Year in review part II
Published on January 4th, 2006
March 2005
Big Changes planned for Redstone Shopping Center
By Patrick Blais
The source of much scrutiny over the past few fiscal years, the vacant shops and storefronts dotted throughout the Redstone Shopping Plaza might find new inhabitants, if a proposed overhaul of the commercial property receives state and town approvals.
Scheduled to appear before the town’s Conservation Commission on March 15 for the relocation of three stream culverts on the Main Street commercial center, representatives for the plaza’s Boston-based proprietors, S. R. Weiner & Associates, Inc., reportedly filed plans in Town Hall early this week proposing the demolition of four buildings.
"They’ve been talking about doing this for a couple of years now. I haven’t seen the plans, but I heard about it this morning. It’s going to be a complete reconstruction," said Board of Selectmen Chairman Cosmo Ciccarello.
Represented locally by Main Street’s law firm Cicatelli and Cicatelli, calls to S.R. Weiner & Associates Inc. were not returned for comment as of press time. And although an attorney with Cicatelli and Cicatelli confirmed that demolition plans had been submitted to Town Hall earlier this week, Steve Cicatelli, the project’s primary legal representative, was vacationing and also couldn’t be reached for comment.
However, according to documents provided by the Planning Board, which will discuss the project at its next meeting, the proposed overhaul will redevelop nearly 312,000 square feet of retail space by demolishing the site’s vacant Ground Round, Ames, and Eastern Bank buildings.
Although not officially confirmed by the document — as it only discusses redeveloping the building — the fourth building slated for destruction would purportedly be the existing Shaw’s Supermarket, according to several town officials familiar with the project.
"The proponent proposes to demolish approximately 114,650 square feet of retail/restaurant space, including the existing Ames Department Store, and re-construct the retail shopping center to include a 72,000 square foot supermarket, 10,880 square foot pharmacy with a drive through, and 33,885 square feet of retail space," the Planning Board documents read.
"The resulting shopping center will include about 311,450 square feet, approximately 1000 square feet smaller than the existing center. The existing supermarket will be converted to retail area once the newly constructed store is opened," the project summary continues.
Town Fathers Wholly Support garbage fee
By Patrick Blais
In a surprising consensus, the town's Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday night to institute a new garbage fee that will be tacked quarterly onto citizens' water bills.
Structured differently than the $183 per unit flat fee pitched by DPW Director Bob Grover during a public hearing last Wednesday, the new trash costs - which are projected to raise $924,935 for the FY06 budget - would be charged at a staggered rate for different residential dwellings. Specifically, the annual costs for Stonehamites would be as follows:
One family homes: $150
Condominiums: $150
Two family homes: $225
Three family homes: $300
4-6 family homes: $450
Addressing the most common criticisms of Town Administrator Ron Florino's FY06 budget proposal, the approximate $925,000 in new revenue would bolster funding to the slashed operations of the school, police, fire, and DPW departments.
The revenue generated from the proposal would also be slated to restore nearly $280,000 to the stabilization fund, a savings account depleted by 83 percent in Florino's proposal after the Town Administrator used $750,000 to offset the FY06 deficit.
Although the school department potentially stands to receive as much as $460,000 of the tax revenues released by the garbage costs - a figure close to the $500,000 needed to avert closing the Middle School next year - the School Committee declined voting this Tuesday to take that option off the table.
And while that non-action appears to fly in the face of comments about the potential shutdown made last Wednesday by School Committee Chairwoman Cheryl Walsh, Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connelly hinted that the Middle School closing will be rejected at this Thursday's School Committee meeting.
"I don't want to say if [we close the Middle School down], I want to say we can't. We need to find a better way to jointly balance the budget," Walsh had remarked at last Wednesday's tri-board meeting.
Besides the $279,000 for the stabilization account and the $460,000 for the schools, the following departments would also benefit from the garbage fees:
Police Department: $50,000
Fire Department: $50,000
Public Library: $25,573
Public Works: $40,000
Senior Center: $20,000
In a passionate but somewhat one-sided presentation on the garbage fees, Finance Board Vice-Chairman John Warren wholeheartedly endorsed imposing the costs, arguing that the majority of Stoneham citizens would favor the new expenses if it resulted in the restoration of public safety and educational services.
May 2005
Caruso found guilty in Central School Tragedy
By Patrick Blais
WOBURN, MA -As the crowd quietly celebrated with whispered "Thank Gods" and tear-induced sniffles, Mark Schores sat sobbing in the front row of the courtroom, his trembling hands shuffling through several photographs of his six-year-old son.
Moments before, a six-person jury found a 66-year-old Stoneham man guilty of negligent operation of a motor vehicle, a swiftly rendered verdict that required about an hour's worth of deliberations from the three-men, three-women jury.
As lawyers, audience, and media members streamed back into the Woburn District Court trial room prior to the verdict announcement, 66-year-old grandfather Enrico Caruso sat grim-faced next to his attorney, rapidly ticking his left index finger against his thumb. The nervous gesture lasting a mere seconds, the Stoneham man then shifted his right prosthetic leg beneath the defense-table, squaring his body with the judge's bench and locking his eyes downward in an emotionless glare. That stoic stone-faced gaze wouldn't change for the rest of the trial - either for the jury's announcement of his guilt, or during two Stoneham fathers' bitter recollections of how Caruso had ruined their families after his car shot across 54-feet of sidewalk at the Central Elementary School, zeroing in on their two children's legs as they dangled from a cement wall. For Schores, whose six-year-old son Jonathan reportedly required nearly 30 surgeries in the wake of the Stoneham crash, the pain was two-fold, for his wife's leg had also been maimed by the 66-year-old grandfather's errant Chevy Corsica.
"My life will never be the same. My wife is now a cripple for the rest of her life, and what we had before will never be the same. The sleepless nights in the hospital listening to my son cry and moan in pain is a father's worst nightmare," Schores said, his words choked with grief.
Will my son ever walk again? Will my wife ever smile again? Will we ever be happy again? I am scared about what the future brings and how I will make things better for my family again," the father added, his wife Linda staring yearningly at her husband as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Connelly reviews ‘extremely difficult’ year for local school system
BY Nancy Donahue
"The 2004-2005 school year was extremely difficult due in large part to the Central School tragedy on October 1st, continued staff reductions, and the ongoing serious budget crisis in Stoneham," School Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connelly told the School Committee on Wednesday night. "The above issues certainly overshadowed the fact that the job offering children quality education in a safe and supportive environment continues to exist in Stoneham despite of all those efforts."
Connelly outlined the struggles and accomplishments of the school system over the past year in preparation for his annual review by the School Committee. Committee members listened to Connelly's remarks before completing individual evaluations for the Superintendent by June 2. School Committee members Marie Christie and Kristin Russo are then set to compile one composite evaluation to be presented publicly on June 16.
Of the approximately 35 goals that the School Committee set for the current school year, Connelly reported that all but one have either been accomplished or are in the various phases of completion. The lone goal not reached is pursuit of a field house for Stoneham High School. Among the year's accomplishments are the successful search for a Special Education Director to replace Bob McArdle last summer. That process led to the successful hiring of Kathleen Curtis, who was in place for the start of the 2004-05 school year. In addition, 20 staff positions, initially lost during last year's budget process, were able to be restored due in large part, according to Connelly, to close monitoring of the school budget and state funds. The elementary school principals established maximum class size guidelines and a back up redistricting plan. Enrollment projections continued to be very accurate. Major capital improvement projects at the high school and Middle School have been completed. Traffic flow problems at South and Central schools were addressed, and money from revolving funds made possible the hiring of additional traffic guards at each school.
"Stoneham's school lunch program really has to be considered one of the success stories of the last year," Connelly said. The system's new Lunch Director Dennis Dockham has made some exciting changes to the menu and has taken on the responsibility of extending the lunch program to St. Patricks School. These projects have helped to generate a positive balance in the lunch budget revolving fund, which in turn has helped to offset other budget difficulties.
"About $190,000 of our budget next year is expected to be offset by revenue from the lunch program at a time where many school districts' lunch programs are losing money."
A new cable sheriff in town with Verizon?
By Joe Haggerty
There may be a new cable providing sheriff in town after the Board of Selectmen voted to grant Verizon a license to provide cable and Internet service - in addition to their current phone service - to Stoneham residents.
Verizon joins Comcast and RCN which currently serve the people of Stoneham, and hoped to create a "competitive situation" which would presumably drop rates and create a healthy free market situation.
Verizon plans on installing its own fiber-optic network within Stoneham, and hopes to improve Internet access while also offering cable television.
"It's expected that FTTP (Fiber to the premises) is currently being engineered in Stoneham and will be deployed sometime in 2006," said Paul Traynon, a spokesperson for Verizon. "The network will improve clarity in services you received now, greatly improve broadband services that you receive now, and allow cable television competition in the community as well. This is a revolutionary network...no one has ever offered this to the home."
"Upon the network being built, we would work with the town officials to seek a cable television license as required by the Commonwealth," said Traynon. "We ask for that process to be kicked off tonight with a letter from the Board of Selectmen to the Department of Energy and Telecommunication noting that you are commencing the competitive cable television process." Traynon also asked the Selectmen to knock the 60 day requirement down to 30 days to notify all involved of the impending competitive market. The Verizon official indicated that they were interested in following the path RCN took to get into 18 communities between 1997 and 2003 as a competitive cable provider.
Town Counsel Bill Solomon advised the Selectmen to waive both requirements, and explained that the Selectmen would have a window of opportunity to approve a 10-15 year license for Verizon to offer cable television to the Town of Stoneham.
Rec. Department relegated to zero fund
By Stoneham Independent Staff
Department of Recreation Director Christine DelRossi grew up in Stoneham in the neighborhood behind the school, attended and played sports at Stoneham High School, and has spent the last 15 years as the smiling face in the Stoneham Recreation Department office - all things looked on favorably in the Town of Stoneham, but not enough to guarantee her $52,000 a year salary in the FY06 Budget. Town Meeting, upon the recommendation of both the Board of Selectmen and the Finance and Advisory Board, voted to zero-fund the Recreation Department budget for next year and create a revolving fund for Red revenues - forcing DelRossi to spend as much time fund-raising and brainstorming on ways to pinch pennies as she does on devising recreational activities for residents and the town's children.
"If it's not broken, I understand why this is something that we're trying to fix?" said RoseMarie Nelson, a Main Street resident that got up to speak during Monday night's nearly five hour Town Meeting session. "I think that Christine DelRossi's work in the Recreation Department is worthy of recognition, and that she shouldn't be the one singled out and forced to raise the money for her department."
Selectmen assured Town Meeting voters, as they and Town Administrator Ron Florino have continually assured DelRossi, that donations, fund-raisers and recreational fees would be sufficient to cover both DelRossi's salary and the cost of equipment, staffing and overhead. Selectman George Seibold spoke of a golf tournament planned in Beverly for June 23, an event which he estimated would raise $25,000 for the Rec Department - while also stressing that the Selectmen hope this would only be a one-year solution and that things could return to the status quo in a year.
DelRossi remained unsure about the whole turn of events.
"It's never a good feeling when your salary isn't guaranteed, and you're basically told that you have to go out and find the money for your own salary," said DelRossi. "The Selectmen and Ron have told me that we'll be okay and I don't have anything to worry about, but I'm still going to worry."
Subscribe and get Home Delivery of The Independent
Save 36% off the newstand price — that's like 18 FREE issues!