Feb. 13 meeting: bleachers, trash pickup, Allen Pond Dam

Visitors bleachers to go
Selectmen Feb. 13 authorized a private contractor to remove the visitors bleachers at Turco Field for reuse by the company. There is to be no cost to the town.

Town Administrator Michael Boynton said the bleachers do not meet code and noted a past liability problem with home bleachers that have since been replaced.

Boynton said he's waiting to hear back from the citizens' group that has been raising money for an artificial surface and other improvements for Turco. (Replacement of the visitors bleachers is not in the group's plans.)

The Friends of the Walpole Community Athletic Complex told selectmen at the board's Jan. 16 meeting that they are planning to award a contract in April. The project, has been re-engineered to create a $1.5 million first phase, in line with the $1.2 million in cash and pledges and $200,000 in services committed as of January. Here's the Friends' site.

Tuesday night. Boynton said the town must have assurance before the project begins that the Friends have the money to complete it.

At their meeting, selectmen awarded a $4.3 million, five-year contract to low-bidder Russell Disposal of Somerville for curbside trash and recycling pickup, starting July 1. The company gets good marks from several cities and towns including Cambridge, according to Boynton and selectmen Chairman Joseph Denneen. Its bid was $8,000 lower in the first year than the town's current contractor, Waste Management, Boynton said.

The board heard a presentation by GZA, the engineering firm hired to check Walpole-owned dams under a statewide directive issued after last year's trouble in Taunton. There are no real problems at Turner and Memorial ponds, but the Allen Pond dam needs further analysis because of spongy areas at its downstream base. Because of the homes nearby, the consultant recommends the dam be categorized as "high hazard," not because of its condition, which is "satisfactory," but because of damage potential.

Boynton noted the dam was built in the 1950s after a hurricane-swollen Spring Brook flooded downtown Walpole. A warrant article for May Town Meeting includes $60,000 for further review of Allen dam.

March 13
Walpole Woodworkers
With plans to sell its East Street property for development of 250 rental units under Chapter 40, Walpole Woodworkers will be leaving Walpole, Town Administrator Michael Boynton said at Tuesday night's selectmen meeting.

Boynton said he was disappointed that the longtime Walpole business did not sound out the town before letting officials know two weeks ago of the plans for its 16 acres on East Street. Noting how close the site is to downtown, Boynton said that "we never had a chance to come up to bat."

The situation is a "bummer," selectmen Chairman Joseph Denneen said. But on the chance the company might consider an overture from the town, the board postponed a vote on whether to endorse a study committee's recommendation to build a combined fire and police facility on Stone Field. Present at the meeting for a station discussion, the fire and police chiefs said the Woodworkers' site could be suitable for a new public safety facility.

Under the state's Chapter 40B, the anti-snob-zoning law, developers can bypass town zoning and regulations in return for setting aside 25 percent or more of the planned units for publicly subsidized housing.

"This is a big one," Boynton said at the start of a discussion that brought up the 300-unit Gatehouse 40B rental complex on Route 1 near the Foxboro line.

The choice confronting the town is whether to approach the Woodworkers' site as a 40B, he said, adding that under that process Gatehouse was denied by the town for good cause but approved on appeal by the state. The alternative is Chapter 40R, the state's smart-growth law, which encourages cooperation between the community and the developer.

"We have to make a decision as a community on what route to take... on the involvement the town may or may not have with the proposed development," Boynton said.

Police Chief Richard Stillman said that while the East Street proposal might now be for 25 percent subsidized units, that's the figure Gatehouse used before getting state approval for 50 percent. The density of the Gatehouse complex has led to "some significant problems for the community," he said.

Fire Chief Timothy Bailey said he is concerned about a proposed single way in and out of the East Street complex. And given the number of units on a site that contains wet areas, he said he's concerned about the possibility of buildings of three or more stories that pose problems for firefighters and ambulance crews.

Boynton said Woodworkers executives see an application being filed this summer for East Street. The company also would be leaving its three acres and warehouse -- the former Ingersoll Rand building -- on School Street within a couple of years, town officials said, and is looking for a smaller facility with retail space in the area.

Woodworkers executives told town officials they will be moving their manufacturing operation to Maine to be close to the source of their wood supply. The company makes upscale outdoor furniture and fixtures sold nationally through a catalogue and website.

At the suggestion of Selectman Michael Caron, the board put off a vote on a combined police and fire facility on Stone Field for two weeks to explore East Street possibility. Noting the size of the combined facility in an area where a senior center and library are planned, Caron said he didn't think he could support the facility in its current form. Selectman Al DeNapoli said he is "torn," recognizing a need for a new police station but uneasy at the prospect of "monster" buildings.

Selectmen agreed that something like the new Norwood combined fire and police station -- about the same square footage but a story higher than the Walpole proposal -- is not what they want here.

Boynton said the rationale for the combined facility is that it saves money. Given that, Selectman Christopher Timmons said, it has to be built close to downtown because that's where the fire department has to be.

Thomas Bowen, a member of the selectmen-appointed public safety facility committee, noted that its recommendation in January makes it the second panel to recommend a combined downtown facility. The first was the municipal facilities study committee, which reported on all town buildings two years ago.

What's the alternative to endorsing the plan, Bowen asked selectmen. A third study committee?

Selectmen have a placeholder article on the May Town Meeting warrant for a combined facility, which would require an override vote at a later town election to move forward.

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