Published in the March 29, 2017 edition
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
LYNNFIELD— The last of the 29 articles approved for the annual Town Meeting warrant is a citizens’ petition that seeks to rename the Lynnfield Middle School.
A group of 10 petitioners would like to rename the school the “Alan C. Melanson Middle School” in honor of the fallen Lynnfield firefighter who died in the line of duty a quarter century ago.
The petition is simple enough – just four sentences long. It notes that the 25th anniversary of Melanson’s death is approaching and states that his death was the “only line of duty death ever suffered by the town’s Fire Department.”
The petition states: “Be it resolved in memory of his sacrifice that the grateful citizens of Lynnfield hereby dedicate the Lynnfield Middle School in his name to hereinafter be forever known as the Alan C. Melanson Middle School.”
In addition to asking the voters at Town Meeting to adopt this “resolution,” the petitioners are seeking $500 to either be raised and appropriated or transferred from available funds “for the completion of this resolution.”
Citizens’ petitions must be endorsed by at least 10 registered voters in town and their signatures must be certified by the Town Clerk before the deadline, which was March 20 for this year’s April 24 annual Town Meeting. This petition was time-stamped at 2:29 p.m. on the deadline day, which enabled the selectmen to include it on this year’s warrant. The warrant was voted to be closed at the board’s March 20 meeting after a quick overview of each article was presented by Town Administrator Jim Boudreau.
The chief sponsor of Article 29 is local attorney Michael C. Walsh of 7 Townsend Rd. This citizens’ petition was also endorsed by John Walsh, who is a firefighter in town, Maura D. Walsh and J. Patrick Walsh, all of 7 Townsend Rd., as well as Judith E. Potter, Steven W. Furey, John Potter-Furey and Roger Potter-Furey, all of 20 Arlington St., as well as Marjorie L. Potter of 13 Underhill Rd. and Keith Enger of 26 Douglass Rd.
None of the petitioners attended the selectmen’s meeting to give an overview of their petition. The selectmen will make recommendations on all warrant articles on April 10 or before Town Meeting. Contacted by the Villager on Tuesday, Supt. Jane Tremblay said neither she nor the School Committee had been approached by anyone about this petition, therefore it would not be possible to get it onto their next agenda before Town Meeting.
