Poll: Who Should Pay for Damaged Mailboxes in Medfield?

It was a question brought up in May by Medfield resident Joe Collins after his mailbox was damaged by a town snowplow last winter – who pays when a Town of Medfield employee damages a mailbox?

Medfield selectman Ann Thompson said at the May BOS meeting she would like to see the question of who should pay for damaged private mailboxes located in public ways brought to Town Meeting as a non-binding question.

Board of Selectmen chair Osler “Pete” Peterson said he was interested in finding out what Medfield residents thought about the issue Collins brought up.

“I don’t have a problem putting that to the people,” said Peterson at the May 3 BOS meeting.  “We need to work out an accommodation that’s reasonable and workable for everybody; it really is just a policy decision. If the town wants to spend more money on compensating people whose mailboxes get clipped – because we know that mailboxes are going to get clipped and knocked down every year because plowing is not an easy thing all the time – then … we can put it to the town.”

Peterson suggested town officials publish a survey for residents to take on the town’s website to better understand their position on the issue.

Seven months later, that survey has been published on the town’s website. The survey asks two questions:

1. Would you support an appropriation at the Annual Town Meeting for the replacement of private mailboxes, located in the public way, that are damaged during municipal snow plow operations? Money would be raised from the tax levy.
2. If the Annual Town Meeting voted to replace and or repair private mailboxes, damaged in the public way, what amount of money would you recommend for the replacement cost of each mailbox?

To take the survey, click here.

So Medfield, we want to know …

Today’s question: Who should pay for privately owned mailboxes that are damaged in the public way by town employees?