Local Cub Scouts get a civics lesson from the selectmen

Published November 27, 2019

By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — An unlikely constituency grilled the Board of Selectmen on Nov. 20.

Which constituency was that? It was a group of Troop 48 Cub Scouts. The scouts who attended the meeting were Camden Anderson, Zachary Chiarella, Michael Cieslewicz, Charlie Cumming, Richard Federico, Nicholas Heintz, Tyler Ing, Nathan Malenfant, Dillion Mckeough, Brady Trippe and Carson Waldo.

The selectmen invited the scouts to their meeting in order to give a lesson about how the town operates. Selectmen Chairman Phil Crawford noted Town Administrator Rob Dolan runs the town’s day-to-day operations while the selectmen are working full-time.

“We do this on a volunteer basis,” said Crawford. “We make decisions on budget items, policy and we hire department heads throughout the town with the exception of the schools. The schools are run separately.”

A Cub Scout asked when the Wakefield-Lynnfield Rail Trail will get built.

Crawford anticipates the rail trail will get constructed in five years. He noted the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) will fund the project in 2023-2024.

“That is a good question,” said Crawford. “I am glad I knew the answer.”

Another scout asked why more people in town don’t recycle.

“Recycling is very expensive,” said Crawford. “When you talk about recycling once a week as opposed to every two weeks, it’s about $400,000 more for the town to pay for that. It’s a very expensive endeavor for us to do that, plus people don’t recycle as much as they used to. Recycling companies are not getting as much money back as they used to.”

A Cub Scout asked how much the rail trail will cost.

DPW Director John Tomasz said the rail trail will cost $10 million. Crawford added that the project will be funded by state and federal transportation funds.

“That is a lot of allowances,” Selectman Chris Barrett joked.

Another scout asked about the town’s budget.

Crawford said the budget’s biggest line item is for the schools, which he said represents about 60 percent of the budget.

“We get a lot of requests from the various departments,” said Crawford. “The number one item is the schools and the number two item is the Department of Public Works.”

Barrett agreed.

“Our number one investment is the schools because we know the future of America is in the classroom,” said Barrett. “Seeing these young guys around the table gives me much hope for the future because these questions are very difficult.”

In response to a question from a scout, Crawford said close to $30 million is spent on the town’s schools, which he said gets allocated to both the School Department and the DPW.

“That is a lot of money,” the scout said in response.

Crawford concurred with the Cub Scout’s viewpoint.

“That is a lot of money,” said Crawford. “But it’s one of the best school systems in the state. We have had that for years and it keeps getting better. You guys are very fortunate to be in a very good school system.”

A scout asked how much the town will be paying police officers and firefighters.

“Not enough,” said Barrett.

Crawford said the board “supports our Fire and Police Departments.”

“One of the things we are looking at is a new fire and police station,” said Crawford. “That is going to be a major capital item we are going to be investigating for the next year. That is going to cost about $20 million. We have a lot of work to do before we get to that point. But we don’t spend it. It comes out of everybody’s taxes, including your parents. Everybody has to agree that is a good idea. We have to go to Town Meeting and vote on whether or not that is an expense we want to take on.”

Crawford asked the Cub Scouts if they ever watch Town Meeting on TV. All of the scouts said no.

“Some of your parents will go out on a Monday night and will come back frustrated that they had to stay there for four hours,” said Crawford while explaining how Town Meeting works. “That is how we decide how we are going to spend the town’s money.”

In response to a question from a Cub Scout, Crawford noted a new Lynnfield Public Library has been in the works for several years.

“That is something else the town is going to have to vote on,” said Crawford.

Barrett also said local officials have discussed the possibility of building a recreation center “for children of all ages.”

A Cub Scout asked what the hardest decision is that the selectmen have made.

“The hardest decision we have to make is when we have to fire somebody,” said Crawford. “That is very difficult. You hate to do it, but sometimes it needs to be done.”

Barrett said another difficult decision is deciding various budget priorities.

“We only have a certain amount of money to spend every year,” said Barrett.