Price tag on new Town Common may rise
Published on October 21st, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - The Town Common/Parking Committee may run into a problem which has been on the horizon for many town boards and departments in recent months: a lack of funding.
The committee may join the ranks of the School Department (busing) Police Department (Police Station) in asking residents to up their ante in order to get their money's worth. The way in which this is done, however, may be different from the latters' approach at the upcoming Special Town Meeting.
The committee met last Wednesday night to continue discussion on the form that the Town Common phase (otherwise known as Phase II) of the project will take.
Committee members had elicited comments for the project from residents at their booth which was set up at Town Day and, according to Chairman Mark Vaughan, nearly all responses were strongly in favor of the grandest Town Common scheme. This design would call for the reconstruction of Winter Street and the closing of Church Street as well as the portion of Central Street in front of Town Hall. The resulting area would then be filled in and seeded to form a large common area stretching from Main Street to the Town Hall's front steps.
"I think we're getting to the more exciting phase of the project," Vaughan said, comparing Phase I (municipal parking lot) to Phase II. "People were really excited by (the above mentioned design). You don't really seem to get the bang for your buck with the other two options."
Option A would maintain the original street layout and separate the common into separate parcels. Option B would force the closing of a portion of Central Street, but would allow Winter and Church streets to remain intact.
Option C appears to be the public's and committee's prime choice. This design would likely include reconstruction of Winter Street to allow Fire Department access to Main Street. The design may cause additional problems for an already disadvantaged Fire Station, however, as access to Central Street would no longer be available.
Another problem with the latter design, project architect Eugene Bolinger said, was the cost.
With a Town Meeting-appropriated $4.6 million budget, the Town Common/Parking Committee must compensate business and residential property owners in the area which, according to Project Manager Joseph Slavet, will likely take up almost two-thirds of the budget. This translates into a preliminary figure of $400,000 which would likely be available for Town Common construction and about $350,000 for construction of the municipal parking lot.
Slavet explained that those figures are based on the projected price tags for properties involved in Phase II. He explained that Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting has approached most of the eight property owners and should have a better handle on the total in two to three weeks.
"It ($400,000) doesn't cut it for Option C as far as I can see," Bolinger told the committee. "My experience is that, for the area you're talking about, you're going to need significantly more than $400,000.
"I strongly feel that we cannot proceed on a project that involves street closings, restructuring and signalization given the fact that we can only expect a budget of $400,000."
He explained that, in order to accomplish the task in which the committee hopes to endeavor, the town would likely have to come up with about $200,000 in additional funding.
Committee members speculated that the best solution to this problem would be with fundraising. Through efforts like adopt-a-brick or adopt-a-park bench, they said, corporate and private sponsors are likely to come forward in droves.
The committee voted to pursue Option C and will meet with Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting on November 4 to discuss his position on its financial likelihood.
In other business, committee members seemed disenchanted with the Police Department's lack of involvement in the Town Common project given the fact that construction on the Police Station is slated to begin in the spring.
Committee member Steve Born explained that the addition to the station will likely include a sloped roof, a design which is not consistent with the neighboring Town Hall and Fire Station, all of which will be visible once the Common is completed.
Bolinger said he will be meeting with the Police Station architect in the near future.
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