Selectmen Switch Precinct F Polling Place to Shipley Center

The Wellesley Board of Selectmen voted to switch the Precinct F polling place from Fiske Elementary School to Dana Hall's Shipley Center last night.

This is the second time the polling place has been moved, said Town Clerk Kathleen Nagle. The first time, she said, they had to move the site from Wellesley High School to Fiske. That was in December of 2009.

"We anticipated at that time that there was going to be one small election," Nagle said. Instead, what the town and the Fiske School got was five elections.

Since then, Nagle said,  "The schools requested that you, the board, reconsider."

Nagle said she and Executive Director Hans Larsen had discussed possible options, and had approached Dana Hall to ask to use the school's Shipley Center on Grove Street as the new Precinct F polling place.

Larsen said the school has agreed to provide their property as a polling place through the 2012 election. Selectmen voted unanimously to make the switch.

"I think this is a terrific development. It's wonderful that Dana Hall is willing to help us," said Selectman Barbara Searle.

"We haven't had had the involvement of Dana Hall in this manner in a long time," said Selectman Gigg Babson.

Nagle said there is also the possibility that some Dana Hall students may volunteer as poll workers.  She asked the voters in Precinct F to have patience with this second move. "We're trying to find the best possible solution," she said.

Nagle also updated Selectmen that an effort to delay the deadline for towns to comply with new Open Meeting Law rules until Nov. 1 was unsuccessful, meaning the new rules will take effect July 1.  After that, the revised law will require meeting agendas to be posted at least 48 hours in advance - not counting Saturday or Sunday - and must be visible to the public in a location near the Town Clerk's office for 24 hours  a day.

At the end of the meeting, Babson signed the extension of the lease for the town's 30,894 sq ft aqueduct parcel that sits atop the Cochituate Aqueduct and runs through the middle of the Star Market parking lot. The surrounding land, on which the Star Market building rests, is owned by Gravestar, Inc., which leases the aqueduct parcel from the town.

The extended lease, which Town Meeting members may remember was approved with the passage of Article 26, will be for 20 years, with the option of five extensions of five years each, for a possible total of 45 years at the site. The rent on the new lease in the first year will be $92,682, the same as what the town receives under the old deal with Gravestar, which ends on Sept. 30, 2012. The new lease has a provision to increase the rent by six percent at eight, 13 and 18 - year intervals.

With the extension, Gravestar Inc. has indicated it will forge a new deal for Whole Foods Supermarket to move to the site in place of Star Market. The switch puts the future of the Tian Fu Chinese Restaurant, which sub-leases from Star Market, in question.

Larsen said the latest information the town has on when Whole Foods will move to the site is either late summer or early fall of 2011.