My Southborough

Public Safety updates and Police logs

by beth on February 20, 2019

Above: Southborough Fire Department spent President’s Day night refreshing their ice rescue skills (images from Facebook)

Although I have posted news from Southborough Police over the past couple of months, I haven’t shared the logs since late December. So, it’s time for an update on what our public safety officials have been up to.

This week, the Southborough Fire Department posted photos from ice training conducted on Monday night. The SFD reminded the public that ice is “never safe” and they’d rather not have to put the training into real action.

The SPD shared the post, telling the public that both departments constantly train.

Over 50 days, the SPD logged 11 arrests, including 8 related to OUIs and two related to drug possession/intent to distribute. Another 11 “Criminal Applications” were filed. 14 reports of larceny, forgery, and/or fraud were filed. But no new burglaries or break-ins were reported.

Police also responded to 19 accidents, some involving injuries.

Not included in the public logs were an unsuccessful car pursuit of an armed robbery suspect and breaking up of a party with juveniles (allegedly involving alcohol and marijuana) that ended in pressed charges. The latter prompted the department to share the reminder below about the legal responsibilities of “social hosts” and consequences for allowing underage drinking:

Now here are the SPD logs from December 29th – last Saturday: [click to keep reading…]

Tagged as: Southborough Police Log

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Raised Bed Gardening at the Library – March 7

by beth on February 20, 2019

Above: Learn how to use raised beds for gardening. (images L-R from Unsplash by Markus Spiske and flickr by Andrea Christman)

Next month, the Southborough Library is hosting another special gardening program. Experts from Blackstone Valley Veggie Gardens will hold a talk on “Raised Bed Gardening”.

(click to enlarge)

The BVVG’s latest lecture at the library will cover:

Everything you ever wanted to know about raised beds, including how to build, fill, site, and plant them.

So, why would gardeners want to build raised beds? A description from a past BVVG talk on the topic at another library explains:

Control your soil, minimize weeds. Start gardening earlier.

The presentation takes place on Thursday, March 7th at 7:00 pm. No registration required.

This session is sponsored by the Southborough Gardeners.

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PILOT payments: Town Meeting Article and Officials discuss strategies

by beth on February 20, 2019

Yesterday, I shared news about a potential project to bring a soccer stadium to Town. One of the things that jumped out at me was news that a big industrial/commercial parcel is being eyed by a non-profit.* That seems to mean another chunk of land could fall off the Town’s tax rolls.

It dovetails with another story I was working on for this week. Preparations for Annual Town Meeting have made the issue of untaxed land a topic of public discussion again lately.

A non-binding Citizen Petition lays out an action plan for selectmen to pursue increased PILOT (Payments in Lieu of Taxes) donations from non-profits own more than $3M worth of Southborough land.** If BOS fails to get a “fair and reasonable” increase, the Article further asks them to pursue permission from the legislature to remove the nonprofits from Dover Amendment protection.

In December, the board discussed being proactive on the issue on its own terms prior to Town Meeting.

Meanwhile, the Advisory Committee discussed having officials approach the private schools** to pay for a new Southborough Police Cruiser. The intent was to strike the expense from the list of capital items Town Meeting voters will be asked to fund.

That plan changed when selectmen updated the committee on its strategy at last week’s Advisory meeting.

BOS Chair Lisa Braccio and Town Administrator Mark Purple addressed the issue. The Town is working to update a past report showing the private schools how many resources they use. That includes the expense for staff members’ children attending our public schools. (Presumably, they are referring to staff members who live in school owned buildings.)

The board intends to take the updated information to the schools when they ask for increased long-term commitments to annual PILOT payments. Selectmen were concerned that getting a smaller commitment for one capital item would hurt the Town’s chances of getting larger long term commitments. They recommended waiting for a more comprehensive approach. [click to keep reading…]

Tagged as: annual-town-meeting-2019, PILOT

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This week in sports: Gonk sending Wrestlers and Runners to All States (Updated)

by beth on February 19, 2019

Above: Andrew Goddard earned a Gold for Wrestling at States. Now, he’ll head to the All State mats (image cropped from video tweeted by @ARHSW)

For the first time in 30 years, an Algonquin Wrestler claimed the State title. Andrew Goddard is the D2 State Champion. The Telegram writes that he’s the school’s first since 1989.

Overall, the team tied for 11th place. Goddard will compete at All States this weekend along with teammate Shea Garand who finished third. (The team tweeted a pic of Goddard with ’89 Champ Baird Lashley right.)

Also sending athletes to All States are the Indoor Track teams. Over the weekend, Matt Madamba finished 2nd in the 300 meter dash at States. Newly posted psych sheets show that he’ll be joined by Tess Reyes (who came in 4th in the mile at States) for the mile and 2-mile, Alex Lemieux for the High Jump, and Girls 4×200 Meter Relay runners. The Telegram covered Madamba’s and Reye’s reactions to their performance last week. You can read that story here.

ARHS Swimming and Diving also competed at States over the weekend. The athletic department tweeted:

Swim/Dive Teams set multiple school records and posted numerous personal best times at the MIAA State Swim/Dive Championships. Lizzie Meschisen 3rd in 1 meter diving event, Taylor Moore 16th in the 50 freestyle and 200 Freestyle Relay. Girls’ team finished 22nd out of 47 teams. . .

ARHS Boys Swim and Dive Team finished in 24th place out of 56 teams. Ray Cerro, 2 new school records (6th place 50 free and 3rd place 100 breaststroke. Ryan Murphy, Matt Beland and Ray Cerro joined by Will Saulnier placed 15th in the 400 Freestyle Relay. Great meet!

Originally, I posted hear that Algonquin Gymnasts scored 3rd place in the South Sectionals. Reader alerted me that The scoring that I read on the MIAA website was actually the score is used for seeding! Girls don’t compete in the sectionals until this Saturday. That takes place at Algonquin.

Boys Basketball ended its winning regular season on a high note. The Telegram writes:

Teams always want to be playing their best basketball heading into the tournament.

With a seven-game winning streak and an emphatic 75-57 win over No. 5 St. John’s in their regular-season finale Friday night, it seems the second-ranked Tomahawks are doing just that. . .

[Algonquin coach Brian Doherty] said he feels his team is prepared for what lies ahead.

“We learned from the previous losses how to handle adverse situation and now, they’re coming together,” he said. “We’ve talked about it the entire season. We want to get the ball rolling as we get towards the tournament and they did it. They nailed it. They are right where they want to be and they are ready. Ready for the run.”

You can read more here and view the paper’s pics here.

Clearly the team is headed to Central sectionals. Brackets for Basketball and Ice Hockey won’t be posted until Friday. So, stay tuned for news on those tourneys.

In the meantime, Girls Basketball is playing in Westborough High’s invitational tournament today. After losing in Quarter Finals to Holy Name on Sunday, they’re playing a consolation match against Shephard Hill. That was scheduled to start at 2:00 pm today.

Now, here are the ARHS varsity games on tap for the week. [click to keep reading…]

Tagged as: ARHS_sports

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The week in government: Advisory and Rec on Kallander Field Article and Planning on 0 Firmin Ave

by beth on February 19, 2019

Here is a selection of the committee and board meetings for the week along with my selected highlights from the agendas. All these meetings are open to the public, so you’re welcome to stop on by.

Be aware that changes to the meeting schedule are known to happen throughout the week. For an updated list of meetings, visit the town website.

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Advisory Committee, 7:00 pm @ Cordaville Hall, Rooms A, 9 Cordaville Rd (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Discussions on Kallander Field Warrant Article with Recreation, non-budget Warrant Articles, and positions on FY20 budget

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Board of Assessors, 9:30 am @ Hearing Room, Town House, 17 Common St (agenda) Agenda Highlights: After executive session, releas – monthly list of signed excise tax abatements and votes on applications for FY19 real estate and personal property abatements

Southborough Housing Authority, 6:30 pm @ Colonial Gardens, 49 Boston Road (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Review and approval of policies

Planning Board, 7:30 pm @ Hearing Room, Town House, 17 Common St (agenda, materials for 0 Firmin Ave) Agenda Highlights: Hearing on 0 Firmin Ave; Discussions on Master Plan update and Appointment of Master Plan Committee members

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Zoning Board of Appeals, 8:00 am @ Cordaville Hall, Building Department, 9 Cordaville Road (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Appoint rep to the Master Plan Committee

Northborough – Southborough Regional School Committee – Operational Budget Subcommittee, 8:30 am @ Margaret A. Neary School, Office of the Superintendent, 53 Parkerville Rd (agenda) Agenda Highlights:

Northborough – Southborough Regional School Committee – Policy Development Subcommittee, 9:30 am @ Margaret A. Neary School, Office of the Superintendent, 53 Parkerville Rd (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Review policies on Responsible and Acceptable Use of Technology for employees and students

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SWL: Officials talking to non-profit about potential soccer stadium at EMC site (Updated)

by beth on February 19, 2019

Last week, I shared Town officials were meeting to working with a potential new business for the DELL/EMC site* – New England Sports for Women. At the time, I didn’t have any details. Metrowest Daily News/Southborough Wicked Local reported some of the details on Friday evening.

According to the article, the project would bring a large sports facility and soccer stadium to Southborough. Another story shares positive feedback from the community. But the stories also make clear that the organization is eyeing multiple towns at this stage.

On Friday night, SWL posted:

A newly-formed Newton nonprofit is eyeing land off Interstate 495 to build a 13,000-seat stadium that would host professional and semi-professional women’s soccer games.

The space could even support international exhibition games and qualifying tournaments, according to New England Sports for Women.

The organization met informally with town officials this week to discuss land owned by data-storage and cloud-computing Dell EMC on the Southborough-Westborough line. Much of the 445 acres is undeveloped, but infrastructure changes have been completed to spur development.

Anna Siedzik, chief engagement officer for New England Sports, said this week’s meeting with Southborough town officials was arranged to discuss the project and options for the property, which has long been touted for its development potential.

“We’ve been looking and talking with different municipalities that are interested and supportive of the project,” she said. “Some are in Central Mass. Some are not.”

You can read more on that here.

A followup post shares that news of the project was “well-received by residents and visitors who spoke to the Daily News on Saturday.”

The possibility of a 13,000-seat soccer stadium coming to Southborough and Westborough is being cheered by locals.

Posted by MetroWest Daily News on Saturday, February 16, 2019

The quotes in that story are reactions to the concept of the stadium. (But I have to note that while quotes were collected at Southborough establishments, it doesn’t seem clear that anyone they quoted actually lives in town.) You can read the feedback they posted here.

What jumped out at me in Friday’s story was the project’s relevance to two non-binding Citizen Petition Articles headed to Town Meeting next month. One hopes to build partnerships with recreation facilities.

The connection to the first is through the other non-stadium facilities NESW might build on the site. SWL reports:

The facility would also incorporate a wellness center, educational classrooms, public art and performance spaces, indoor training and lockers and adjacent competition/training fields, according to the organization.

Resident Jack Barron’s Article looks to push selectmen to form a special committee to develop recreation partnerships. [Editor’s Note: Barron is a MySouthborough sponsor, paying to advertise that initiative on the blog.] [click to keep reading…]

Tagged as: annual-town-meeting-2019, emc

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Events this week: Free Skate, Senior Bowling, and young Jedi fun at the Library

February 19, 2019 09:20:56 AM

Here are some highlights of events in and around Southborough this week.

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Fire Chief hiring update: Four candidates to be assessed

February 19, 2019 07:30:01 AM

The recruitment committee has reached out with an update for the public.

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St. Mark’s skating rink: Free Skate and Sticks & Pucks over February break

February 15, 2019 04:35:46 PM

Next week, St. Mark’s School is opening its doors to the public again for the final period of free skating this year.

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Kids’ Drop in Art Workshop this Saturday – watercolor and pastels

February 15, 2019 02:20:54 PM

The Friends of the Southborough Library are sponsoring another Drop in Art Workshop for kids this weekend.

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Register for spring RAP (or AM fun)

February 15, 2019 11:30:00 AM

Registration is now open for the next session of after school programs (and a before school one).

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Reading Goals Workshop for parents of children with learning disabilities

February 15, 2019 09:28:50 AM

The March 2nd presentation is something parents of children with dyslexia will want to note. But it is also intended for parents of children with other learning disabilities.

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Obituary: Barbara Jeanne (Slamin) Barnes, 88

February 15, 2019 08:25:11 AM

Barbara Jeanne (Slamin) Barnes, 88, a 20 year resident of Southborough and former longtime resident of Framingham and Marshfield, MA died peacefully Wednesday February 13, 2019 after a brief illness.

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Recreation’s Spring Saving Voucher Sale: Hop into Savings – March 2

February 14, 2019 04:28:01 PM

Friends of the Southborough Recreation Department will be hosting an afternoon of family fun. For parents the real draw is the discount vouchers for sale!

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