selectmen mtg

Tonight's agenda for the Board of Selectmen is quite full including a presentation on the FY10 budget and an item about Sandy Valley Road Neighborhood--an apparant reference to concerns of some neighbors about Wildstar Farm and the controversy over the planned horse stables.

The next public hearing by the Conservation Commission to consider Wildstar Farm is on Wednesday, January 28, at 7:45pm at 50 Carby St. I received a call from the owners today who had just learned the Selectmen might be considering something related to this tonight...but I don't have any further details other than what is on the public agenda.

The Pedestrian and Bike Safety Commission will be considered again soon...we had a meeting of interested people last week and I will be incorporating their ideas into a revised proposal that I will describe here in advance of the Selectmen's meeting where it is to be considered again. All good news on this front; just want to make sure we bring everyone in and start with a consensus for how to best move forward.

Tonight's Board of Selectmen meeting began with a presentation by Urban Engineers about a traffic solution to enable commercial truck traffic to get through Westwood Station to 128/I95 without impact to the Canton Street neighborhoods. The unique arrangement, dubbed the "Westwood T" will channel commercial traffic around and through the development with slight modifications to the traffic design around Canton/University Ave/Oceana.

Selectmen also voted to support the Downey Elementary School's efforts with the Safe Routes to Schools Program. Downey has been participating for over a year now and needed the official support of the town of Westwood to compete for infrastructure grants that could allow improved sidewalks and other measures--at no cost to the town--to make it easier for kids to walk to school.

At the end of the meeting, Selectman considered the upcoming action at Dedham's Town Meeting to vote on creating an adult use overlay district that will abut Westwood. Selectmen and residents expressed great concern that Dedham would be creating a district that could result in strip clubs locating at 400 Blue Hill Ave (the back half of the building is technicaly in Dedham) or in the Allied Drive area that also touches Westwood. Brian at myDedham has started a topic on this where Dedham residents and officials are discussing this in more detail.

Creating open lines of communication and advocating transparency within the Town of Westwood’s government has been one of my top concerns as a Candidate for Selectman.

I understand that many of you, including myself, show up at a meeting in town that supposedly has a predetermined agenda, only to find that the board or committee did not prepare to speak about the topics that the public was interested in hearing or debating about.

I’m pleased to admit that our town website is one of the most informative and visually appealing websites I’ve seen in years. But there is still a huge problem with communication, and I’m not sure anyone can truly grasp the disconnect that continually occurs with residents and town officials. Events are posted along with the subject matter that supposedly coincides with that particular meeting. Each time a board or committee meets however, they must accomplish or discuss any leftover business from previous meetings. This is the only reason I can see for continual resident disappointment in not being able to discuss and/or participate in the subject matter they came prepared for. Agendas, much like construction projects, are continually delayed or pushed back in order to clean up unfinished business.

I’m struggling to understand why people (including myself-several times) have difficulty showing up to the correct meeting. It most certainly has something to do with the town, and NOT the resident’s ability to “follow directions” so to speak. Earlier in the week, “Concerned Resident” mentioned he/she did not see the any members of the Board of Selectman show up to a meeting that in part featured them! I can GUARANTEE that I’ll show up to every meeting, especially meetings that I’m listed as being a featured participant in. Countless times this has happened in our town, where representatives are sent in place of the actual person, supposedly dictating their sentiments to the group. This behavior is not one of transparent government that advocates the desires of the people, the true representatives. I agree that time commitments may have played a role for all three members of the BOS, but I truly believe that representation is what the residents deserve above all.

This is my proposed solution. I’m not sure, but I think we’re not dealing with a lack of information, rather, we’re dealing with the lack of attendance by board members and the lack of truth to the posted agenda from the town website. I’m also sure that Westwood possesses someone who continually posts updates and meeting schedules onto the website for informational purposes. What we need is someone SINGULARLY dedicated to meeting posts, schedules, changes, and general information. The best part is, we won’t have to pay them. I suggest we offer the job listing to a highly qualified web and media oriented student, willing to dedicate their time to meeting information, changes, etc. Credits will be given to this student by the school for performing this task, thus treating the experience much like an internship for credit.

What are your thoughts?

At Monday night's Board of Selectman meeting, Peter Kane presented the work done so far by a group of Westwood residents to create an Environmental Committee. The committee seeks to take concrete action in Westwood to reduce carbon emissions, conserve energy, and perhaps even save the town some money. Visit the committee's website at http://www.westwoodec.com/ for more information and to get involved.

The Board of Selectmen approved the formation of the committee and agreed to sign up Westwood as a participant in the EPA's Community Energy Challenge - a program that will audit and benchmark current town energy use, then set a goal for reducing it. Needham and Dedham have already joined this program along with several other local communities. The committee will also plan an energy fair to educate the town about conservation resources and will likely be a helpful resource in future planning of construction projects such as the library renovation and new fire station to be developed as part of Westwood Station. Selectmen were supportive of the idea that the committee could help in the planning and design process to encourage more environmentally-conscious development.

Selectman also approved placing a warrant article on the May town meeting agenda to form a Community Preservation Act committee.  The Community Preservation Act provides a mechanism for towns to levy taxes for certain types of community-enhancing programs (affordable housing, open space, historical preservation) that are then eligible for state matching funds. Once the Act is adopted by town meeting and ratified by a ballot measure, subsequent town meetings may set the amount of the levy up to the amount authorized in the ballot measure. Another method for adopting the CPA is via petition and ballot measure, but this method failed in 2001 in Westwood.

The CPA is a controversial idea--of course no one like taxes--and the feeling in the room was that prior efforts had failed due to the petition + ballot approach. Putting the issue up for discussion at town meeting would set in motion a process by which the warrant article could be discussed at public hearings, voted on by the Finance Committee, and then argued at the May town meeting prior to even appearing on a ballot. This would provide citizens with much more opportunity for discussion and involvement and would allow the ballot vote to occur during the Presidential election--when it would likely be subject to 90% turnout. Rather than rely on petition activists and a spring election that might achieve 27% turnout, the Selectmen felt the town meeting + ballot process would be better, more open, and more likely to succeed.

Selectman Patrick Ahearn supported the recommendations of the advisory committee and described how lack of adopting the CPA is costing the town potential matching funds--and how the Act could allow the town, in the future, to increase revenue resources without raising taxes. If the development of Westwood Station increases tax revenue, this would allow a reduction in residential property taxes. Then, the argument could be made at town meeting to reduce the tax rate, but implement the CPA in an offsetting manner--so the net effect on a resident's tax bill would be neutral. Then, the CPA funds would be matched by the state, resulting in additional revenue for the town.

Right now, the fact that towns like Needham and Wellesley have adopted the CPA and Brockton has not, results in the rather bizarre outcome that Brockton residents are subsidizing (through the statewide-based matching funds) affordable housing in Needham and Wellesley. 

Selectman Nancy Hyde opposed placing the measure on the May town meeting agenda, at least for now, considering it unrealistic to predict future positive revenue growth in an uncertain economic climate and preferring to bring it up a year from now, after the dust has settled on the Westwood Station process. Selectmen voted 2-1 to have the advisory committee proceed with the town meeting warrant process.

In other items, Selectman authorized the Council on Aging to resume offering a passport processing service (helping residents obtain US passports) and authorized expenditures to continue funding an assistant for the town's HR department, a planning board assistant, and a developer-funded construction inspector position contingent on commencement of Westwood Station construction.