Safety boxes available soon
Published on February 6th, 2002
STONEHAM, MA - The safety boxes first mentioned months ago might be available soon at Town Hall for those who qualify.
Metal lock boxes will be attached to individual homes and each box will contain a key to the home. Only the Stoneham Fire Department has the master key to the lock boxes. The idea is to allow quick and easy access without property damage during emergencies.
Only elderly or disabled citizens of Stoneham are eligible for the boxes. Anyone eligible must go to Town Hall and fill out an acknowledgement of terms and conditions. Town Clerk John Hanright drafted this document with assistance from Town Counsel Bill Solomon and Town Administrator David Berry.
Selectmen will review the waiver at their Feb. 12 meeting before gong forward with the project.
Selectmen voted to use the Stockwell Fund to pay for 25 boxes at $50 a pop. All Saints Church has volunteered to install the boxes, otherwise homeowners will be responsible for installation. But the Fire Department will first evaluate each home and determine the exact location of the box.
If someone with a box moves from Stoneham, the box goes back to the town. If someone with a box moves within Stoneham, the person must file new paperwork at Town Hall.
These safety boxes were the brainchild of Hancock Street resident Don Hutcheson, who is homebound on oxygen but always thinking. Selectmen Cosmo Ciccarello and Tony Kennedy worked with Hutcheson and town officials to make it happen.
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