Politics & Government

Permanent Building Committee to Discuss Two Projects on Town Warrant

Public information sessions will be held this month in preparation for Town Meeting.

The following is a letter to the public from Thomas Erb, Chairman of the Medfield Permanent Building Committee, regarding the proposed new Public Works Facility to be voted at Town Meeting. 

The Medfield Permanent Building Committee (PBC) recommends two articles on the warrant concerning our public buildings for approval at the April 29, 2013 Medfield Town Meeting. One article is to authorize the financing of the Town’s Public Works Facility -  the other is for the initial plans for the Public Safety Building (Fire and Police).

Now is the time to proceed with these two warrant articles. The cost of construction and financing is at a historic low and debt from prior town construction projects is declining. The town has a series of future long term capital projects - these beings in order of priority - Public Works - Public Safety - Dale Street School - Park & Recreation. It is in the taxpayers' best interest to start now and proceed slowly in a measured proactive way rather than wait and have them all hit at the same time.

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The Department of Public Works (DPW) facility was approved at the 2011 Town Meeting and  failed at the prop 2-1/2 override vote. Addressing the town's concerns about the cost of the facility – the PBC has reduced the scope by deleting two bays, reducing  the office space by 20%, and decreasing the size of the heating system and generator.

The current DPW facility was built 40 years ago in 1973.  Since then the town population has increased 39%, the total number of roads has increased 33%, the number of households has increased 66%, the size of our sewer system has increased 1020%  and our water system 113%, and the number of DPW workers has increased from 9 to 19.

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The new DPW facility will increase the life and reduce the fuel consumption of the towns DPW equipment, meet current environmental regulations, protect the health and safety of the DPW workers and protect our aquifer of which we all depend on for our drinking water.

The cost of financing is at an all time low - and construction costs  remain  reasonable. We are sure this will not continue. The longer we wait the more the cost will go up.

The warrant article on the Public Safety Building (PSB) is to continue the design of the facility. We have hired an architectural firm to look at the Fire and Police Station  along with a general Masterplan of the whole Dale Street district encompassing the Dale Street school and the Pfaff Center (Park and Rec Building).  After looking at many alternatives, we have determined the Public Safety Building should stay where it is currently located. The article at this town meeting will allow design to continue such that  an accurate and detailed cost estimate can be performed.

There will be two public forums to review these projects and discuss these articles.

  • For the Public Safety Building -- Thursday, April 11 at 7 p.m. at the Fire Station.
  • For the Public Works Facility -- Saturday, April 13 at 10 a.m. at the Public Works Facility.

We strongly encourage that all residents come to these meetings and learn more about the plans for these important assets to our town. 

The PBC also maintains a website  http://medfieldpbc.org where additional information can be found or you can email any questions you might have to info@medfieldpbc.org 

Thomas D. Erb - Chair Medfield Permanent Building Committee


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