Natick Report

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

Natick senior wins $6K water bill abatement appeal

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Here’s a heartwarming tale to take you into the holidays: A Natick senior recently appealed her unusually high water and sewer bill, and the Select Board couldn’t deny the longtime resident’s compelling story.

Rita Aude, who her son Robert Audi described as being widowed and disabled, is a 30-year resident of the town living on a fixed income (Note: their last names are spelled slightly differently). When she received a shockingly high water and sewer bill in $4,745 in February she soon after contacted the town, which visited the property and determined a toilet was constantly running. Aude had a plumber fix the problem the next day.

Unfortunately, the new quarter was already underway, so the bill for that period came in high, too, at $1,490. Aude’s typical bills were for $90-$150 per quarter, and her water usage returned to the normal level once the plumbing issue was fixed. The overall bill for the 2 quarters would have accounted for about 25% of her yearly income from social security.

It turns out that the running toilet was in a seldom-used half bathroom attached to Aude’s bedroom. “Had we known we would of course repaired the toilet right away, knowing that it was putting out close to 1,500 gallons of water every day at its peak,” Audi said. His mother uses the main bathroom, which is outfitted with handrails, not the half-bath, described by the son as being akin to an airplane restroom in size.

The town issued what Town Administrator Jamie Errickson termed a “tighter” water and sewer abatement/adjustment policy effective in mid-2021. It was designed to make decisions for town officials less subjective and more clear, which among other things helped the Natick shrink its backlog of abatement requests.

The town rejected Aude’s initial request for abatement for not meeting its criteria, but steered an appeal of that decision to the Select Board, which serves as Natick’s water and sewer commissioners and can use its discretion in deciding on such matters. That’s what brought Robert Audi all the way from Sturbridge to Natick for a nighttime Select Board meeting on Nov. 16. (view discussion about 45 minutes into the Pegasus recording).

The Select Board considers the case

Following Audi’s statement, which included his mention of joining the Natick WaterSmart Program to get alerted if his mom’s water or sewage usage spikes, the Select Board members mulled the issue. Errickson explained that 1 option would be charging a resident whose case is legit a lower rate similar to their usual rate. In Aude’s case, that would have reduced her bill by a couple thousand dollars, and a motion was made to do that.

But then another motion was made to abate a full $6,000, leaving Aude to pay her usual amount.

Select Board member Michael Hickey said he’s always been sympathetic to this sort of situation. After hearing about the circumstances and that Audi had traveled east to help his mother (“what a nice son”), Hickey said: “I could not in good conscience expect this resident to pay anything approaching anything with four figures…”

Board member Rich Sidney, who made the motion to abate $6,000, said “We have here an elderly person who is trying desperately to stay in her house. This is something we’ve called our values for years, and we want to support her ability to stay in town and live her life. I think this is an unusual situation—she fixed the problem as soon as she knew about it, it’s not like she let it go for months. That would change my mind. I’m very empathetic to the circumstances.”

Board member Kathryn Coughlin, also in support, said “It’s really good to have anchoring values in… a political philosophy. But when it comes to applying that in a very specific situation with human beings and real world circumstances, it’s good to be able to reconsider.”

Bruce Evans, another board member in support of the big abatement, said “Policies are pieces of paper, people are people.”

Chair Paul Joseph made the decision unanimous, though acknowledged he’s previously voted against abatements, citing homeowner responsibility

“Consider this your compensation for advertising the WaterSmart Program on behalf of our community,” he quipped.

(In fact, I signed up the day after I heard this session.)

Natick WaterSmart Program logo

Next up for South Natick dam

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With the town’s decision made earlier this month to remove the spillway at the Charles River dam, Natick is now quickly taking next steps.

During the Natick Conservation Commission‘s Nov. 17 meeting (just before the 20-minute mark of the Natick Pegasus recording), town planner/conservation agent Claire Rundelli shared an update while repeating the town mantra of this being “just the start of a very long process”—no intentional breaching of the spillway for at least 5 years.

What the town will focus on, she says, is “hefty permitting” from a smorgasbord of organizations from the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act Office to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the Massachusetts Historic Commission.

Licenses and permits are designed to protect waterways use, water quality, etc. See Chapter 91 (Massachusetts Public Waterfront Act) and Section 401 under the Clean Water Act for more details.)

Natick has reached out to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection about additional sediment testing to doublecheck whether the preliminary testing done by a couple of consulting firms (GZA and Stantec) was sufficient. Dam defenders in recent months had questioned whether enough testing was done before the town made its decision for spillway removal.

Rundelli told Conservation Commission members that “a key part of the Select Board’s decision was that if something comes up in the environmental or other analyses that need to be done prior to any work being completed, that there is the definite possibility that this project may pivot to a different scenario…If we were to hit soil testing that was crazy unexpected high contaminant levels, totally not releasable, the cost of dredging and disposing of that as hazardous waste would likely make this project sort of a non-starter.”

(All of which reminds me of the sign at the dam warning pregnant people not to consume fish caught there—if they aren’t eating it, neither am I. Disclaimer: We’re river neighbors.)

Also in the plans, a possible sediment release as part of the breach process—it won’t be as simple as just sending any unwanted junk backed up behind the spillway down river to Wellesley, Dover, and Needham.

Natick has also been in touch with consultant GZA about scoping out design and permitting work.

“While they are generally known as the dam repair folks, they have done a number of dam removal projects throughout the state…,” including a similar 1 to the South Natick dam, Rundelli said.

Natick may need to hit up Town Meeting for funds to support its dam removal work, though the town plans to be aggressive in pursuing grants. Among them, a big dam and seawall removal grant program expected to open by year-end and that could provide key design and permitting funds.

Natick disbands 16-year-old Medical Reserve Corps in transition to regional model

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Natick has dissolved its Medical Reserve Corps, a volunteer outfit that has complemented the town’s public health efforts since 2006. During its early years the Corps grew to more than 100 volunteers.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical and non-medical volunteers assisted the town in doling out vaccines and providing other support. Among other roles they played: Victims during mock terrorist attack training.

When recruiting members, the Medical Reserve Corps sought not just those with medical expertise, but also clergy, those who could provide transportation, and more.

Natick Public Health Director Michael Boudreau said during a recent Board of Health meeting that as of mid-year, the Reserve Corps’ work had been transferred to a regional group called the MetroWest MRC. It also includes volunteers from Hudson, Marlborough, Sudbury, Waltham, Wayland, and Weston. The regional group is within Massachusetts Public Health Emergency Preparedness Region 4A.

Caeli Tegan, Natick Health Department sanitarian, had been serving as the town’s representative to the MetroWest MRC, but recently left her job with the town.

An advisory board with a representative from each participating town’s health department will oversee the regional unit.

(If you have been a member of the Corps. or have anything you’d like to share about your experiences with it, feel free to let us know: natickreport@gmail.com)

Before this week’s holiday is upon us, take a minute to think about the 4th of July

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Natick Friends of the 4th logo

The group through a survey is requesting community feedback to gauge interest in potential 2023 Independence Day events. Participate here in the 2-minute survey.

And let’s hear it for community members who have stepped up to give these patriotic festivities a fighting chance. It’s an ongoing challenge. First the Friends of the 4th board of directors dissolved in 2018. Then the pandemic showed up to rain on everyone’s parade. The small group of stalwarts who have stuck with the all-volunteer organization find themselves practically starting over in terms of fundraising, finding sponsors, planning a parade, and getting fireworks up in the air.

So take the survey. It’s the least you can do.  If you’d like to help the Friends of the 4th by donating your time or monetary contributions please email natick4th@gmail.com

Pitches for 5 Auburn St. in Natick: From $1 to $2M & from autism center to affordable housing to housing village

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The Natick Select Board now has 4 proposals in hand to mull for the possible sale and future use of 5 Auburn St., which includes a distinctive 3-story, roughly 14,000 sq. ft. brick building that has served as a school for most of its 100 or so years. The board has about 6 months to make what Town Administrator Jamie Errickson termed “a pretty big decision,” and will proceed with rankings, interviews, and maybe even field trips to applicants’ other projects in the weeks and months ahead.

5 Auburn St., former Eliot School, Natick

The offers from those responding to the town’s request for proposals (RFP) for this property in the John Eliot Historic District range from $1 to $2M, and the uses pitched include an autism center, affordable housing, and duplexes. (Wow, not a single bio lab among them….well, the property is zoned for Residential General.).

Natick issued the RFP in early September for the property, assessed for about $3.8M by the town.

Fall Annual Town Meeting voted last year to authorize the Select Board to sell or otherwise transfer (“dispose of”) the 2.8-acre property at 5 Auburn St., which as we heard during Auburn Street RFP Committee meetings might look nice on the outside but needs lots of work inside to make it usable for most purposes (including Americans with Disability Act compliance). The selection criteria for the Select Board does include the extent to which a proposal preserves the existing structure and the open space along Eliot Street.

Changes to the property, which sits less than a half mile from the South Natick Dam park, would mark another big transition in this part of town in light of the Select Board’s recent decision to remove the spillway (aka, waterfall).

The applicants:

  • Grace Gable Manoirs: The applicant proposes using the existing building at 4 Auburn St., for a non-profit center where children will be evaluated for autism and receive services. The proposal includes a $1.3M bid for the property, and cites the applicant’s experience running schools, including the Bilingual Montessori School of Sharon. The applicant, Linda Chery-Valentin, cites in the proposal an earlier attempt to buy or lease the property. Separately, the applicant has proposed a condo development in South Natick at 50 Pleasant St., and is back before the Planning Board later this month with her latest proposal. The applicant also been involved in litigation with with town.
  • Natick Affordable Housing Trust: The bid here is for $1, though the Trust would actually issue its own RFP to partner with a developer “to build 23 units of age restricted affordable rental housing on the site, with adaptive re-use of the existing structures and preservation of the significant open space areas.” The Trust would contribute up to $600K in funding to the senior housing project, which would involve going through a friendly 40B process.
  • Trask:  Trask is offering $2M for the property, which it seeks to redevelop as a housing village involving the existing property and a couple of new ones. Trask has developed many properties in town, and recently has been building a 2-unit property nearby on South Lincoln Street following a teardown. Trask proposes divvying the property into 3 lots—1 where the existing property stands that includes 3 units in the main building and 2 in the gym, then 2 of which would house new duplexes.
  • Metro West Collaborative Development: This non-profit community development outfit, which submitted by far the longest application, proposes a 32-unit rental opportunity for families earning up to 60% of the area medium income. It would put 21 units in a 3-story building behind the current 1, and have 11 units within the footprint of the current structure. Metro West cites its other affordable housing redevelopments, including at the West Newton Armory, and its ability to navigate funding sources from federal, state, and local entities. It would plan to partner with the Natick Affordable Housing Trust. Metro West has bid $100 for the property.