State Hospital Redevelopment Study Committee to Meet Tonight

The committee was appointed last month and will meet tonight to review its mission statement, which the Board of Selectmen approved Tuesday night, and to learn the lengthy history behind the former Medfield State Hospital property.

The newly-appointed “State Hospital Redevelopment Study Committee” will hold its first official meeting tonight at Town Hall at 7 p.m.  The committee visited the former Medfield State Hospital on June 14 but tonight will meet to review its mission statement and learn the history of the property.  The committee includes Marc Verreault, Jim Rohnstock, Ken Richard, Scott Colwell, Kerry McCormack, Roberta Lynch, Timothy Bonfatti, Stephen Nolan, William Mann, and Robert Ingram. In a memo to the Redevelopment Study Committee, the selectmen thanked the members for their willingness “to work on a difficult and complex problem.” “It is only because of the willingness of so many of Medfield’s residents to step up and volunteer their services, that …

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Selectmen Meeting Notes

Selectmen Notes: Town's Average Tax Increase is 2.6 Percent; Officials Support Timilty's MSH Amendment

The Medfield Board of Selectmen met Tuesday to discuss the following town business.

Town Administrator Michael Sullivan reported that the average tax increase, from fiscal year 2006 to present, is about 2.6 percent. “It shows that we are not spending excessively,” said Sullivan. “Our problem right now is a decline in revenues, particularly from local receipts other than property tax and state aid.”  Sullivan said that many people, if asked, would estimate the tax increase to be between five and six percent when it is actually less than half that amount. He said the town will save an additional $150,000 in interest when, this week, it refinances $13.8 million in bonds, including $12 million for three school projects, $1.4 million for water main replacement on North and Green Streets, and $400,000 for additional work on the…

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Things You Need to Know About the Cleanup of the Medfield State Hospital

Here’s a closer look at six things you need to know about the environmental cleanup needed at the Medfield State Hospital and what is being proposed by DCAM versus what the town wants.

Nearly everyone in Medfield has heard about the issue the town faces regarding the cleanup needed at the Medfield State Hospital property. For many, it is common knowledge that hazardous materials have been found in a section of the property called the Construction and Demolition (C&D) area and in and alongside the Charles River. The ongoing issue has been the disagreement between the town and the state's Division of Capital Asset Management on the extent of cleanup necessary at the site. The town wants those toxic materials removed to the “maximum extent feasible,” as stated by the Medfield Board of Selectmen in a letter to the state’s Division of Capital Asset Management. Residents have voiced at various public meetings their desire – …

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Thursday’s State Hospital Meeting Critical to Future of Medfield

Residents are advised to attend Thursday’s public meeting with DCAM to support the town’s effort to have the state hospital site completely removed of hazardous materials.

Editor’s note: Thursday’s Public Involvement Participation meeting with DCAM will be held in the Chenery Room of Town Hall (second floor) from 7 to 9 p.m. The Medfield State Hospital has been closed for nearly a decade; but it is what happens next with the property that will have a lasting impact on the town. “Whatever is done up there … the state hospital is going to change the whole town,” said Tom Sweeney Jr., member of the Board of Assessors, who was on the State Hospital and State Hospital Preservation Committees in the 80s. Determining what happens on the approximately 225-acre property is incumbent upon the extent of cleanup the Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) is willing to complete. The problem? The town and DCAM can’t …

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Meeting Notes: Selectmen Approve Sale of Bonds, Agree to Consult Legal Counsel on MSH Cleanup

The Medfield Board of Selectmen met Tuesday to discuss the following town business.

The town of Medfield received some good news Tuesday from town treasurer Georgia Colivas after she informed the Board of Selectmen the town sold portions of its general obligation bonds to TD Securities LLC for an average interest rate of 1.265 percent. “We did very well, we had 12 bids,” Colivas said at Tuesday’s selectmen meeting. “Our financial advisor was quite surprised that we had 12 bids. The highest bid’s interest rate was 1.4 percent. We got a very good rate.” Selectmen finalized the town’s refunding process after signing documents presented by Colivas related to the Feb. 15 sale of general obligation bonds. The $10,225,000 bonds dated March 1, 2012 were sold to TD Securities for $11,335,706. By awarding TD Securities the bonds, …

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SHERC Chairman Urges Community to Attend March 8 Meeting on Medfield State Hospital Cleanup

SHERC chairman John Thompson says it is “critical” for the community to attend Medfield’s Public Involvement Participation meeting with DCAM on March 8 to support the town’s efforts in a complete cleanup of the state hospital site.

John Thompson, chairman of Medfield’s State Hospital Environmental Review Committee (SHERC), has urged town officials to remain firm in seeking complete remediation of the former Medfield State Hospital site and is now urging the community to take a similar stance. Thompson is encouraging the Medfield community to attend the March 8 Public Involvement Participation (PIP) meeting at Town Hall with the state’s Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) to show unified support for complete remediation of the construction and destruction area (C&D) of the property. “That would be a critical meeting to attend and to give [DCAM] the message that we [as a town] are concerned about it and we would like to have it cleaned up to the fullest extent…

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SHERC Recommends Selectmen Consult Legal Counsel for Cleanup of Medfield State Hospital Site

SHERC chairman John Thompson presented three recommendations for the Medfield State Hospital site before the Board of Selectmen at Tuesday's meeting.

Locked in a stalemate with the state’s Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) over the extent of cleanup needed at the former Medfield State Hospital, the town’s State Hospital Review Committee (SHERC) made three recommendations to the Board of Selectmen at Tuesday’s meeting. One of those recommendations was a request that selectmen seek legal counsel as a result of the committee's interactions with DCAM. “At [SHERC’s] meeting on Feb. 2, [the] committee made the following motion, which was accepted, to recommend to the selectmen to seek legal review through [town] counsel and/or other legal counsel for strategy [with cleanup of the site] going forward,” said John Thompson, chairman of SHERC. “This motion came about as a result of our …

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Selectmen Agenda: Review DPW Budget, Warrant Articles and Schedule 40B Meeting

The Medfield Board of Selectmen meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. on the second floor of Town Hall.

The Medfield Board of Selectmen will review and discuss the DPW budget for FY13 with Superintendent of Public Works, Ken Feeney, review town warrant articles and discuss scheduling a town-wide informational meeting on 40B, according to its agenda. The meeting is expected to open with a visit from the South Shore Habitat for Humanity, Martine Taylor and executive director Russ Hallisey. After that discussion, the selectmen will meet with SHERC (State Hospital Environmental Review Committee) to discuss the status of the former Medfield State Hospital. Following its discussion with SHERC, the selectmen will review and discuss the FY13 DPW budget with Superintendent of Public Works Ken Feeney. Selectmen are expected to take action on the …

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State Hospital Cleanup: With Remediation on Hold, Medfield Awaits DCAM's Next Move

Medfield officials expect to issue a comment letter to DCAM later this month addressing remediation work in the Charles River and the C&D area of the Medfield State Hospital. The town will await DCAM’s response to those comments and modifications to its c

James O’Brien of the Boston Globe reported on Oct. 30 the Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) has put its remediation work along the section of the Charles River that runs near the former Medfield State Hospital property on hold after withdrawing its permit application to the Army Corps of Engineers on Oct. 24. DCAM’s permit application, according to O’Brien’s article, “Medfield: Site Cleanup on Hold,” called for a capping of oil-contaminated soil on the property. O’Brien writes: “The reason, according to the statement, is planners want more time to explore alternative ways to deal with the oil in the riverbed. … Work will not restart until new plans are presented and agreed upon.” State officials, according to the article, are …

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