Wakefield Town Meeting Says Yes To Roads, Yes To Rail Trail

Even though most of the passionate road warriors from night one of the Wakefield Town Meeting weren't in attendance Thursday night, they still got their way.

"We have a great town but our roads stink," said Finance Committee chair Dan Sherman, who apologized to DPW Director Richard Stinson for the statement but acted to give him more money to do something about it.

Article 15 asked for $350,000 for roadway improvements. That money would be added to the Chapter 90 state money the town receives for road repair to give Stinson his budget to fix what had so many upset on the first night. But Sherman and the Finance Committee motioned to increase the money to $500,000, and even though the opening night crowd of 255 had dwindled to less than 100 Thursday, the enthusiasm for improved roads was still there and the article passed.

A future road, make that trail/path, was also on the agenda with Article 19 asking voters to support the town's efforts to execute a lease with the MBTA to build a rail trail in Wakefield. The trail would connect with Lynnfield and provide 4.4 miles of trail for biking, walking, running, etc.

A similar article at Lynnfield's Town Meeting last spring produced a 342-341 vote in favor of the lease with the MBTA, a close call but major step forward for their rail trail. It's interesting to note that while Lynnfield's population is roughly half of Wakefield, almost 700 residents turned out for the town meeting vote. Thursday at the Galvin Middle School 91 Wakefield residents showed up and all supported the rail trail. When completed, the trail starts just steps from the Galvin.

"We are in this together," said Maio of Lynnfield, which if/when built would have roughly 2.5 miles of the path with the other 1.9 miles in Wakefield. "We are committed to going forward with this. Mass DOT is much more inclined to spend the time and energy to finalize the plans, to meet with us, to meet with our engineers."

Maio isn't sure why his town embraces the bike path while Lynnfield's debate continues.

"We've been talking about this for many, many years. We have a very active rail-to-trail group that has been pushing it for years. We've had many forums, they've been at countless events in town with pictures of it. I think the other thing is that we don't seem to have abutters that are living on an old abandoned line, that push back a little bit so I think that's a help too. Although a big portion of theirs goes through Reedy Meadow, so I don't get it."

Other articles were approved as well. There will be new sidewalks in town after voters approved $75,000 for the task. The town's Canine Control Officer is now the Animal Control Officer, and new rules and fines were added regarding snow removal from sidewalks and streets.

The only article that didn't pass was Article 20 which dealt with zoning bylaws. Some felt that residents were being asked to pay too much for appeals. A motion to have the article sent to the Zoning Board of Appeals for further study passed 46-45, proving that your vote counts, even on a quiet night.

Photo by Bob Holmes