Politics & Government

Nine Volunteers Agree to Serve on Medfield State Hospital Redevelopment Committee

Medfield Town Administrator Michael Sullivan is awaiting the decision of two more candidates and the selectmen's mission statement for the committee.

Nine out of the 12 proposed candidates for the Redevelopment Committee have agreed to serve, according to Assistant Town Administrator Kristine Trierweiler.

As of Monday, Trierweiler said Medfield resident Anthony Centore, a retired civil engineer, was the only candidate to decline the town’s invitation to join the committee. The town is also awaiting the replies of two other candidates – Joseph Fallon, managing partner of Cassidy Turley Commercial Real Estate Services and Brian McKenzie, partner of Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, LLC.

“All the rest have accepted,” Trierweiler said.

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The nine members of the newly formed committee are:

  • Jim Rohnstock, senior project manager at Sheskey Architects
  • Ken Richard, chief financial officer of Picerne Military Housing
  • Scott Colwell, president of Hoover Realty Trust and former president of Builders’ Association of Greater Boston
  • Kerry McCormack, PE real estate asset manager of Crosspoint Associates
  • Roberta Lynch, chairman of the Medfield Housing Authority and executive director of Medfield Council on Aging.
  • Timothy Bonfatti, president and CEO of Compass Project Management, Inc. Member of the Medfield School Committee and Permanent Building Committee.
  • Stephen Nolan, Real Estate attorney
  • William Mann, former Medfield Police Chief
  • Robert Ingram, environmental scientist, self-employed

Medfield selectman Mark Fisher said he was impressed with the candidates' qualifications and pleased with the group's diversity.

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“I think it’s important to have a cross-section of people serving on the committee,” Fisher said.

The list of candidates was compiled by Town Administrator Michael Sullivan based off recommendations made by members of the Board of Selectmen.  After reviewing the candidates and discussing the reestablishment of a Medfield State Hospital Redevelopment Committee at its May 2 meeting, the Board of Selectmen approved a motion to appoint the 12 candidates to the committee on the condition the applicants were willing to serve.

As of this week it is nine yes, one no and two unknown.

While selectmen have discussed the purpose of the redevelopment committee will be to review state data in relation to the town’s reuse options for the state hospital property, no official mission has been defined and charged to the committee. That will likely come at the selectmen's next meeting.

“I think it’s going to be kind of a work in process as the committee kind of stumbles along and gets into a flow as to looking at the data and seeing where we are going to go with the redevelopment of the site,” Fisher said.

Medfield resident and state hospital abutter Bill Massaro asked the selectmen to be more specific and offered a suggestion for what the committee’s mission should be.

“I think the mission should be to take the data that the state is currently gathering about market conditions and the assessment value of the property and to first make sure there is sufficient information to make any kind of [decision],” Massaro said.

Sullivan tasked each of the town’s selectmen to write-up a mission statement and submit it to him. As of Tuesday, Sullivan said he had not received them.

“I’m still waiting on them,” Sullivan said, adding he expects to have them by the end of the week.

After the mission statement is completed, the next step for the Medfield State Hospital Redevelopment Committee will be to meet with the Board of Selectmen.

“We will move forward and try and get a meeting as soon as possible [with the committee],” Fisher said.


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