Wakefield Town Council Notes -- June 10, 2024

Here's an overview of what we discussed at our Town Council meeting for Monday, June 10:

• We received an update from Ali Atoui, chair of the Wakefield Youth Council. Ali highlighted some of the great projects undertaken by the Youth Council in the past year, including an Intergenerational Tree art project that engaged Wakefield youth and seniors, actions to improve school culture and student support at the Galvin Middle School and Wakefield Memorial High School, and advocacy for financial literacy education for students. The Youth Council also continued to support such popular programs as the Wakefield Farmers Market Bike Valet and the Snow Angels shoveling program.

• The Council had a brief discussion about the shared use path and bike lane being installed on North Avenue. We will continue this discussion at our next meeting, where we will be voting on whether to use temporary flex poles to separate the bike lane from the adjacent vehicle travel lane.

• With a deadline of December 31, 2024 to develop a compliance plan for the MBTA Communities Act, the Council discussed possible next steps to put a new plan in front of Town Meeting in November. I advocated for a public survey and hearing this summer to test resident reactions to a couple of different options (a downtown-focused multifamily zoning district vs. a district that is split between Downtown and Greenwood, a geographically smaller district that allows for more units on each lot vs. a lower-density approach that requires a larger district, etc.). The goal would be to develop a single proposal for Town Meeting that incorporates resident feedback from these surveys. I anticipate that the Council will appoint a subcommittee at our next meeting to figure out how move this effort forward.

• Each member of the Town Council shared their goals for the coming year. My goals are focused in four areas: (1) advancing several Town facility projects, including Wakefield Memorial High School, renovations to the Senior Center, and a plan for the Department of Public Works facility on North Avenue; (2) continued expansion of Wakefield's sidewalk network, including additional walking paths around Lake Quannapowitt; (3) establishment of the Small Business Incubation Fund that the Town Council seeded with $1 million from the American Rescue Plan Act earlier this spring; and (4) completion of plans for Town-property at the Hurd School, Butler Avenue, and 5 Common Street, with an eye towards advancing Wakefield's affordable housing strategy.

• The Town Council received a report from the Wakefield Community Access TV Working Group, which was established to find ways to mitigate ongoing funding reductions to WCAT in light of more households cancelling cable television. The Working Group reported that WCAT's finances are stable for now, but they plan to continue to meet to monitor future trends.

• We received an update from the owner of a parcel at 484 and 504 Salem Street, who is interested in working with the Town to consider a so-called friendly 40B development for the site under the state's Local Initiative Program. The Council agreed to designate a liaison to this project at our next meeting.

• The Council accepted a donation of $1.75 million in in-kind roadway improvements, and $2.1 million in cash from Cabot, Cabot, and Forbes, the developer of the new housing complex under construction at the head of Lake Quannapowitt. The cash contribution, which was negotiated between the developer and the Zoning Board of Appeals as a condition of approval for the project, will be used for roadway upgrades, sewer system enhancements, and most significantly, water quality improvements for the Lake.

• The Town Council appointed Cathy Fleurant as the tenant representative to the Housing Authority. We also announced our Town Council liaison appointments for the coming year. I'll be continuing to serve as the Council's liaisons to the Permanent Building Committee and Wakefield Public Schools, as well as the Health and Human Services Department and Wakefield Police Department.

Our next meeting will be on Monday, June 24 at 7:00 PM. Our meetings are open to the public -- please join us on Zoom, on in-studio at WCAT. You also can watch our meetings live on WCAT, or at any time on WCAT's YouTube page.