Building Committee scrambles to keep Central School clean-up on schedule
Published on August 16th, 2000
Stoneham, MA - With the opening of school just around the corner, the School Building Committee is in a race against time, trying to clean up contamination on the new Central School site before Middle School students arrive on Sept. 7. At a meeting with the Conservation Commission last Tuesday, School Building Committee Chairman Dan Hogan and member Steve O'Neil unsuccessfully sought approval of a plan that includes destruction and replication of wetlands, remediation of contamination, and construction of a temporary access road.
Specifically, the plan under review on Tuesday included the SBC's original request for approval of destruction and replication to wetlands in a 10-foot strip along the railroad right-of-way needed for staging of materials and vehicles during Central School construction.
That plan was subsequently modified when more testing revealed further contamination, and the town asked the SBC to include an extended area of remediation into the contract bid documents.
If approved by the Conservation Commission, this extended area, though not part of the school construction, would be paved and serve as a temporary road for Middle School traffic, at peak times, throughout the construction phase.
The road would allow incoming school traffic from Central Street, next to Central Animal Hospital, to loop around the new office building (and former home of Mann Chemical) and into the Middle School parking lot. At peak morning and after school hours, the cars would then exit through a proposed roadway that would replace existing wetlands out to Pomeworth Street.
But Conservation Commission members voiced concern about accommodating traffic at the expense of land, which they are charged with protecting.
Member Scott Peterson stated that paving a roadway beside the wetlands "defeats the purpose of what we stand for." "We didn't want the wetlands destroyed in first place, now you want a road there," said commission member Kevin Gregory.
Gregory also stated that the proposed road has potential to mimic a parking lot, similar to Franklin Street near the high school at peak hours, and he would be concerned about cars dripping oil so close to wetlands.
Those concerns, said O'Neil, were valid but advised that the wetlands would have already been destroyed in order to remediate the site and will not be there when the temporary roadway is in place. The plan also calls for replication of the wetlands once the road and traffic is gone.
Brookbridge Road resident Cheryl Walsh stated that she and other Middle School parents supported the traffic plan.
The commission, however, could not reach a consensus.
"I will entertain a more detailed plan, but I have to respect the wishes of the members," stated Conservation Commission chairman Bob Conway.
He called for a formal proposal with more detail, including positioning of a traffic director in the Middle School lot, jersey barriers to protect wetlands, parking restrictions on the roadway, and immediate replication of the wetlands.
But Hogan told the Independent that the School Building Committee "is not in a position to do that...We've run out of time."
The SBC needs remediation completed and a roadway in place prior to school opening on Sept. 7. A traffic plan is also needed by that time, said School Committee Chairman Jeanne Craigie.
Hogan explained that on Wednesday, the SBC abandoned the proposed traffic pattern in the interest of time.
A modified plan calls for creating a narrow passage from the Middle School lot out to Pomeworth Street, away from the wetlands. This plan involves using the existing driveway out to Pomeworth Street as two roads, one for school traffic and one for construction traffic. A five-foot wide walkway is also desired.
Hogan called the area a "tight situation," but necessary in order to get school opened and keep the project going.
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