EDITORIAL: TOWN SHOULD BUY 1 CENTRAL STREET

 

By MAUREEN DOHERTY
EDITOR
NORTH READING TRANSCRIPT

 Originally published January 25, 2024
Updated: January 30, 2024

 

 

There is an old adage about land: they’re not making anymore of it.

North Reading is in the fortunate position of having a beautiful park in the center of town that is the envy of every community near and far. That park is Ipswich River Park.

The design of Ipswich River Park was no accident. It took vision and it took imagination to convince the townspeople that a defunct cabbage field on one end and a defunct soil excavation site on the other could be transformed into something far better than another cookie-cutter subdivision of nearly 30 homes and a promise by the develop to “donate” a mere soccer field back to the town — a field that would have been under water nearly every spring because it would have been located not too far from where the ducks were swimming near the gazebo just two weeks ago.

Look how far this town’s gem of a park has come in nearly 30 years. The motto for the park back then was “Something for Everyone.”

And everyone pitched in to make it happen… the birders, the walkers, the parents with young children, the skateboarders and tennis and basketball players, the picnickers, the singers, the BBQ and concert enthusiasts, the boaters and the gardeners, in addition to the legions of organized sports teams — youth leagues for soccer, lacrosse and field hockey as well as men’s softball, to name a few.

The development of Ipswich River Park prevented further degradation of the Ipswich River from soil erosion by developing a “passive” side where the Gazebo is located and an “active” side where the fields are located.

TONIGHT, TUESDAY, JANUARY 30 AT 7PM, the townspeople have one more opportunity to think of what could become of the park in the next 30 years and beyond. The ideas are endless — some of which include an intergenerational center, indoor recreational facilities and a skating rink.

A QUORUM of 150 VOTERS IS REQUIRED for a Special Town Meeting to commence under our Town Charter, and a two-thirds majority of those voters present is necessary for ARTICLE 1 to pass.

By purchasing this one last piece of the puzzle — 1 Central Street — the town will gain more frontage along Central Street, which will enable greater flexibility when designing access to the site for any number of future uses. The ability to provide a greater setback to surrounding properties is always a plus between municipal and residential uses as it provides an opportunity to design screening and buffering.

[As pointed out by longtime Recreation Committee and Land Utilization Committee (LUC) member Rita Mullin at Monday night’s public informational hearing held by the Select Board, the contiguous frontage will increase from just under 200 feet to just over 300 feet.]

The town already owns property on two sides of 1 Central Street – 5 Central Street, which is the small house lot presently used as a Recreation Center annex and that previously served as a temporary location of the town’s police headquarters during the renovation of the police station — and 3R Central Street, which was originally part of the Wheeler homestead and includes the Wheeler barn currently used as a large maintenance shed for Parks & Recreation plus the surrounding large the dirt parking lot currently used as overflow parking for Ipswich River Park and parking for the town’s school buses.

The land at 3R Central Street has direct drive-in access to the paved parking lot at IRP at 15 Central St. plus walk-in access from the overflow parking to the park’s amenities on the active side of the park (located behind Haverhill Street where Mr. Wheeler used to farm crops like cabbage). These amenities include multipurpose playing fields, basketball and tennis courts, playground structures and swings, a pavilion and picnic areas, concession stand/storage facility, bathrooms, skate park, inline skating rink, a half-mile walking track, and paved paths that lead back toward the riverbank on the passive side of the park and the boat/canoe launch into the river near the Central Street Bridge (which was rebuilt in 1995 in conjunction with the development of IRP).

It was further pointed out at Monday night’s informational hearing that there will be innumerable opportunities for townspeople to weigh in on the potential uses for the property and that the ultimate decision on any proposals would be decided by the voters of a future Town Meeting. Also, due to the status of the adjacent IRP as Chapter 97 protected parkland, state legislative approval may be necessary.

The boards and committees presently involved in reviewing potential uses for the land currently owned by the town, as well as this additional piece of the Wheeler family land, are the Facilities Master Plan Committee, Parks & Recreation Committee, Hillview Commission and Land Utilization Committee. When a draft plan for an intergenerational center was being created several years ago, the then-Senior Center Director Mary Prenney worked directly with Parks & Recreation on that plan to include the needs of the town’s oldest residents. The same courtesy would be extended to the current Senior Center Director and advocates for the town’s seniors.

By banking the land today at a cost far below the going rate in North Reading for a single family house located on a half-acre lot that is within walking distance to three state-of-the-art schools and the town library plus the park, voters will be guaranteeing greater flexibility and more options for the future use of this site and the contiguous land at IRP.

The offer to purchase the house and land is generously being made by the current owners of the property, siblings Nancy and Charlie Wheeler, who grew up here and are the children of Ed and Ellen Wheeler. The Wheelers should be commended for opting to continue the legacy initiated by their parents for the benefit of the town when they could have easily opted to cash out. But time is of the essence as the purchase and sale needs to be executed by Feb. 15, 2024, which makes your attendance at the Special Town Meeting tonight all the more important.

Five town boards have already voted to support the purchase of 1 Central Street using $650,000 of Free Cash from the town’s current certified Free Cash balance of $4,351,109. This purchase will not impact the tax rate. Free Cash, as explained by Town Administrator Michael Gilleberto at Monday’s informational hearing, are unexpended funds left over from previous fiscal years and certified by the state Department of Revenue Division of Local Services as available to be spent, with adjustments to reflect certain town liabilities and uncollected taxes.

The five boards recommending passage of ARTICLE 1 at the Special Town Meeting are the Select Board, Finance Committee, School Committee, Parks & Recreation Committee and Land Utilization Committee. A recommendation from the Community Planning Commission will be made at Town Meeting.

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In the years to come, as pressure continues to mount to solve the state’s housing crisis by building more multifamily apartments and condominiums, the open spaces, parklands and community gathering places in every community will become an even more precious resource.

Can you imagine Boston without its Boston Common or Public Garden, or NYC without Central Park? Closer to home, can you imagine our area of suburbia without Harold Parker State Forest? Neither can we!

For those unfamiliar with Harold Parker State Forest, it encompasses more than 3,300 acres of land in Andover, North Andover, North Reading and Middleton and has 35 miles of backwoods roads, 11 ponds (including Bradford Pond off Marblehead Street), an 89-site campground, and countless trails enjoyed by walkers, mountain bikers, horseback riders, and cross-country skiers.

But 110 years ago this state forest did not yet exist. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts identified a concern — over-forestation, lumber shortages and the need to import foreign lumber into a state that was at one time 90% forested — and did something about it by creating the “State Forest Commission with the stated purpose of purchasing and reforesting ‘wild lands’ which had been stripped of trees. The commission was made up of Harold Parker, Harvey Shepard and Frank Rane with Parker as the chairman.” [Source: NorthShoreNature.com/harold-parker-state-forest-2/].

But despite the immense challenges that would follow, including WWI, the Great Depression and WWII, the State Forest Commission continued to “acquire land and make improvements including road maintenance, pest control and reforestation. Hundreds of thousands of pine trees were planted, many of which can be observed today as almost pure stands of red and white pine.” Much of this work was done by the young men of the 110th Co. and 167th Co. of the Civilian Conservation Corps between 1933 and 1941 created as part of FDR’s “New Deal.”

[Source: NorthShoreNature.com/harold-parker-state-forest-2/].

The point of all this is that we – as a society – will always be faced with a myriad of challenges. The choice comes down to whether we are beaten down by the circumstances of our times or have the vision to overcome those challenges for the greater good – such as taking action by planting hundreds of thousands of seedlings during the Great Depression even though you will never live to see them mature into “pure stands of red and white pines” because you understand that your children, grandchildren, and people you will never meet will one day stand in awe of them.

What will your legacy be for the future townspeople of North Reading?

Please come to the Special Town Meeting tonight, Tuesday, January 30 at 7 p.m. at the NRHS gymnasium, and listen to the ideas that your neighbors have. Then make your voice heard. And envision the legacy you want to leave your hometown for future generations to enjoy.

REMEMBER, A QUORUM of 150 VOTERS IS REQUIRED for a Special Town Meeting to commence under our Town Charter, and a two-thirds majority of those voters present is necessary for ARTICLE 1 to pass.

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ARTICLE 2

It was voted by the Select Board at the informational hearing on Monday night to recommend passing over ARTICLE 2 on the warrant. This was a placeholder article in case there would be a need to make amendments to the FY24 operating budget adopted at the June 2023 Town Meeting. No such amendments are proposed.

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ARTICLE 3

The Select Board, the Finance Committee and the Capital Improvement Planning Committee have all recommended the passage of ARTICLE 3.

This is a three-part article to amend the FY24 Capital Budget:

• $515,000 for water tower painting at the Swan Pond water tower to be paid as follows: $200,000 from “Water Enterprise Retained Earnings” (Note: current balance is $336,720) and $315,000 from “Water Infrastructure Stabilization Fund.” (Note: current balance of this fund is $2,893,736)

We recommend passage of this expense because by approving necessary infrastructure work now it can be completed prior to the typically highest demand water use season this summer.

• $250,000 from Free Cash for Fire Department renovation design development phase expenses as follows: $200,000 for Owners Project Manager (OPM) services as required by the state and $50,000 for additional designer services.

We recommend passage of this request because these are necessary expenses to keep the renovation of this mid-1960s-era Fire Station renovation project on schedule as construction costs across all sectors of the economy continue to rise each passing month, therefore unnecessary delays will ultimately result in higher expenses for the town down the road.

• $68,750 from Free Cash for design and construction of improvements to the intersection of North and Central streets as follows: $50,000 in additional funding beyond what was authorized at the June Town Meeting and $18,750 in place of proceeds from prior borrowing that were ultimately unable to be used for this project, as explained by the Town Administrator at Monday night’s informational hearing.

This is also a reasonable request, in our opinion, as this intersection is notorious for the number of car accidents that have occurred here for years, even decades. Any delay in funding toward a thorough analysis, engineering and implementation of features that will improve the safety of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians passing through this heavily used intersection simply increases the chances of more accidents occurring.

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SEE YOU AT TOWN MEETING TONIGHT!