BOARD OF SELECTMEN
Natick Town Hall
September 20, 2004
5:00 p.m.
The meeting was called to order by the Chairman John Ciccariello at 5:00 p.m.
PRESENT: John Ciccariello, Jay H. Ball, Charles M. Hughes, Paul R. McKinley, John Connolly.
ALSO PRESENT: Philip E. Lemnios, Town Administrator; Donna Challis, Secretary
WARRANTS: Payroll warrants were signed by the Board of Selectmen on September 20, 2004 in the amount of $1,383,215.68. This figure was included in total warrants signed by the Board of Selectmen of $2,618,256.56.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Mr. Ball, seconded by Mr. Connolly, moved to enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing matters pertaining to litigation and compensation of non-union personnel. A roll call vote was unanimous and the Board so retired at 5:00 p.m. after announcing that the meeting would return to open session.
The open session was called to order at 7:00 p.m.
MINUTES
With the corrections as noted, Mr. Ball moved approval of the minutes of the June 7, 2004 meeting. Seconded by Mr. Hughes. The motion passed on a 4-0-1 vote. Mr. Ciccariello, Mr. Ball, Mr. Hughes, Mr. Connolly voted in favor of the motion. Mr. McKinley abstained.
MASS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: REQUEST FOR BANNER
The Board was in receipt of a request from the Mass Horticultural Society to hang a banner across Main Street from November 3-7, 2004 in advertisement of the Massachusetts Orchid Society’s Annual Plant Show and Sale.
Mr. Ball wondered about the ticket prices and explained that he was asking that because this was an event taking place in Wellesley and normally Natick didn’t fly banners for things in other towns. He thought an exception could be made if the Mass Horticultural Society would be willing to give a few tickets to the Natick Horticultural Society.
Mr. Hughes moved to table for two weeks. Seconded by Mr. Ball. The motion passed on a 3-2-0 vote. Mr. Ball, Mr. Hughes, Mr. Connolly
voted in favor of the motion. Mr. Ciccariello and Mr. McKinley were opposed.
Speaking to the motion Mr. McKinley felt that this was a good organization and a worthy cause and he was prepared to vote this tonight.
Mr. Hughes offered to call Ms. O’Rourke at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.
NATICK FIRE DEPARTMENT: REQUEST FOR BANNER
On a motion by Mr. Hughes, seconded by Mr. Ball, the Board unanimously voted to approve the Fire Department’s request to hang a banner across Main Street for the period of September 27-October 11, 2004.
ACCEPTANCE OF RESIGNATION: NATICK CULTURAL COUNCIL, GRACE NAPIER
On a motion by Mr. Ball, seconded by Mr. Hughes, the Board unanimously voted to accept the resignation of Grace Napier and to send a letter of thanks for her service.
ACCEPTANCE OF RESIGNATION: NATICK CULTURAL COUNCIL, GRACE NAPIER (contd)
Mr. Ciccariello requested that the vacancy be posted.
CITIZENS CONCERNS
a. Speen Street Truck Traffic
Speen Street resident Alan Grady appeared before the Board to discuss traffic issues on Speen Street, particularly with car carriers. He reviewed some of the salient points of a letter he had sent to Adesa and asked that the Board endorse the letter and send it onto Adesa as well. The letter expressed concern with trucks carrying cars, which access the Adesa facility by way of Speen Street. Over the past several years the truck traffic has steadily increased as the Adesa facility has grown and the behavior and attitude of many of the drivers seems to have deteriorated to the point where the situation has become increasingly dangerous and intolerable in a residential neighborhood. The Speen Street residents could give many examples of incidents with drivers for the Adesa facility speeding, swerving, tailgating,
crossing the middle line, and allowing chains to drag on the ground. But even beyond that, the volume of these trucks has increased to the point where the constant noise, day and night, was severely impacting the quality of life.
Mr. Grady noted that it was a much bigger issue than speeding and told the Board of several recent incidents. This past week the O.B. Hill Company called him and said that one of their trucks had just progressed through the lights when a car carrier came through and drove O.B. Hill’s truck off the road. The O.B. Hill driver chased the carrier and took down the license plant and it came up that the plate was unregistered. In another recent incident a driver of a car carrier fell asleep and went up onto a lawn. There was considerable damage done, but the driver didn’t stop and the owner of the property couldn’t get the license plate. At another time he was driving from Sunshine Dairy heading toward Pond Street. He slowed down approaching the
intersection for a mail truck to come through. Two Adesa car carriers came through, never slowed down, and he (Mr. Grady) had to slam on his brakes or he would have been hit.
Mr. Grady understood that Adesa was operating a business and knew the difficulty with the myriad of regulations and the point of balances. He stressed that the residents were not unreasonable and not fanatical about not driving trucks up Speen Street. They were looking for better behavior.
In his letter to Adesa, Mr. Grady had included a reference to the mitigation for Speen Street that had been negotiated as part of the expansion of the Natick Mall. However, any good that would have come of that was now on hold because the Framingham Planning Board had appealed that decision complaining that Framingham would be bearing some of the brunt of increased traffic from the Mall, but would not be getting as much mitigation money as Natick.
In conclusion Mr. Grady reiterated that he was asking the Board to endorse the letter and send it to Adesa. He didn’t know if it would get a response, but it attempted to address the problem.
Mr. Ciccariello inquired if the Police Department had conducted a safety review of Speen Street. Mr. Grady advised that they did one recently at his request. Sergeant Davis didn’t believe it was a speeding problem. The average speed was 41.6 mph although some were going 70 mph and 64 mph in another direction. Although he hadn’t seen it, the Police Department had truck squad inspections and Sergeant Davis told him that the squad had stopped a number of trucks, found infractions and ticketed them and handed out citations, but very often they went to court and it was thrown out because if the driver lost his license, he lost his job so there tended to be a great deal of leniency and officers get discouraged.
When asked by Mr. Ciccariello if there had been any discussion about limiting the hours that certain vehicles could travel down Speen Street, Mr. Grady advised that there had been. He (Mr. Grady) noted
CITIZENS CONCERNS (contd)
that just recently Mr. Hughes dropped by a meeting with some of the residents and the two primary issues were the Mall traffic and truck traffic and limiting truck traffic from 7:00 p.m.-7:00 a.m.
Mr. McKinley recalled that some time ago there was an effort to ban trucks on Speen Street, but there was already an exclusion on Hartford Street and the State ruled that there couldn’t be one on Speen Street. He (Mr. McKinley) didn’t know if the idea of limiting truck traffic in the evening had been explored. He too had witnessed the kinds of things Mr. Grady referred to and would like the Board to support Mr. Grady’s request that the Board request the management of Adesa to make a good faith effort to educate their drivers and respect the neighborhood they were driving through while the Town pursued some other options including a truck ban at night. It was frightening to have a big rig going 40-45 mph and the Board should let Adesa know that
the Board takes it as seriously as the neighbors do. He asked that the Board write a separate letter to Mr. Neshe at Adesa in support of Mr. Grady’s request.
Mr. Ball noted that Mr. Grady was seeking the Board’s endorsement of sending a letter to one company and while he (Mr. Ball) was sympathetic he wondered why all of the problems was being laid at the doorstep of one company. Were there other large vehicles that drove badly that were not associated with this company?
Mr. Grady advised that there were, but the car carriers stood out because of the heavy volume. One day he was home and counted over 100. The busy times were Thursdays and Fridays. Trucks such as O.B. Hill’s and others with businesses locally were typically very respective when going through the residential area, but there were other trucks such as big dump trucks and the large trash haulers. They made a lot of noise and were very often going too fast. Mr. Grady added that he knew some of the trucks speed but there was also a lot of tailgating and a fair amount of blowing the horn because the trucks were impatient with people pulling into the driveway. They were heavy trucks and represent a safety problem. Mr. Grady also noted that he believed that Pine Street had a truck ban from 7:00
p.m.-7:00 a.m.
Mr. Ciccariello didn’t see why the Board couldn’t send a letter to Adesa asking them to be more responsible. He suggested that it also be referred to the Safety Committee and perhaps a Board member may want to represent the Board at the Safety Committee meeting to listen in.
Mr. Hughes suggested also sending a letter to Lease Way since they picked up cars at the train stop.
Mr. Lemnios was asked to draft a letter. He (Mr. Lemnios) indicated that he would also bring it to the Safety Committee and re-visit the issue of 7:00 p.m.-7:00 a.m.
Mr. Connolly thanked Mr. Grady for advocating for his neighborhood.
POWERS PACKAGE STORE, INC.: REQUEST SUNDAY OPENING PERMIT
The Board was in receipt of a letter from Powers Package Store requesting permission to open on Sundays. Representing Powers Package Store was the manager, Mary Ann Powers.
Mr. Ciccariello inquired as to what hours Ms. Powers would like to be open and she responded that she was thinking 12:00 p.m.-5:00 or 6:00 p.m. Ms. Challis advised that the Board had set the maximum hours at noon to 8:00 p.m. Mr. Hughes pointed out that that didn’t mean the store would have to stay open until 8:00 p.m., and Ms. Powers amended her request to the noon to 8:00 p.m. hours.
Mr. Hughes moved to approve Powers Package Store’s request to open on Sundays from 12:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Seconded by Mr. Connolly and unanimously voted.
PUBLIC HEARING: VERIZON NEW ENGLAND
CHARLES STREET: 8 FT. CONDUIT
PAYSON ROAD: 16 FT. CONDUIT
Mr. Hughes, seconded by Mr. McKinley, moved to open the public hearing. Unanimously voted.
Appearing before the Board on behalf of Verizon was Christopher Parella, Manager of Right of Way.
The Board was in receipt of a memo from William DeRosa, DPW Permits Engineer advising that the DPW had no objections to the petition.
Mr. Parella told the Board that the petition would allow Verizon to connect existing facilities that were underground to the nearest utility pole. Those facilities need to be brought to the first utility pole to get it out of ground and to the customers.
Mr. Hughes asked if the reason for the petition was that these facilities were not getting service now and this would get service to them. Mr. Parella responded, ‘no’, adding that this would improve the service that was available at those locations.
Given the recent issue with the cutting of a street opening, Mr. Ciccariello inquired if this work would fall under the same purview. Mr. Lemnios advised that a street opening permit was required if there was any cutting and that would go through the DPW.
Mr. Ball requested an explanation of how connecting these facilities would improve service and Mr. Parella replied that the delivery of service wasn’t necessarily a static function. As the need for service increases, Verizon finds alternative ways to service the neighborhood. Underground service was favorable for the residents and in the older neighborhoods you would find a hodge podge of service underground and overhead. That was what there was in this case. If more service was going to be provided, it would be done underground and this would provide a path to provide those services. Mr. Ball questioned what services and was told by Mr. Parella that it would provide faster service, DSL.
Mr. Connolly asked if the homeowners knew that Verizon would be doing this. Mr. Parella assumed that through the petitioning system all the homeowners were notified, but Mr. Connolly clarified that he was asking if they would know the exact day on which the work would be done. Mr. Parella’s response was, “no”, adding that the goal was to use the public way.
Mr. Hughes, seconded by Mr. Ball, moved to close the public hearing. Unanimously voted.
Mr. Hughes moved to approve the petition for conduit on Charles Street and Payson Road conditioned upon Verizon notifying the abutters of the work. Seconded by Mr. McKinley and unanimously voted.
BUCA RESTAURANTS 3, INC. D/B/A VINNY TESTA’S NATICK: PETITION FOR CHANGE IN CORPORATE OFFICERS
Representing BUCA Restaurants 3, Inc. d/b/a Vinny Testa’s Natick in their petition for a change in corporate officers was Attorney Trish Farnsworth.
Ms. Farnsworth told the Board that this was a straightforward application. There were previously two officers. Joseph Micatrotto resigned and Mr. Gadel was stepping into those roles. There were no new officers. It was an approved officer stepping to all the roles.
Mr. McKinley moved approval. Seconded by Mr. Ball and unanimously voted.
JOINT INTERVIEWS WITH SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO FILL SCHOOL COMMITTEE VACANCY
The Board was joined by members of the School Committee – Diane Packer, Peg Broekel, Jonathan Freedman, Henry Haughland, David Murphy, and Ted
JOINT INTERVIEWS WITH SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO FILL SCHOOL COMMITTEE VACANCY (contd)
Wynne. The members of the School Committee were polled and the Chairman Diane Packer called their meeting to order at 7:50 p.m.
Mr. Ciccariello opened the meeting of the two boards by noting that there were six candidates and following the interviews the two boards would decide if they wished to make the appointment tonight or if they wished to take additional time. Since this was a public meeting he asked the candidates if they would consider waiting in another room while each candidate was being interviewed.
Ms. Packer thanked all of the candidates who had applied for the position. There were six wonderful candidates and she felt that this would not be an easy vacancy to fill. She thanked each candidate for taking the time to apply and expressed the appreciation of the two boards for their (candidates) interest in filling the position. In conclusion Ms. Packer stated that she looked forward to each person staying involved regardless of the outcome of this evening.
Mr. Ciccariello then reviewed the process to be followed during the interviews. Each candidate would be asked to make an opening statement followed by a list of six questions to be asked each candidate and then follow-up questions by any member of the two boards.
Interviews were conducted with the following candidates: Marcus Anthony Baptista, Susan Bornstein, Michael Cashman, Kathy Lee, Frederick ‘Rick’ Wynn, and Frederick R. Coburn, Jr.
All candidates were asked the same six questions:
1. What is your primary motivation for seeking an appointment on the School Committee?
2. Describe what you see as your role as a member of the School Committee.
3. What specific skills or experiences will you bring to the School Committee?
4. What do you see as the three most important issues confronting the Natick School Committee and how would you address those issues?
5. What do you like best about the Natick Public Schools? What would you like to see improved?
6. As the term of this appointment is only until the next Town election in March 2005, if chosen to fill the vacancy, do you plan to run for office in March 2005?
a. Marcus Anthony Baptista
In his opening statement, Marcus Anthony Baptista referred to his letter of interest in which he stated that he was a Kennedy Middle School parent and had been a member of the Brown School Council where his daughter had attended school. He had volunteered at various local organizations such as three years on the Board of Directors of the MetroWest YMCA. He was a Precinct 1 Town Meeting member and was very active in his church. He was vice president of the PTO of a school for a year and was a graduate of the MetroWest Leadership Academy. He had worked at a university and with the business community providing services such as professional development of educators. Before entering the field of K-12 education full-time about 15 years ago he worked as a veterinarian and executive director of a state equine
practitioners association.
Being of Brazilian-American extraction, Mr. Baptista believed that he would bring diversity to the committee. The needs of English language learners was an area for the schools to be concerned with and he also had an 18 year old special needs son. He was a graduate of the teacher leader program of the Department of Education’s Partnership in the Advancement of the Learning of Math and Science. He also had experience in teaching at the high school level, namely 9th grade Biology and 12th grade Advanced Biology. Since 1997 he had been teaching Math and Science at Fuller Middle School in Framingham where he had also been a mentor for the past 6 years. He held a Masters in Educational Leadership with administrative certification as
JOINT INTERVIEWS WITH SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO FILL SCHOOL COMMITTEE VACANCY (contd)
Principal/Assistant Principal and Director/Supervisor and professional certification in Biology (5-12) and Mathematics (5-12).
Responding to the prepared questions, Mr. Baptista stated that his interest in serving on the School Committee was non-professional and non-political. Something like this was so important because it directly impacted the present and the future of the children. Regarding his role as a member of the School Committee, Mr. Baptista felt that different School Committee members have expertise in their fields. His was his day in and day out work with children and he believed he would be an asset for the increasing number of Spanish and Portuguese speaking children. Kristine VanAmsterdam (who had resigned from the School Committee leaving the vacancy) was the only parent on the Committee from Kennedy Middle School. She (Ms. VanAmsterdam) was doing a fantastic job and he felt it was important to keep the same balance.
To the question of what specific skills or experiences he would bring to the School Committee, Mr. Baptista thought that he had alluded a little to it - by coming to an evening meeting and continuing the work and putting on the cap of someone with a vested interest. He didn’t think it was selfish to look to improve the situation for your child because it would make it better for everyone else’s child. Mr. Baptista stated that he didn’t come here with an agenda or anything prepared, but he thought about the bird’s eye view and the vision. Having a safe, trusting and respectful environment was a wonderful vision for the schools and he thought that was done, but it was an area that demands a lot of attention of the School Committee.
Mr. Baptista continued that there were a number of issues on the map nationwide such as shootings and these things such as bullying kind of snowball. He didn’t believe it was the role of the School Committee to micro-manage, but if it were on the table frequently he was sure that it would keep the management sharp and Natick would never see any kind of real violence. One area that he intended to bring up even if he didn’t make it to the Committee was that often students were going through the motion of learning lists for the next day’s test. With regard to social responsibility, he wondered if all of the students were really being challenged. Were the schools meeting the needs of the students who were struggling and the special needs students, challenging the middle group, and keeping the high
achievers on their tippy toes. The School Committee had the responsibility to give 100% of the students the ability to apply and acquire their sense of responsibility and knowledge.
When asked what he liked best about the Natick Public Schools and what he would like to see improved, Mr. Baptista responded that his daughter had been in the school system since kindergarten. Both he and his wife, who was an elementary school teacher, wanted to be sure that their daughter was being challenged. They were happy with her report cards but not necessarily did the MCAS scores translate to the highest grades. He thought MCAS was valid but had some doubts. There were a lot of good things to say about the Natick Public Schools. He didn’t think the School Committee should only be about patting people on the back, but seeing how to raise the bar a little higher.
Mr. Baptista was asked if he planned to run for office in March 2005 and he responded that he was never the type of person to put a sign with his name on a lawn but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t run after having a six months exposure. He would not put a sign on anybody’s lawn as he found it to be visual pollution. He would be interested in running if the experience were to satisfy him where he saw that his role was making a difference. He thought he had to be making a difference. This position was not to be taken lightly. The School Committee had his daughter’s future in their hands whether or not he was on the Committee and as a father there was no greater interest in his life. In conclusion Mr. Baptista stated that he would be interested in the election.
JOINT INTERVIEWS WITH SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO FILL SCHOOL COMMITTEE VACANCY (contd)
Mr. Ball inquired if Mr. Baptista knew the size of the fiscal budget, what percentage of the tax dollars the School budget represented, and what percentage of the School budget was represented by salaries & wages.
Mr. Baptista didn’t know the answer but said he could probably ballpark it. Whatever the percentage of his tax dollars went to the Schools he would be willing to pay more taxes. He noted that he was not saying that because he was a Town employee of an abutting town since he was not in a position to advocate that taxes be increased to pay teachers more money.
Mr. Connolly asked if Mr. Ball knew the answer and Mr. Ball replied that the School budget was $30-32 million representing some 40 odd percent and he would guess that salaries & wages were between 85%-90%. Finance Director Robert Palmer confirmed that the School budget was $32-34 million, and the percentage of salaries & wages was 80-90%.
Mr. McKinley noted that in a recent article in the “MetroWest Daily News” Mr. Baptista was quoted as saying the changes in the middle school music were the right choice. He asked Mr. Baptista to elaborate on the changes and Mr. Baptista responded that he didn’t recall saying he felt there was a need to have more physical education in the middle school. He remembered saying that the changes that were suggested by the principal and presented to the School Committee made a lot of sense and that was what he was referring to. He agreed in principal with that change and remembered saying that it seemed like things were on track, but it wasn’t known for sure and more time was needed to evaluate the schedule. It looked fairly decent but he was not in a position where he could say those were
definitely the number of physical education classes a student should have every day or the exact number a student should have music or band.
Mr. Baptista continued that one thing that was important was that fairness always be on the table. His daughter was involved in chorus and played an instrument, but he felt it was important to have a physical education program. The obesity issue was one that needs to be addressed and do the children get enough physical education. No matter how much you cut back on one thing you couldn’t make everybody happy and there would always be people who were unhappy.
Mr. McKinley noted that recently the music program hours were reduced and physical education went up. He asked if Mr. Baptista supported that yes or no. Mr. Baptista’s response was, “yes”.
Mr. Freedman asked for Mr. Baptista’s views on the role of the School Committee. Mr. Baptista responded that currently the superintendent seemed to have a good working relationship with the School Committee. As a life long learner he was not looking for comfort and when the School Committee met nobody was looking to hear that everyone was doing a great job, couldn’t be better and let’s go home. You pat people on the back but ask them where to go from here to go to the next level.
He thought the School Committee members brought that as parents. To him it didn’t make sense to put a person on the Committee who didn’t have a child in a classroom.
Given that charter schools were more popular, Mr. Ciccariello asked how Mr. Baptista thought charter schools would impact on Natick. Mr. Baptista replied that he heard of people going to technical, parochial or charter schools and it made him wonder why somebody felt a need to remove a child. Were the needs of the child not being met? These requirements and what the parents were looking for should be looked at. If special needs students were not finding voc ed at the high school, they should be given those opportunities. He heard from a parent that Natick was great up to 4th grade and then parents move to a neighborhood town for a better middle school. He thought that parents should be so satisfied that they wouldn’t be looking for a better school and looking at Framingham. He
thought Natick should be doing at least as good a job as they (charter) were.
JOINT INTERVIEWS WITH SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO FILL SCHOOL COMMITTEE VACANCY (contd)
Mr. Haughland requested that Mr. Baptista share any data he had about any charter school in the Commonwealth that was doing a better job than Natick. Mr. Baptista clarified that he wasn’t saying it from the point of view of a public school teacher. He was saying it from being on a School Council and hearing it from a parent. He didn’t have any data to back that and he wasn’t looking to remove his daughter from the public school.
b. Susan Bornstein
In her opening remarks, Susan Bornstein stated that she was a 20 year resident of Natick and had a daughter who went through the Natick Public Schools and was now in college. She had the opportunity to serve on the High School Counsel first as a community representative and then as a parent representative. After that she spent 7 years on the Commission on Disability where her specific role was as liaison to the Schools. She loved the community and tried to bring something to it.
Ms. Bornstein advised that her profession was education and she was currently the vice-principal in a Newton middle school. Previously she had worked in Westwood and had worked for the Department of Education. She had a broad knowledge of education and felt she could be objective because she didn’t have children in the schools. As much as she tried not to favor a school (system) sometimes it was hard not to be interested in the idea that Natick could achieve the same academic excellence as communities around us. Ms. Bornstein explained that she didn’t mean that Natick should turn into a Wayland, Weston, or Newton, but she thought the Natick Schools could do better to help each student reach their potential better.
Ms. Bornstein acknowledged that there were many areas of running a school system of which she did not have knowledge such as the financial aspects, but she felt she would have a short learning curve. She
described herself as a direct, open and honest person who was passionate about education.
As to her primary motivation for seeking an appointment on the School Committee, Ms. Bornstein responded that she wanted to do something for her community. She thought every citizen had an obligation to give back and right now she was not doing anything in an official capacity for her community.
Asked to describe what she saw as her role as a member of the School Committee, Ms. Bornstein felt that it would be her experience in other communities. When faced with issues, i.e. scheduling and how do children have the opportunity for more arts at the middle school, she had sat on committees and worked out those types of issues in other communities.
Regarding specific skills or experiences that she would bring to the Committee, Ms. Bornstein’s response was, “a lot”, adding that she had spent quite a bit of time in the profession of education. In the big picture role and in the detail role she had worn many hats.
To the question of what she saw as the three most important issues confronting the Natick School Committee and how she would address those issues, Ms. Bornstein thought the issues of the buildings was a big one and knew that it was ongoing in most communities. She thought that Natick High School was probably next on the list and it was something she had interest in tackling. There were also a lot of teachers getting ready for retirement and a lot of new staff and she thought it was important to bring the veteran group and new group together so they could learn from each other. That was not just this community but across many districts. For the third Ms. Bornstein stated that she was partial to helping kids at either end of the spectrum – making room for kids to take AP courses if they were interested and not
having a cut off and on the other end for special needs Natick provides good service, but there was more that could be done.
JOINT INTERVIEWS WITH SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO FILL SCHOOL COMMITTEE VACANCY (contd)
When asked what she liked best about the Natick Public Schools and what she would like to see improved, Ms. Bornstein replied that she liked the wide variety of students in terms of family professions and the kinds of kids. She didn’t see the same kind of materialistic competition as she saw in some other communities. Natick was down to earth. She thought an improvement would be to have a vision that was more fundamental. She didn’t like to see kids graduate from high school and that was the end of their education.
In response to the final prepared question as to whether she planned to run for office in March 2005 if chosen to fill the vacancy, Ms. Bornstein responded that if the Committee wanted her to and it looked like she was able to make a good contribution, absolutely.
Noting that Ms. Bornstein professed a lack of familiarity with the financial aspect of the School system, Mr. Ball asked the same three questions as he had asked Mr. Baptista - the size of the fiscal budget, what percentage of the tax dollars that budget represented, and what percentage of the School budget was represented by salaries & wages. Ms. Bornstein replied no to all three although she knew that salaries & wages represented most of it.
Mr. McKinley inquired how Ms. Bornstein felt about charter schools. Ms. Bornstein responded that she didn’t have personal knowledge and didn’t know anyone who did. Totally based on her love of public education, she didn’t think that was the way to improve education and meet the kids’ needs.
Ms. Broekel asked Ms. Bornstein how she saw the role of the School Committee, and Ms. Bornstein responded that she saw it as helping to represent the community. She would be spending a couple of months learning a lot and where the School Committee’s role was vis-à-vis other boards. She wasn’t sure what it would be like, but she felt it was a highly respected position because of the way the Committee presents itself in other communities, and she would be honored.
c. Michael Cashman
Mr. Cashman thanked the Board of Selectmen and School Committee for giving the candidates the opportunity to present their qualifications and acknowledged Ms. VanAmsterdam’s work on the committee. He (Mr. Cashman) had been a member of the School Committee for three years from 2001-2004 and worked with Ms. VanAmsterdam and knew her commitment to the schools and the Town in general was very strong.
Mr. Cashman stated that he moved to Natick in 1989 to start a family. He had just finished law school and wanted to get involved in the community. Balancing parental obligations he ran for Town Meeting and still held that position. He had always been interested in government and Natick’s Town government was always well run and the schools excellent which was one of the considerations in moving here.
Mr. Cashman noted that the appointment being made was a six-month appointment and at that point the person would have the option and opportunity to run for a one-year seat. If chosen he would exercise that option. He had run for office four times – in 1988 for Library Trustee, and in 2000, 2001, and 2004 for School Committee. He had served on the Committee for three years and attended nearly all the meetings. He felt he had a good understanding of Town government. He was a practicing attorney working for a mediation civil law practice with an undergraduate business degree and knowledge in tax law and was considered a bankruptcy expert.
The budget process would be starting and he thought he would be a help and would work and advocate for the best budget possible. The School Committee decides how the money was spent, but in the years past there
has been some disagreement between the Town and the School over the amount of money. In serving on the Committee he ratified the three-year obligation with the teachers. He also believed the time had come for a new high school and would work with the State legislators to get
JOINT INTERVIEWS WITH SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO FILL SCHOOL COMMITTEE VACANCY (contd)
Natick on a fast track for a new high school. When he served on the Committee he looked at public education as an inclusive enterprise and tried to advocate for students with special needs or certain types of challenges.
In conclusion Mr. Cashman stated that he was disappointed not being re-elected but he knew the person who was elected was committed to public education and committed to seeing that the schools in Natick improve.
When asked what his primary motivation was for seeking an appointment to the School Committee, Mr. Cashman responded that he wanted to see the school children’s futures continue to be positive and bright. People asked if he ran because he had two daughters in public schools. He had two daughters but he had taken a class at Framingham State and the professor said if you want to understand public education and get involved, go to the School Committee meetings and run and that was what he did. The reason he was seeking appointment was to continue to improve public education. He believed education was the future of the Town and the people the schools education came back and contributed to the Town.
Mr. Cashman was then asked to describe what he saw as his role as a member of the School Committee, and he responded that he believed his role was one of questionnaire. He didn’t have all the education answers and saw the School Committee as the leadership in setting policy but the management should be left to the administrators. The role of the School was to question as to the reasons for doing something and he thought the Committee did a good job on that. He believed his role would be questionnaire to find out the whys and use of a particular policy the administration would like to see implemented.
As to the skills he would bring to the School Committee, Mr. Cashman replied that he had a mentally challenged brother and understood the needs of special needs students. He thought he was sensitive to the needs of students who may be viewed as different. He had legal skills and financial skills. He had a thorough analysis of the budget and the budget process as well as knowledge in the area of taxes and was very cognizant of the taxpayers’ burden. Members of the School Committee had to be aware of that but he believed the School Committee needed to continue to move forward with better schools and better teachers.
Mr. Cashman was asked what he saw as the three most important issues confronting the Natick School Committee. He responded that there had been a high generational transition, and he thought parental involvement into the classroom with a lot of new teachers and transition was important. The high school was a priority and seeing the
high school get built was a priority and a challenge. The State had made some strides to better fund the SBAB, but they had to do more. The State had to do more with special needs costs. He also felt improvement of the curriculum in the area of math. In summary Mr. Cashman listed the top three as the high school, improving the curriculum, and hiring the best teachers.
Mr. Cashman defined what he liked best about the Natick Public Schools as the open atmosphere and response when there was a problem. Working with the administration he knew that when there was a problem it was addressed. He saw the schools as an extension of our homes and the neighbors coming together. It made you feel like you belonged in the Town. He grew up in a similar town to Natick in Connecticut and saw the community aspect of the schools as a positive, but you always needed to be looking to do better and improve. Not just in Natick but many kids were feeling the stress and difficulty of MCAS. That was something he didn’t like although it was not a Natick factor.
Ms. Broekel noted that Mr. Cashman had already answered Question #1 regarding running for Office in March 2005, but she read the question for his benefit. Mr. Cashman’s reply was, “yes”.
JOINT INTERVIEWS WITH SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO FILL SCHOOL COMMITTEE VACANCY (contd)
Mr. Freedman requested Mr. Cashman’s thoughts on the role of the Committee as a whole particularly as it interacts with the administration and the rest of the Town. Mr. Cashman thought the administration’s role was different. The School Committee sets policy and had to have an understanding of the impact and why it’s being set. Sometimes a policy will be set and the impact may not be realized, i.e. decreasing the arts in the school. It may be viewed by the administration as a necessity because of the scheduling conflicts in the middle school. Looking at his daughter’s sixth grade schedule it was pretty packed, but cutting back on the arts was the wrong approach and as a Committee member he would have to look at the impact and the effect on the exposure and the enlightenment the arts
can bring. People were upset. He thought the role of the Committee was to get an understanding and he thought the Committee had done a good job of understanding why it was being done, if it was a necessity, and was it permanent. Mr. Cashman noted that he had been the voting delegate at the Massachusetts Association of School Committees for three years and he thought he understood the role of the Committee. He saw the roles of the teachers, the administration and the School Committee as very different and he enjoyed the dynamic between those factions.
In response to Mr. McKinley’s inquiry as to how he felt about charter schools, Mr. Cashman responded that he did not support charter schools in any sense. They were mandated by Ed Reform and he thought the result had been and would be devastating to public schools if it continued out of control. The schools had to keep improving so parents wouldn’t opt for charter schools. As a member of the School Committee he would not want to see an increasing number of students going to
charter schools. He wanted the students to stay at the middle school and learn in the Town’s school environment.
Mr. Ball asked his standard questions concerning finances, and Mr. Cashman responded that the School budget was $50 million out of a town wide budget of $85 million, maybe slightly more. As a percentage of the Town budget, Natick was low and he would like to see the School budget increase as a percentage of the overall Town budget, but he understood the constraints. He knew the percentage of the School budget represented by salaries & wages was high and wanted to say 90%.
d. Kathy Lee
Kathy Lee stated that she was interested in being a member of the School Committee because she had been living in Natick for seven years and had thought about becoming more involved in the community but wanted to do something that she was passionate about and that was education. She has been a language teacher at Boston College for seven years and it was something she loved. She had also taught in Connecticut and Louisiana and now in Boston and had seen schools from private to public and from inner city to Ivy League. She was most interested in seeing how schools develop all across the spectrum and making sure one school’s philosophy goes with the rest. Her concern was with the bookends between theory and philosophy. She had no predisposition as to what programs she wanted to see and was interested in
doing homework.
Ms. Lee was asked the six standard questions and she responded that her primary motivation for seeking an appointment was to contribute to the community in an area in which she had some background.
She described her role as a member of the School Committee as being to take information put in front of her, read it carefully, and make sure it was thoroughly discussed with others as to what the best solution would be. She wanted the teachers to find Natick as being open to using all of their teachers and their passion for education so that the passion didn’t get lost. She would hate to see the teachers come to the school district with passion and ideas and have it get lost.
When asked what specific skills she would bring to the School Committee, Ms. Lee responded that she was a parent of children in the school system in the elementary school and she saw what they were going
JOINT INTERVIEWS WITH SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO FILL SCHOOL COMMITTEE VACANCY (contd)
through. There have been concerns and issues with the transition into middle school and she would like to work at that. Her main skill was her background as an educator K-12 and at the university. She had pretty much covered the spectrum of schools.
In response to what she saw as the three most important issues confronting the Natick School Committee and how she would address those issues, Ms. Lee identified the first as making sure the students had the best resources possible. Natick had a unique opportunity and there were lots of possibilities for the education to grow and she wanted to
make sure the education kept going in the right direction and producing the best students possible. Another issue of her concern was the development of the middle school program and how it figured in with the elementary and the high school. She also assumed that physical space was a major issue.
Ms. Lee concluded her response to the question by stating that she would much rather see herself as gathering information rather than coming and saying this is my plan. She would like to see what people working in the system for a long time saw as their plan.
Ms. Lee was asked what she liked best about the Natick Public Schools and what she would like to see improved and she responded that she had enjoyed the Natick Public Schools and the ability to include the community. To better the schools she would go to the issue of continuity. Whenever there was a district vs a single school there was the problem of children coming from different schools and a student wants to feel this was a natural progression. When a student went to the next level he/she should feel it was a natural step and shouldn’t feel they weren’t prepared.
Regarding running for office in March was she chosen to fill the vacancy, Ms. Lee said that she would want to wait and see, but she would be open. She did not normally promote herself so this was more natural and she would rather see how it worked (being on the School Committee). If she thought it would be a great place to continue, then she would welcome putting her name out there. She planned on staying in Natick and would like to make this commitment.
Asked by Mr. McKinley how she felt about charter schools, Ms. Lee replied that she had seen some of them work and had seen some of them not work. She would need to see a strong detail of how it would be defined and what the parameters would include and why. She had seen them work and she had seen them fail.
Referring to Ms. Lee’s mention that she was interested because of her (Ms. Lee’s) passion in education and interested in supporting and improving the Natick Public Schools, Ms. Broekel asked if Ms. Lee had any specific experience with the schools or other committees and if so what was her experience and her role. Ms. Lee noted that she volunteered at Johnson teaching Spanish and found it to be a positive experience. It was something she could offer and something not available at this particular school.
Mr. Freedman inquired as to what Ms. Lee saw as the role of the School Committee, and Ms. Lee replied that she would hope that the Committee worked at listening to the needs of the Town and the needs of the School and mediate the two so everyone could be satisfied. She thought the Committee could come with its own vision of the district growing and students growing, but she saw the Committee functioning as a
mediation area to take different perspectives and come up with a common solution.
In response to Mr. Ball’s questions concerning the School Committee budget, Ms. Lee stated that she had no idea of the budget and didn’t know how much of the School budget was in salaries & wages. Out of the blue she would guess that the School budget represented 10% of the town wide budget.
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Mr. Murphy followed up on his sense of Ms. Lee’s reluctance to seek office and asked if Ms. Lee was appointed if she could see herself overcoming that reluctance. Ms. Lee responded that she could, noting that as an initial entry it (appointment) was easier for her. She didn’t have historical Town connections although she had developed strong connections with neighbors and members of the committee and that little step would help her overcome that.
Following a ten-minute recess the meeting was again called to order at 9:20 p.m.
e. Rick Wynn
Rick Wynn noted that he was a parent of three children and had been in Town for four years and was on the Parent Council. He would like to further his involvement in the community particularly the school system. He had also had the opportunity to work on the principal search committee and thought that the principal was a critical position for Memorial School given that it was performing at a high level. In addition he was part of a group that funded and built a new playground at Memorial. That was particularly rewarding because they not only bought the structure but built it. It was a community project involving a tremendous number of people, some of whom didn’t even have kids in the school.
Mr. Wynn continued that both the principal search and the playground had resulted in meaningful outcomes. He believed deeply in the value of community and education and prior to Ms. VanAmsterdam’s resignation he had discussed with her about running several years from now. When this opportunity came up he decided this was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. There were no guarantees but the ability to go into an election as an incumbent was too good to pass up. Mr. Wynn stressed that he did not view this role as a thirty-day trial. It wasn’t a decision. It was the result of making the commitment to run in the first place. He had three plus years on the parent council and involvement with the faculty and some with the administration.
Mr. Wynn believed his professional experience as a senior vice-president and portfolio manager for Putnam Investments would be of benefit. He felt that he was a quick study and was familiar with boards and knew the distinction between a board and executive. He had the academic and practical decision making experience and understood the need to balance the school system and the needs of the community.
The Committee had to consider equally the needs of children at the special needs level and those at the highest level. He didn’t come pretending to know all the answers and didn’t know all of the questions to ask, but he hoped that based on the actions demonstrated at Memorial School that he would be seen as a doer.
In conclusion Mr. Wynn stated that he had recently participated in the Rizzo Foundation. He emphasized that he was committed to contributing back to the community and his first priority was ensuring that the Town had the best possible school system.
In response to Question 1, Mr. Wynn responded that his primary motivation was that he had thoroughly enjoyed the involvement in contributing something to the community and he didn’t think he had exhausted what he could contribute to Memorial and would like to branch that out to a community base. He felt passionately about the Town’s ability to give a great public school education to the children in the community. He and his family planned to be here for a long time and his own personal goal was to see his children participate in a good school system. For him education was the most important thing other than giving children good values and it was rewarding for him to be an active participant as opposed to a passive one.
When asked to describe what he saw as his role as a member of the School Committee, Mr. Wynn responded that he attended a lot of board meetings and thought the role of the Board was to set strategic
JOINT INTERVIEWS WITH SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO FILL SCHOOL COMMITTEE VACANCY (contd)
objectives to provide a level of oversight. When appropriate the board should be a cheerleader and when appropriate the board should be a partner with the administration but not necessarily that there wasn’t some accountability of the people they hire. The board was looking at the broadest strategic level of the needs of the community to develop policy within the constraints of the budget. He did not think the role of the board was to micro manage the individual officials appointed within the administrative staff.
Mr. Wynn was asked what specific skills or experiences he would bring to the committee and he responded that he had some personal skills. He thought that he was a great listener and a quick study and he practiced that in his professional life. He was a trained researcher and while not an expert in matters of public education this was something he was passionate about and would do the same due diligence as with any company his business would chose to invest in. He thought he could get into the role in a fairly seamless way.
As to what he saw as the three most important issues confronting the Natick School Committee and how he would address those issues, Mr. Wynn thought that he had highlighted them. He noted that he was not holding himself out to be the expert consultant to tell the other committee members with a lot more experience (what was needed). To him it was very clear that the School Committee was going to face the need to do something with the high school in the not too distant future. It
appeared a more likely solution to rebuild than renovate but he couldn’t say that for sure.
Mr. Wynn continued that there was a population issue. His was a large neighborhood with a lot of kids going to the Kennedy School and it was difficult to figure out what to do. There may be some potential to look at an addition to Kennedy or how to handle those added students.
For the long-term he felt the schools needed to maintain a very high bar of performance standards at the high school and to continue pushing the bar.
When asked what he liked best about the Natick public schools, Mr. Wynn replied that in the three years he had been involved, his wife was co-president of the PTO and his direct experience was largely a reflection of his own experience and based on talking to others in the neighborhood. They (Mr. Wynn and his wife) had been thrilled with the experience so far. The thing of concern to them specifically the middle school transition and the hope that the curriculum changes put in place would be positive. He had heard constant comments that the transition has been extremely difficult and the last few weeks he has heard that it was getting better. He was interested in seeing that the middle school transition was a little more seamless as time goes on and he wanted to be sure the caliber of the education at the high
school was as good as it could be. The test results were the top 25% which were quite good. The performance of the system was probably better then the reputation it has now and maybe the community could be educated that the system was quite good.
Asked if he planned to run for office in March if chosen to fill the vacancy, Mr. Wynn’s reply was, “yes”, adding that as he had said before he had intended to do this a few years from now and when he found out about Ms. VanAmsterdam’s resignation he submitted his name. The timing was a little sooner but it was an opportunity for somebody who was committed to do this in the first place. The obvious benefits of incumbency were much too strong to pass up. The first decision was if this was something you wanted to do and he was here because he had made that decision.
Noting that Mr. Wynn was talking in terms of the role of the School Committee and discussing the whole committee vs special interests, Mr. Freedman asked that Mr. Wynn elaborate. Mr. Wynn explained that the point he was trying to communicate was that he had a lot of first-hand experience on the school council where one or two parents do a great
JOINT INTERVIEWS WITH SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO FILL SCHOOL COMMITTEE VACANCY (contd)
job of communicating an issue that was important to them but may not have a lot to do with the needs of the school. The needs of the many may at times have to wait for the needs of the few. It was the responsibility of the Committee to look at the needs of the entire community and not just those who speak loudest.
In response to the questions posed by Mr. Ball on the School budget, Mr. Wynn did not know the size of the school budget but thought the school budget represented 25-50% of the town wide budget. He thought the percentage of the budget represented by salaries was fairly significant and represented 50-60% of the School operating budget.
Mr. McKinley inquired as to Mr. Wynn’s position on charter schools, and Mr. Wynn responded that they (candidates) were talking to Mr. Connolly (School Superintendent) about this. He (Mr. Wynn) thought the charter school had the opportunity to serve a portion of the population that felt they weren’t being served by the public schools. The issue was how to sort out funding. He didn’t think you took the specific per student allocation and that was what should go to the charter school. To him it was an issue of how the charter school should be funded but he supported the existence of charter schools and what some of them were trying to accomplish.
Mr. Connolly asked about Mr. Wynn’s mention of the high school. Mr. Wynn responded that he didn’t have the financial data to suggest that he knew all the answers but from speaking to people and knowing how old the high school was, it would either need some significant renovation or to be rebuilt. If he had to guess, it would probably end up with a better outcome if it started from scratch. In follow-up Mr. Connolly asked if Mr. Wynn would fund (the high school) by an override. Mr. Wynn stated that he thought it was something that had to be considered.
f. Frederick R. Coburn, Jr.
Frederick ‘Dirk’ R. Coburn, Jr. stated that he was a Town Meeting member and was interested in the vacancy most fundamentally because he valued education. He grew up in a city that valued education and his mother was an elementary school teacher so he had books all around the house and kept it up all his life. His daughter went to the Montessori preschool and had an issue trying to express herself. He couldn’t have been more pleased with the Natick school system to get her on track and develop the way she should. Mr. Coburn noted that he got involved on the PTA at the elementary school and got involved in the effort to build the new Wilson Middle School. He thought the difference between a town with opportunities and a town that stagnates was because of a few key factors and one was
education.
Mr. Coburn continued that he was on the Parent Coordinating Council. He tried to keep up with what direction the system was headed and had done that at public meetings of the committee by standing up and speaking but it was abstract and you couldn’t really get involved in making things happen and he would like the opportunity to get involved in making things happen. In his opinion a system moved forward or it stagnated. Mr. Coburn concluded that he was pleased to see six candidates take an interest in the vacancy and thought it was great for the community.
Mr. Coburn was asked the prepared questions and he responded that his primary motivation for seeking an appointment was that he wanted to do more than just talk and wanted to help create a goal with which the system could work. There had been a nice balance on the School Committee and he valued what Ms. VanAmsterdam brought to the Committee and he would like to uphold some of the strengths he thought she brought to the Committee.
Asked to describe what he saw as your role as a member of the School Committee, Mr. Coburn stated that he thought his role would be what he was particularly strong at which was making connections and bringing modes of analysis from his professional life and long-time interest in education that was relevant to what the Committee was working on. He
JOINT INTERVIEWS WITH SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO FILL SCHOOL COMMITTEE VACANCY (contd)
knew how large organizations worked and what incentives to put in place. Working with six other people he might discover where they thought he was strong and he would be willing to work at that and fill in where needed.
Mr. Coburn was asked what specific skills he would bring to the School Committee and he responded that one experience that would be a touching stone for him was being on the governing board of his church. On the Board of Trustees he was setting the direction and taking responsibility for the long-time viability (of the church). He would also bring communication skills and skills in managing organizations as to what they need to do to achieve their goals.
As to what he saw as the three most important issues confronting the Natick School Committee, Mr. Coburn thought some of the recent news about the system and some of the focus the Committee had appropriately placed at the middle school and high school text situation and the need to set the bar higher and higher especially in math. Another was writing and communication. He thought wonderful things were going on like Drop Everything and Write Days, but he thought there was room for some more outside the box things in writing. Kids think about things in headlines and he thought it was hard for kids to grow up constructing large complex sophisticated arguments. He was pleased to see constructive support for just trying things.
Mr. Coburn continued that he had seen in the classroom support for teachers trying what they thought should work. Not everything works and when it doesn’t constructive support involves saying good try, it didn’t work like expected, and let’s try again. He has seen a positive culture for constructive support all the way up the management line.
When asked what he liked best about the Natick Public Schools and what he would like to see improved, Mr. Coburn stated that he liked so many things it was almost unfair. He liked the way the schools brought people together as a community. That worked in the Wilson effort and it brought out a lot of great things that were already going on. For things to be improved, Mr. Coburn pointed out the writing theme and
said he would like to see an improved focus in getting kids proficient in that kind of advanced discipline – classic writing.
In response to being asked if he would run for office in March 2005 if chosen to fill this vacancy, Mr. Coburn stated that the basic answer was, “yes”. He added that he would not be putting his hat in the ring for this appointment (if he wasn’t running). He didn’t think it would be fair for the school system if they didn’t expect him to continue what’s a short-term appointment. It would depend on a lot of factors.
Mr. McKinley asked how Mr. Coburn felt about charter schools and Mr. Coburn’s response was that he felt the complex formula needed some work. He felt that it was penalizing to a public school system. He did believe that a family that needs something other than what a public school system could or was offering should be able to get that whether they can pay for a private education or not. That particularly applied to some of the large urban highly challenged school systems. Because the State sets up everything as a level playing field, the Town had to deal with it and the Natick Public Schools need to work to not lose students to a charter.
Mr. Freedman inquired as to what Mr. Coburn saw as the role of the School Committee as a whole. Mr. Coburn responded that the Committee should participate in the chain of constructive support. The education professionals who were hired know a lot about what they were doing and not everything was going to work. They need to be invited into an honest discussion about what was and wasn’t working and need to be supported when it wasn’t working and need to be encouraged when something was working to propagate it elsewhere in the system. He also thought it was an important question of constructive support among School Committee members for each other as he thought a School Committee was strongest when they brought different things to the table
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and everybody had to be respectful and not all approaching things from the same strengths.
Mr. Ball asked the same questions about the School budget as he had to the other candidates, and Mr. Coburn replied that he had all the budget documents because he voted on it at Town Meeting. The budget was approximately $35 million. As to the percentage of the town wide budget, it was more than any other operation in Town. He believed it to be approximately ½. He couldn’t quote a figure for the percentage salaries & wages represented of the School budget but knew it was a large part and the most significant budget item.
Mr. Ciccariello inquired as to how the two boards would like to proceed. Information was received from each candidate, the boards heard from each candidate and were the boards prepared to vote now or did they wish to table to the next meeting.
The general consensus expressed by members of both boards was that they were ready to vote.
Asked to describe the voting process, Mr. Ciccariello explained that it was by paper ballot. He noted that the ballot was a public record and each member of the Board of Selectmen and School Committee would vote and sign the ballot. The ballots would be recorded and read. A candidate needed a majority vote to be appointed. If no candidate received a majority vote, his suggestion was that the candidate with the lowest vote would drop off and go back through the voting process a second time.
The votes were collected and a recess called at 10:10 p.m. The meeting was reconvened at 10:15 p.m. On behalf of the Board of Selectmen and School Committee Mr. Ciccariello expressed appreciation to all the candidates noting that it was a tremendous asset to the Town to get six outstanding candidates to choose from for this appointment. It was his hope that if a candidate didn’t get appointed that he/she would continue their community involvement and pursue this position during the next election. The votes were read.
By paper ballot Rick Wynn was appointed to the School Committee to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Kristine VanAmsterdam having received eight votes. Ms. Lee received two votes; Mr. Coburn received one vote; Mr. Baptista, Ms. Bornstein, and Mr. Cashman did not receive a vote. The vote was as follows:
Mr. Ciccariello voted for Mr. Wynn
Mr. Ball voted for Ms. Lee
Mr. Hughes voted for Mr. Wynn
Mr. McKinley voted for Mr. Wynn
Mr. Connolly voted for Ms. Lee
Ms. Packer voted for Mr. Wynn
Ms. Broekel voted for Mr. Wynn
Mr. Freedman voted for Mr. Wynn
Mr. Haughland voted for Mr. Coburn
Mr. Murphy voted for Mr. Wynn
Mr. Wynne voted for Mr. Wynn
Mr. Wynn thanked everyone for the opportunity to make his case in front of both boards. He hoped to fulfill the role and thanked the boards for the extremely professional approach to trying to find a candidate.
Mr. Haughland suggested that the Chair open the floor to making this a unanimous vote.
Mr. Ball felt that Mr. Haughland was ‘dead on’ and moved that both boards unanimously cast a single vote in favor of Mr. Wynn. Seconded by Mr. McKinley and unanimously voted 11-0-0.
Ted Wynne clarified that even though he would be proud to claim Mr. Wynn as a relative, they were not related.
JOINT INTERVIEWS WITH SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO FILL SCHOOL COMMITTEE VACANCY (contd)
The School Committee adjourned its meeting at 10:20 p.m.
UPDATE ON SASSAMON TRACE GOLF COURSE
UPDATE ON SPRINGVALE TREATMENT CENTER
In view of the lateness of the hour, Mr. Hughes requested that the update on Sassamon Trace and Springvale Treatment Center be postponed until the next meeting. The Board concurred.
UPDATE ON SKATING RINK
Mr. McKinley reminded the Board that the lease with FMC (Facilities Management Corporation) requires an annual review of the operations at the West Suburban Arena. A week or two ago Mr. Lemnios and he and other relative Town officials met with FMC at the rink, reviewed the facility, the capital plan, and in general came away quite pleased with the performance to date most of which was well documented.
Mr. McKinley recommended that the Board consider the lease renewed for an additional year with no issues and continue to monitor it.
Mr. Lemnios told the Board that the terms and conditions of the lease had been met by FMC. They (FMC) were ahead of their investment schedule relative to capital improvements and the reports he was getting was that the users were very pleased with the improvements made. FMC has been very accommodating with the scheduling and continues to operate the arena in an exemplary fashion.
Seeing that Dover-Sherborn was bumped to allow space for Natick, Mr. Connolly applauded FMC for giving first preference to Natick.
SCHEDULE STREET LAYOUT ACCEPTANCE HEARING
Mr. Hughes moved that the Board vote its intention to do a layout for Libby Road. Seconded by Mr. McKinley and unanimously voted.
Mr. Hughes then moved that the Board hold a public hearing on October 4, 2004 for the acceptance of Libby Road. Seconded by Mr. Ball and unanimously voted.
TOWN MEETING ARTICLES
Mr. Ciccariello noted that two of the most important articles were relative to drainage and the Clubhouse Lane sewer system. Mr. Lemnios advised that Clubhouse was the result of a petition asking the Board of Selectmen to discuss what would be the most cost effective manner for a sewer system in that area. There were two options. One was a low pressure system. The cost was $282,000 which didn’t include the cost of the pump. The cost per house would be $14,700. The other option was a gravity system and that was $985,000 for a betterment of $40,000. The property owners met and were given the information. A particular resident has been appointed as the person to go around and talk to the other residents. They (property owners) weren’t interested in the $985,000 solution but
they wanted to talk if they wanted to bear the cost.
Mr. Lemnios advised that the five drainage issues were part of the capital budget article that the Finance Committee was hearing tonight. There were five areas in question. Westlake and South Avenue had a
total cost of engineering and construction of $300,000. The three others – Middle Street, Glen Street and Washington Avenue were larger projects. The capital article would accomplish the engineering for all five areas and accomplish the construction for the two small areas – Westlake and South Avenue.
Mr. Hughes inquired if the schedule had been provided to all the parties that had come before the Board. Mr. Lemnios noted that he was meeting with one of the parties this Wednesday. He had outreached to individuals on Westlake Road who had signed the petition and had outreached to residents on South Main.
TOWN MEETING ARTICLES (contd)
It was Mr. Hughes’ understanding that as long as the Town was going forward that the Westlake article would be withdrawn. Mr. Lemnios stated that that was his understanding as well.
Mr. Hughes reported that he was meeting with The MathWorks regarding the tax incremental finance agreement and should have something back before the Board shortly after that.
SELECTMEN’S CONCERNS
a. East Central Street Auto Repair Shop
Mr. Hughes noted that he wanted to be sure that there was follow-up to a letter from Donald Friswell regarding a possible unauthorized auto repair shop on East Central Street.
b. Sherman Street Paving
Mr. Connolly inquired as to the status of paving Sherman Street. Mr. Lemnios responded that he would find out and advise Mr. Connolly.
c. Winnemay and Willow Street Streetlight
Mr. Connolly noted that he spoke with Ms. Adams at the corner of Winnemay and Willow Street who was looking for a new streetlight. DPW Business Manager John Craig said it would have to go before the Safety Committee, and he (Mr. Connolly) would like to have it looked into.
d. Phase 5 Remediation – 195 West Central Street
The Board received notification from Webb Engineering regarding Phase 5 remediation at 195 West Central Street. Mr. Lemnios was asked if Environmental Compliance Officer Robert Bois received the notification, and he advised that typically these types of notices were given to Mr. Bois.
e. Grants Place
Mr. Ciccariello noted that MassHousing had approved Grants Place housing. It was Mr. McKinley’s understanding that MassHousing approved the financing and not necessarily the design. It still had to go before the ZBA. Mr. Ciccariello agreed and added that there were some issues as well with the Conservation Commission and the suggestion was that the developer meet with the Town to try to resolve some of the issues.
f. Heart Safe Community
Mr. Lemnios informed the Board that the Town of Natick had been designated as a Heart Safe community by the American Medical Association.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 10:45 p.m.
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Charles M. Hughes, Clerk
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