Wakefield Town Council Notes -- August 12, 2024

Here's a review of what we discussed at this Monday's Town Council meeting:

• We honored Fire Chief Mike Sullivan, who recently celebrated his 40th anniversary with the Wakefield Fire Department. Chief Sullivan is a compassionate and thoughtful leader, and his forty years of service is a testament to his selfless dedication to Wakefield.

• The Town Council granted a liquor license to Life Love Cheese, an artisanal cheese shop and staple of the Wakefield Farmers Market that will be opening its first bricks-and-mortar location on Water Street this winter.

• We voted to move forward with a restoration to the lakeside pathway that runs between Lakeside Avenue and Beacon Street, behind the Temple Israel Cemetery. As part of this project, we will be addressing significant contaminant inflow and erosion issues from Beacon Street into Lake Quannapowitt, and making pavement repairs to Lakeside Avenue. The Council elected not to proceed with pathway enhancements in the areas of Linda Road and Fielding Street.

• The Council completed the allocation of outstanding federal funds from the Federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) by allocating $29,135 to repair the roof of the West Ward School, and $150,000 to support the installation of solar panels on the Galvin Middle School roof. We previously voted to bring an article to Town Meeting this fall to fund the Galvin solar project, and the allocation of leftover ARPA funds will help defray some of the up-front costs.

• The Town Council appointed twelve members to the Housing Production Plan Advisory Committee, including Councilors Butler and Vincent, five community members, and representatives from the Council on Aging, Commission on Disabilities, Planning Board, Wakefield Housing Authority, and Wakefield Housing Trust.

• We had a brief discussion about installing signage at the major roadways entering Wakefield to highlight the state law that requires motorists to allow for at least four feet when passing bicycles in the roadway. The Council asked the Town Administrator to come back with exact sign locations for further consideration at an upcoming meeting. We also discussed the installation of signage related to leashing and cleaning up after dogs in public parks where we are seeing issues with compliance. We will review a more specific sign design and proposed locations at a future meeting.

• The Council authorized the Town Administrator to refund $16 million of outstanding bonds from the Galvin Middle School building project. We may be able to secure more favorable terms by reissuing these bonds as part of the borrowing for the Wakefield Memorial High School building project, potentially generating several hundred thousand dollars in interest savings.

Our next regular Town Council meeting will be on Monday, September 9 at 7:00 PM at Wakefield
Community Access Television and on Zoom. We also will have a brief special meeting on Monday, September 16 at 7:00 PM to approve the next set of bonds for the Wakefield Memorial High School
building project.