Opinon: Dedham Rail Trail Referendum Question

The following was submitted as a letter to the editor by Michael Cocchi and Georganna Woods on behalf of the Friends of the Dedham Heritage Rail Trail. If you would like to submit a letter to the editor you can email samantha.mercado@patch.com. You can also post your own articles on Patch as a contributor.

The Friends of the Dedham Heritage Rail Trail would like to thank the Board of Registrars for voting on Wednesday night to certify the approximately 2,000 signatures that have been gathered by volunteers and vetted by our Town Clerk Paul Munchbach. Special Thanks to Paul Munchbach and his staff for vetting all those 2,000+ signatures! We’d also like to thank the many supporters who came out to attend the meeting on a chilly winter night!

Many residents have asked us “When can I vote on this?” -- a non-binding opinion question on the ballot in April 2020 will allow them to cast their vote up or down for the 10 acre ADA compliant linear park and bike/pedestrian path.

There has been some talk that the Town Meeting vote taken almost two years ago was somehow equivalent to the town as a whole voicing their opinion on the Dedham Rail Trail Project. That Town Meeting vote on warrant article (#19) would have funded a traffic study around the Middle School, Avery Elementary School, and the High School (as requested by the School Committee) and allowed the hiring of a consultant to create a process to hear from more than just a few voices about the Rail Trail project (as requested by the Board of Selectmen). Our Town Moderator made it clear at that Town Meeting, representatives were voting on those two items, and not on whether the trail could happen or not. That vote was 146 against, 105 in favor, and so the warrant article did not pass.

Despite the 2018 Town Meeting’s vote on Article 19, the Rail Trail was identified as a top priority by Dedham residents who participated in an online survey and in-person focus groups conducted as part of the recent Open Space and Parks and Recreation Master Plans (you can review the data directly on the Town website). These data indicate there is strong support within the larger community for this project. The 2009 Town Master Plan and both the 2010 and 2019 Open Space & Recreation Plans all recommend this corridor be converted to a multi-use linear park. So there seems to be a disconnect between the Town Meeting vote of 2018 and the information gathered from the wider population.

It is time to allow all voters to weigh in and thereby provide direction to Town leaders, elected officials, and supporters and opponents of the proposed project.

Over 75 Massachusetts towns have rail trails. Why would we not allow residents to voice their opinion on this matter especially when it is of no cost to the town to build?

We have followed all proper protocol to place a nonbinding public opinion advisory question on the ballot, as defined in Chapter 53, Section 18A, of the Massachusetts General Laws. We have followed the State Attorney General's guidelines, as well as our own Town Clerk/Town Counsel direction. Volunteers collected over 2400 signatures of registered Dedham voters in order to place the question on the ballot; 2142 signatures have now been certified by the Dedham Board of Registrars (1932 were required). We believe that all voices should be heard in this discussion, and as many other towns have done before us in these matters, we feel the most appropriate course of action is a town-wide vote.

Michael Cocchi MD
Georganna Woods
(on behalf of the Friends of the Dedham Heritage Rail Trail)