What Exactly are Those Selectmen Doing to This Town?

So you want to know which direction this town is headed.  All you have to do is look back on especially the last couple of years to see where we once were, and then clearly see where we are, and the best part of all: See where we are going! 

Let’s start with a trip down Main Street. 

Redstone Plaza has never looked better, with an upgraded façade and new businesses that are keeping the parking lot full. Think Loui Loui, delivering a unique dining experience that offers up fresh, authentic Louisiana seafood. Are you tired of going to Saugus on a Sunday night to get supplies for your kids’ science project that is due in the morning? Redstone’s got you covered! Michael’s is right next door.

Redstone Liquors moved from the back lot and opened up a beautiful new store that draws people from all over New England, boasting a killer selection of craft beer & over 400 whiskeys, as well as their classroom tastings and events.  Salons by JC (which actually surprised me!) offers local small businesses a place to be successful, along with a customer-comfortable setting while they enjoy a personalized spa experience.

Right next to RedStone at 125 Main Street there are two new exciting restaurants. Java Grind & Grill has an amazing breakfast and lunch, served with a smile and a story. And you can no longer complain that there is no place to watch the game because Local 438 Sports Bar and Grille just opened up out back with over 25 TV’s, and some interesting and delicious pub food in a casual and inviting atmosphere.

Existing businesses are reinvesting in their property. China Moon is temporarily closed for renovations (the website says otherwise, so definitely call for specific operating hours), Rapid Liquors just completed a major expansion and renovation. Stoneham Ford upgraded both of their buildings.

Main Street has never looked better after Mike’s Landscaping adopted the island, performing the installation and maintenance for free, showing the occupants of the 35,000+ cars that travel past it daily that Stoneham takes pride in its appearance.

Just up the street, Gaetano’s had a major renovation. Goodyear Tire replaced a tired (pun intended!) old building with a new modern, friendly service facility.  Walk down to the Square where the buildings are now full. Fusion Taste opened with a bang and has been full nightly ever since. The Heritage building saw a major renovation and added Kushala Sip, a fantastic coffee shop with a cool industrial interior that offers live music and a comfortable spot to read a book or meet up with friends over a latte, in either one of the Blues Clues chairs inside or out front in the patio overlooking the common. Melissa’s at 407 Main reinvented her Main Street Bistro with an upscale renovation by opening up the bar area, while keeping a quiet restaurant side and adding acoustic music on Friday nights. Next door, 411 Main Street is now a stunning four story mixed-use building with luxury apartments that offer gorgeous views of downtown.

Stoneham continued to show a willingness to work with the local businesses and think outside the box, armed with a plan aimed to encourage community development when we negotiated a TIF (Tax Increment Financing) plan with C & S Capital Property.  370-380 Main Street is already torn down and will be replaced with a modern building designed to look like it’s always been there.  This building will house two stories of high end apartments on top of a new restaurant, complete with outdoor seating on one side and a new storefront on the other.

We also invested in the downtown by appropriation from town meeting to fund a $30,000 facade program. If a business wants to update the exterior of their building, they can submit a plan to the town planner and if approved, a percentage of the project will be paid this program.  If you want to see how effective this can be, take a look at Oro Salon at 8 Franklin Street.

We have been increasing services.

Understanding the need to attract young families over the past two years, we have added a much-needed town planner, as well as reintroduced a Rec. Department, and increased public safety by adding five police officers. The Fire Department has been operating with 35 men since 2004 we have been proactive by continuing to add firefighters, having sworn in nine new firefighters since 2015. The net addition is four for a total of 39 men, which adds one full firefighter per shift.  The historically “one man departments” are starting to see an increase in their workforce. Additionally, last month we added a Community Addiction Coordinator.

Community Building.

The Stoneham Farmers Market runs on Thursdays for 18 weeks from June to October. Every week the market offers live music, free community tables, plus activities for the kids and adults. This is all alongside offering the freshest, locally farmed produce, meat, poultry, fish, bread & dairy products. At the end of each market our vendors donate leftover food to our local food pantry. It’s a great way to get outside and enjoy the fresh air while meeting old friends and making new ones.

Last year we worked with local business who paid to build an outdoor skating rink on the Common.  We also had 5,000 people come from as far away as Maine and Yarmouth to see all that Stoneham has to offer at the first annual North Shore Food Truck Festival in Stoneham Sq. The Halloween Trick or Treat Stroll through the Square, one of the greatest events in town, has been enhanced with the Jack O’ Lantern walk and pumpkin carving.  Neighborhood groups have started up to help participate and create new events. Just last month that group was able to stage a movie night on the Common.

Planning and grants.

Last year we received three grants through the Compact Communities. The first one was for an open space plan, the first step in opening the door to many other grants. Another one for budget transparency, and a third that is a competiveness grant to help brand the town and attract new businesses and families to Stoneham.  Additionally, we also received a DHCD (Department of Housing and Community Development) grant as well as a Transportation & Mobility grant.

We just sponsored an article for town meeting to create a housing plan that includes applying for grants via the Compact Communities to help make it a reality. Over the next couple of months after the open space grant is complete, the BOS will continue on our scheduled plan by voting between applying for The Green Communities or The Complete Streets Grants. In the meantime, we have been investing in infrastructure by adding sidewalks and addressing our street lights. In addition to getting mitigation from developers, most recently the developer involved with planned 42 Pleasant Street development has agreed to replace the sidewalks on Williams Street from Pleasant to Main Street. We also got negotiated the largest to date mitigation package in Massachusetts for an electronic billboard that will, for all intents and purposes, be located in Woburn while collecting $100,000 per year over the next 60 years. We then negotiated an additional $100,000 for this year for minor changes in the contract language.

We worked hard to get the town out in record numbers to overwhelmingly support receiving $5 million  from the state for a new Bike Path on the old railroad right of way.

Partnering with state assets.

When the Stone Zoo was faced with accreditation issues that could have derailed funding and essentially put the zoo out of business, we rallied a grass roots effort and by using this blog, we obtained hundreds of signatures from around the world to give to our representatives (Day & Lewis), who were able to convince Secretary Ash on just how important the zoo was to the community.

Understanding that the MBTA bus drives by the zoo all day, but does not stop there, the BOS appropriated mitigation money from the Fallon Rd. Project to install a bus destination and convince the MBTA to stop at that location.

We are giving citizens a voice with SeeClickFix and the ability to provide feedback on town services by completing a customer satisfactory survey. We are also adding transparency with the soon-to-be launched Clear Gov, and we are working towards online permitting.

“There is a lot of concern about costs and spending.”

Sometime you have to spend money to make money, as well as weed out where the waste is and create improvements. Over the last three years we have seen free cash continue to grow from $781,512 in FY ’14 to $1,111,078 in FY ’15. This year we actually had over $1.4 million, however because of a timing issue, an $800,000 payment for the middle school was made, but the reimbursement received from the MSBA came in FY 2017. That is not bad news, as this money will be available for free cash next year.

In my time on the BOS we have seen steady growth and positive change over the past several years. When you are talking years, it’s very easy to forget where we started, especially as “topics of the day” can often overshadow the overarching positives. While we all may not agree as a community (or even as a board) on certain issues at times, we can all certainly say we have the same goal of achieving what’s best for Stoneham. I am proud of the successes we’ve seen, and it is so satisfying to travel around town and see how far we’ve come.

And I can happily say it’s only going to keep getting better!

 

Stoneham Arena: Skating on Thin Ice

On tomorrow’s Board of Selectmen agenda, the BOS will revisit a vote concerning the Stoneham Arena (SA). Under the topic of ‘Miscellaneous’ one Selectman brought up the fact that the SA had just replaced long term tenant, Matignon, with Melrose High. You can watch the meeting segment here:

A quick discussion ensued around the fact that it was wrong to kick a 40 year tenant out in favor of another, and that this should not be allowed. Despite the fact that the discussion was approximately five minutes in length and that other Selectmen voiced the fact they did not have enough information to make an informed decision, the vote was forced and the decision to retain Matignon as a tenant stood 3-2.

There are several reasons for revisiting this decision. The primary one is that we need to end the practice of making uninformed decisions on public matters in which the public has no opportunity to discuss assets supported by tax payer money. All agenda items need to be posted to the agenda 72 hours in advance of the meeting or it is not allowed. This gives Stoneham Residents an opportunity to receive notice and be prepared to attend the BOS meeting, listen and possibly comment on important issues. If vote-worthy issues are brought up under “miscellaneous,” can you imagine the issues that can be altered without citizen approval?

Second, we need to stop the practice of voting on important matters without ample preparation, knowledge or the understanding it takes to make an intelligent decision. It was expressed multiple times that the information to make a decision was not available, yet the vote was forced anyway. This is a dangerous precedence to set. The Stoneham Arena is a major town asset and the envy of the Middlesex league. One would have to ponder that there was a reason a long term tenant would be released in favor of another, yet there was nobody present to explain. Rents, ice availability or how this decision might impact our local athletes were never mentioned. The manager of the rink was not invited to present a statement, pros or cons. Nobody could answer any questions presented but could only express the unfairness of this move without any additional facts or alternatives. The main reason was in support of a private entity. The BOS is voted in to represent the citizens of Stoneham and that’s where their fiduciary responsibility lies. We are not voted in to protect the interests of a private school that does not even reside in this town.

Most important, there was no discussion surrounding the advantage to our school or our athletics to make a change in decision. Matignon has been a tenant for years, and as such they fly their flag proudly over the rink subliminally encouraging our youth feeder program to skate for another school. Each child that leaves our public school system takes valuable Chapter 70 money with them. Private schools lure our athletes away leaving our sports teams less desirable and we lay out the red carpet for this to happen. There are presently only five local families in this particular school, but there are hundreds of students in our public school. By renting the ice to teams that compete against Stoneham High School, we give our kids the home town advantage and we save on bus money for transportation. School sports already costs each kid $300 per season so any savings is a welcome relief.

Finally, we encourage our athletes to stay in town to rebuild our athletic programs and retain Chapter 70 funding. You often hear Selectmen lament the fact that Stoneham does not receive its fair share from the statement and that is true. However, we have some responsibility to make the decision to stay more compelling and do a little more to keep our fair share of an unfair formula.

Countdown to Town Meeting: Articles in Depth Part 3

In continuing our series that examines the Warrant Articles that are on the May 5, 2014 Town Meeting agenda, Chairman Tom Boussy and I are focusing on Article 2 in today’s post. Article 2 is a proposal to remove the residential overlay at Fallon Road. Article 2 does two things: 1) sends a message to potential investors everywhere that Stoneham is a place to be avoided, and 2) highlights the need for a Town Planner. The following is the back story which will allow you to better understand why this is so.

Before doing so, let’s take a moment to understand the difference between Town Meeting and Special Town Meeting and how Warrant Articles are introduced for voting. In Stoneham we have an Annual Town Meeting every May. Warrant Articles are submitted for consideration by any citizen of Stoneham whereby they must be accompanied by 10 signatures and be submitted within the window of time defined by the Board of Selectmen. A Special Town Meeting is called when a citizen submits Warrant Articles for consideration outside of the defined window for submission, and they must be accompanied by 200 signatures. For convenience, the Special Town Meeting is held on the same night as the Annual Town Meeting. Within the Annual Town Meeting in May will have a Special Town Meeting that has 4 Warrant Articles for consideration of the voters.

Article 2, written and submitted by Paul Maisano, proposes the removal of the residential overlay at Fallon Road. It is important to remember that the residential overlay was unanimously voted on by the citizens of Stoneham at the October 2012 Special Town Meeting.

What is the residential overlay? Essentially it “overlays” a second zoning on top of an already existing zoning. In this case, it is adding a residential zoning on top of an existing light industrial zoning and together they exist as one. As a result of the overlay vote in October 2012, a developer made a substantial investment to the town to get started on a project. Now the rug may be pulled out from under them.

The Fallon Road land has been a point of contention for many years. The owner of this property – The Richmond Company – proposed the erection of a Home Depot on that site. Richmond owns the property and, as a private owner, is entitled to do with their property what they please as long the plan fits into existing zoning and bylaws. Because neither the Home Depot nor apartments that would have been part of the project were properly zoned, the owner had to bring an overlay proposal before the voters of Stoneham. At that time, the citizens of Stoneham, especially the residents who live in the area were vehemently opposed to Home Depot and the project was stopped.

After it was clear that the residents of Stoneham did not have the appetite for a Home Depot, The Richmond Company brought an alternative idea forward for the property – a 290 unit apartment building. The proposal was brought to the Special Town Meeting in October 2012, which required the residential overlay, and it was overwhelmingly granted.

As we already mentioned, after the overlay was approved, The Richmond Company made a significant investment on this project. The company handed a check to our Town for $90,000. Stoneham has spent this money on road repairs. Further, Richmond has pledged mitigation money to Stoneham for a total of $1.8 Million. The money is to be used for things such as resurfacing sidewalks along Fallon Road, a new pumping station, and new traffic signals on the corner of Maple and Fallon in addition to cash.

It is not farfetched to imagine that a great amount of additional time and money has already been invested by Richmond. If this overlay were reversed, what kind of message will that send to any investor looking to do business with Stoneham? It will send a message to other potential investors that this is how Stoneham does business: the Town will give you a green light to go ahead with a project, but the Town may change its mind in a couple of years after you have spent time, resources and real money. What company in their right mind would want to do business with Stoneham if we take this action? This is not a good message at all. In addition, if Article 2 passes at Town Meeting, there is a high probability that the town will be met with a justifiable lawsuit where Richmond would probably look to retrieve the money they already paid and compensation for other time and resources already committed to the project.

If we could turn back the hands of time when this building project was first considered, and if we had a Town Planner in our employ, most likely the Planner would have explored the beneficial potential of adding a Chapter 40B component. Unfortunately we cannot turn back time, but the project in the works by Richmond will provide $500K to Stoneham as soon as the building permits are granted. A portion of these funds will be committed to fund a Town Planner for the next 3 years. We believe a Town Planner is a critical piece of the puzzle for the vision and controlled advancement of Stoneham’s future.

Do we think that the development project on Fallon Road are excellent plans for Stoneham? No. However, the citizens of Stoneham voted an approval and we must respect the democratic process. More than likely the reason the article went through in the first place was that it was a more palatable plan than having a Home Depot bring more cars and trucks through Stoneham. The next proposal could have been even more displeasing. Therefore, to the voters of Stoneham, the apartment complex proposal seemed the best alternative at the time.

The lengthy and contentious history of the Fallon Road property is a clear example of why Stoneham is in dire need of a Town Planner.

Countdown to Town Meeting: Articles in Depth Part 2

In continuing the spirit of presenting residents with information on Warrant Articles they will be voting on at the May 5th Town Meeting, this week we would like to tackle Article Seven. I have invited fellow Selectman Ann Marie O’Neill to join me in authoring this post.

Article Seven is a proposal that has a direct impact on the Town’s Finance Advisory Board (FAB). The FAB is comprised of 11 volunteers who are appointed by the Town Moderator as described in the Stoneham Town Code, which can be found in its entirety on the Town web site. These volunteers dedicate many hours of research and debate in order to best advise the residents of Stoneham in matters relating to the finances of our Town. The key point to remember for the moment is that right now the FAB is *appointed* by the Town Moderator.

Allow us to switch gears for a moment. Essentially Stoneham has three branches of elected officials – the Board of Selectmen (BOS), The School Committee (SC), and the Town Moderator. The Town Moderator has several important functions; the most visible is leading our Town Meeting. Another important function is appointing interested citizens to various town boards such as the FAB. The reason the Town Moderator appoints members to various boards is to ensure checks and balances are in place such that appointed members are not beholden to the agendas of either the BOS or SC. The Town Moderator is only beholden to the you, the voters of this Town. Having the Town Moderator appoint the FAB creates a financial watch dog board whose best interests are not seated with either board, but with the community as a whole. Article Seven wants to change this approach, which would essentially remove the checks and balances that are currently in place.

Article Seven looks to reduce the FAB from 11 members to nine members. Three members would be appointed by the BOS, 3 members would be appointed by the SC, and the remaining three would be appointed by the six members who were appointed by the BOS and SC. It is only natural for the BOS and SC to seek out appointees who best support their respective agendas. By extension, the remaining three members would be appointed by the same people who support the same financial values and interests. As mentioned before, this strips away the checks and balances that are established in our current town code.

Should Article Seven pass, the current members of the FAB would be forced to resign. Should they or anyone else like to be (re)appointed, they would approach either the BOS or the SC. Citizens look to the FAB on matters, knowing they have researched all sides of an issue, and rendered their decision based on sound financial practices and community needs. What recourse does the public have should they object to members of the FAB? Like all other elected officials, citizens currently use their vote to either replace the Moderator or maintain his/her position.

Decimating the FAB is, unfortunately, not new to Stoneham. In 2010 four members of the sitting FAB were unceremoniously dismissed at the same time despite the fact there were already four vacancies. Public perception was that this was done out of spite because the FAB did not agree with the budget proposed at Town Meeting. Not only was this coup unprecedented, it left the Town with a new FAB and no longer had the services of the dismissed board members who had knowledge pertinent to the Town budget and history.

Another important point is that in 2010 there were already four vacancies on the FAB. It is not easy to encourage people to volunteer, to commit to the great number of hours required to properly research and debate important issues that impact all residents of our town, and to sometimes bear the wrath of public opinion when difficult decisions need to be made. The FAB has struggled over the past few years to regain footing, and they have made great progress. We currently have a committed FAB who have terms of appointment. They have divided departments amongst themselves for evaluation and have made tremendous progress. The only thing they are currently lacking is complete access to the budget itself, which will be a post for another day.

The author of Article Seven is also the author of Article Six. On the surface these articles seem unrelated, but they in fact go hand-in-hand. One can begin to see the control the author of these articles would like to enact over the Town, thus removing independent decision making and citizen involvement.

If you examine Article Six, Section 3, Default Budget, it states, “If the final motion of the budget is defeated, a default budget shall be established by a joint meeting of the BOS and FAB after a Public Hearing, but the total budget cannot exceed the amount of the total budget in the original motion.”

Duplicity can easily be accomplished and a budget can be designed by a few and forced upon the Town without any real voice of the people. Consider this: let’s say that a hypothetical proposed budget being reviewed at the Town Meeting in May grossly under-funded the Senior Center and/or the Police Department. Adjustments are made by the voters who are present at the Town Meeting to properly fund these areas, but in doing so it creates an unbalanced budget.

Please note that, by law, the budget doesn’t need to be balanced at the May Town Meeting. While we are in the midst of our May Town Meeting, the State is working to finalize their own budget, which will have a direct impact to our Town’s budgetary expectations. Therefore, in May the Town does not have all key information needed and the Town does its best to project State funding.

However, in October the budget will be balanced at the Town Meeting when officials actually know how much money will be available from the State. So that means the budget can be worked on through September, once we have we have the final figures from the State, with the caveat that nobody is suggesting an unbalanced budget, but we as a Town shouldn’t be forced into a budget that is bad for the Town without any input.

Back to a key part of Article Six should it pass: if the May budget is approved by the voters at town meeting, knowing it is unbalanced, but with the intent to balance it in October when the state numbers are known, then the Town has to revert to the default budget.

As per Article Six, the default budget is established by the BOS and FAB. As per Article Seven, a third of the FAB would be appointed by the BOS. And another third of the FAB would be appointed by people who were appointed by the BOS. Now you can see the importance of how disruptive Article Seven can be to our town’s checks and balances. As two of your sitting Selectmen – we oppose the potential vacuum of influence this can create and prefer the openness and transparency for our town.

April 30, 2014: Knowledge is Power

With the upcoming May 5th Town Meeting quickly approaching, you might be wondering how to make sense of everything ranging from individual procedures to the overall process.

Don’t worry, you’re not alone!

A Stoneham Town Meeting workshop will be held on April 30, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. in the Banquet Room located in Town Hall. This is a great opportunity to learn about how Town Meetings work, as well as what each Warrant Article is about. This meeting will be extremely important, particularly with helping residents gain insight into the reasoning behind each proposed Warrant Article, as well as the ramifications of them should they be passed.

Should you have any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or my fellow Selectmen. I’m on Twitter @TomBoussy or you can email me at boussytom @ gmail . com