in the main building. Four residential buildings will sit in the rear (Lincoln and Wilson Streets). The housing will include a mix of affordable and market rates.

An underground garage is part of the plan, too.

Stonegate has wrapped its fence in a handsome dark green nylon covering to give it less of a metallic look.

One South Main

This project, which nearly imploded earlier this year at the Planning Board stage, will consist of a bunch of 500 sq. ft. pop-up spaces, ideally for artisans.

The developer tonight (July 22) is slated to go before the Natick Design Review Board to show its latest plans for this one-story, 5,342 sq. ft. retail structure and other site improvements.

This development rises from the ashes of the devastating fire in July 2019 that ruined numerous businesses.

one south chain — Walnut Hill student art adorns parts of the fence

Cochituate rail trail

The chain link fencing that previously blocked off the Rte. 30 bridge has been moved to the side, leaving the fencing at the Rte. 9 bridge as the only obstacle standing in your way of traversing the route from Natick Center to Saxonville.

Expect this fence to be removed later this summer, though the contractor may still block access here and there as it puts down lines, erects safety screening, and makes other final touches. Keep up on Cochituate rail trail progress on the Natick town website.

Natick Center commuter rail station

Speaking of the rail trail….The Natick Center station is one of the MBTA’s busiest along the commuter rail, and it’s putting $36 million into improvements that focus on accessibility.

Work began in early 2020, and the goal is to finish the project next year. There haven’t been a ton of pesky commuters to get in the way of work during the pandemic, so it looks like it’s coming along well.

Construction is currently in Phase 3, which includes replacement of the pedestrian bridge, elevators and stairs from street level to the station, and installation of elevated platforms.

Boden Lane Bridge

The state transportation bond bill from January authorizes $3 million in spending to reconstruct and repair the Boden Lane Bridge next to the West Natick commuter rail station. The town awaits a notice to proceed on this.

Some neighbors would love to see the bridge stay solely a pedestrian walkway, as it is now, enveloped in chain link fencing.

Across the Boden Lane bridge in Natick pic.twitter.com/QH4BrHhi46

— Natick Report (@NatickReport) July 22, 2021

The bridge closed to vehicles in 2019 after a work crew damaged it.

Kennedy Middle School

We can only assume there is more chain link fencing beyond the signs warding off visitors this summer while work continues on the new Kennedy Middle School, which opened in January.

But we are left with a good chunk of chain on Mill Street where vehicles, equipment, and for some reason shopping carts, collect. Updates (kind of) on the project.

Zeta Fencing

Zeta Fencing, which has been teaching the art of swordmanship in Natick Center for years just across the street from the One South chain link fence, doesn’t have a chain link fence of its own.

Alas, the Olympic-caliber business is moving to Ashland come September.

OK, what did we leave out….? Easy enough to add stuff. Let us know: natickreport@gmail.com

And now, a closing musical number on this theme…