Selectmen Meeting Notes: Town Officials Remember Pauline Goucher

Prior to the start of Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, town officials took time to remember a friend and former colleague who recently passed away.

News reached Medfield this week of Pauline Goucher’s death on Jan. 1 in Georgia.

Goucher, according to a statement read by Board of Selectmen chair Osler “Pete” Peterson at the beginning of Tuesday’s meeting, worked with 21 selectmen in the town for 31 years, retiring in February 1991.

“She was a valuable member of the community and had a wealth of information about town government and town history,” Peterson read. “She will be missed by her many friends and colleagues.”

Goucher served as an administrative assistant to the Board of Selectmen for “many years,” according to Town Administrator Michael Sullivan, who told Medfield Patch she was also a Lion’s Club Citizen of the Year and a member of the Hall of Fame.

“She was so proud of that [high school Hall of Fame],” said selectman Ann Thompson. “She was good and hardworking and smart and she was funny. Many laughs over the years with her. She was a wonderful friend of mine.”

Peterson remembered Goucher as being “very talented.”

“[She] did an excellent job,” Peterson said.

The selectmen addressed the following town business at Tuesday’s meeting:

BOS Authorizes School Administration’s Statement of Interest regarding the Dale Street School

Medfield School Committee member Tim Bonfatti and Superintendent of Schools, Bob Maguire, were present at Tuesday’s meeting as the Board of Selectmen voted to authorize the school administration’s statement of interest regarding funding for renovation work to be done at the .

“I’m in favor of it,” Thompson said. “I don’t see what we have to lose. I don’t think it is as dire an emergency as the fire and police department and the highway garage but it certainly needs some [attention]. If we can get some money and get it done, why not?”

Selectman Mark Fisher read a prepared statement distributed by Maguire to officially authorize the administration’s statement of interest.

“Resolved having convened in an open meeting on Jan. 3, 2012, the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Medfield in accordance with this charter of bylaws and ordinances has voted to authorize the superintendent to submit to the Massachusetts School Building Authority a statement of interest form dated Dec. 29, 2011 for the Dale Street School located on 45 Adams St., which explains and describes the following deficiencies in priority categories for an application to be submitted to the Massachusetts Building Authority in the future,” Fisher read. “Priority number four: Prevention of severe overcrowding expected to develop in increase of enrollment. Priority number five: Replacement and renovation or modernization of the school facility systems, such as roofs, windows, boilers and heating and ventilation systems to increase energy conservation and to decrease related costs at the school’s facility and increase the lifespan of the building. Priority number seven: Replacement or addition to obsolete sections of the building in order for a full range of programs consistent with state and approved local requirements. Herby, specifically acknowledges by submitting this statement of interest form, the Massachusetts School Building Authority in no way guarantees the acceptance or the approval of an application in rewarding of a grant or any other funding commitment from the Massachusetts School Building Authority or commits the city, town, regional school district to file an application for funding with the Massachusetts School Building Authority.”

The deadline to submit a statement of interest is Jan. 11.

Roberta Lynch Discusses Adult Respite Care Program at Council on Aging

 Roberta Lynch, the director of the Council on Aging, informed the Board of Selectmen she received notification from the MetroWest Health Foundation last week that Council on Aging received a grant for $32,676 to begin an adult respite care program in Medfield.

"I'm very excited about this," Lynch said.

The funding, according to Lynch, will allow for two part-time positions, each position will be scheduled for 16 hours per week, or two days.

"I currently have the program slotted for a Tuesday-Thursday schedule from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.," Lynch said. "This will give me two part-time positions that will help run the program, I will ovesee it."

Lynch's goal is to have the program begin on Feb. 1 at the Center.

Check back at Medfield Patch for more on Medfield's Adult Respite Care Program.

Medfield State Hospital Update

There is a PIP meeting on Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. in the Chenery Room of the Town Hall, labeled as a “science meeting.” That meeting is expected to carry over to Jan. 19, also at 7 p.m. in the Chenery Room.

Assistant Town Administrator Kristine Trierweiler informed the selectmen she received a request from John Thompson, chairman of the State Hospital Environmental Review Committee (SHERC) to have the Board of Selectmen sign a letter requesting four items of information from DCAM be sent to the town through the Freedom of Information Act.  

“When we were at our last DCAM meeting in the commissioner’s office, there was a discussion about certain items SHERC wanted answers to and we were directed to ask for those through the Freedom of Information Act,” Trierweiler said. “John Thompson, working with Andrea has come up with a letter requesting four items from them under the Freedom of Information Act.”

Also at that meeting, according to Trierweiler, the town said any requests from SHERC would come through the Board of Selectmen.

“I have prepared a Board of Selectmen letter and I would like you to sign it,” Trierweiler said. “I did talk to DCAM [Tuesday] because I still personally feel this is an adversarial approach. I asked if  [DCAM] was sure this how [it] wanted to approach this request and [it] said ‘absolutely.’ I don’t like the approach.”

Medfield resident Bill Massaro informed town officials of the results of Medfield Patch’s poll: Massaro referenced the voting of 133 readers at the time of Tuesday’s meeting as a discussion point for how residents – a small sample in comparison to the town's population of 13,000 – view the issues of the .

“Even though it is a small sample, it’s a large sample for the polls that Medfield Patch has been running so that’s good that people are interested in it,” Peterson said. “It would be nice if we could somehow as a town poll a larger sample.”

Action Items

• Selectmen voted to authorize chairman Peterson as Medfield’s voting representative at the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s annual meeting Jan. 20-21.
• Selectmen opted to not renew its annual membership with the Suburban Coalition. The fee for the membership is $250. Selectmen voted to look into membership in 2013.