Wakefield Town Council Notes -- February 10, 2025

The Town Council had a lengthy meeting on Monday, February 10. Here's a brief summary of what we covered:

• The Council approved a beer and wine retail license for Circle K at 488 Salem Street.

• We received an update from the members of Wakefield's legislative delegation -- Senator Jason Lewis, State Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian, and State Representative Donald Wong -- followed by a lengthy discussion. Among the priorities highlighted by the delegation were increasing Chapter 70 school aid in the Fiscal Year 2026 state budget, revisiting the formula used to calculate Chapter 70 aid, and reducing charter school charges to a student's home community. They also noted that the Governor's proposed budget includes a 50% increase in Chapter 90 road repair dollars for cities and towns.

• The Town Council received an update from the Conservation Commission about the status of our draft Open Space and Recreation Plan, which has received conditional approval from the state. The Council's vote to support the plan was tabled due to ongoing concerns from some Council members about the process used to develop the document.

• We received and approved a quarterly report on the spending of the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds allocated to the Economic Development Council. While only a small portion of the $1 million allocated by the Town Council has been spent to date, there has been significant progress made in developing the programmatic initiatives supported by this funding, including Wakefield's Digital Marketing and Façade Improvement programs for local businesses.

• The Council referred a proposed bylaw related to Accessory Dwelling Units to the Planning Board for a public hearing prior to Town Meeting this spring. The proposed bylaw is intended to update Wakefield's existing bylaw to conform with the Affordable Homes Act passed by the state legislature last summer. We also accepted an easement for a sidewalk extension on Melvin Street.

• The Town Council reviewed Fiscal Year budgets for the IT department, Wakefield Police Department, and Beebe Library. Of note, the Police Department budget assumes the addition of one uniformed officer to help bring our police staffing ratios closer in line with peer communities. Taken together, these budgets total $10.4 million, or about 10% of Wakefield's annual spending, and they will increase by 4.6% in the new fiscal year.

• With Town Administrator Steve Maio's planned retirement this summer, the Council kicked off the recruitment process for a new Town Administrator by voting to release a Request for Proposals for a professional search firm to help coordinate the interview and hiring process. We expect to review proposals from interested firms later in March. We also received an update from Town Counsel Tom Mullin about the legal and regulatory requirements that the Town Council must follow in conducting a Town Administrator search.

• The Council set the Annual Town Meeting for Monday, May 5 at 7:00 PM at the Galvin Middle School. The Town Meeting warrant is open through March 7 at noon.

Our next meeting will be on Monday, February 24 at 7:00 PM. As always, residents are welcome to join us in-studio at Wakefield Community Access TV, or on Zoom.