Wakefield Town Council Notes -- July 14, 2025

Here's a summary of what we covered at our Town Council meeting on Monday, July 14:

• We welcomed newly-elected Town Councilor Brian Fox. Councilor Fox was elected through next April to fill the Town Council seat vacated by now-Treasurer Ed Dombroski.

• The Council approved an Eagle Scout project proposal from Troop 701 member Benjamin Belyea to install two chess/checkers picnic tables at Spaulding Park. The tables will be installed in August or September.

• The Town Council tabled discussion of a deed acceptance and deed execution for two small parcels of land off Water Street, near Nasella Playground. This item will be considered at a future meeting, pending further details from Town Counsel Tom Mullen.

• Counsel Mullen informed the Town Council that the Zoning Board of Appeals has reached a settlement agreement with the developers of a potential 40B project at 119-135 Nahant Street. Following the ZBA's rejection of the developer's original proposal for a 100-unit, 5-story building and the subsequent lawsuit filed by the developer against the Town, the ZBA agreed to a compromise plan that will permit a 60-unit, 4-story building with increased green space, parking, and road setbacks. While the compromise plan is not ideal, it reflects the strong likelihood that the Town would not have prevailed in the developer's lawsuit. The ZBA continues to engage in mediation with the developer of a proposed 32-unit 40B development at 32-36 Nahant Street.

• Interim Town Administrator Kevin Gill updated the Council on the state budget for Fiscal Year 2026, which was signed by Governor Healey two weeks ago. Local aid for Wakefield will increase by more than 4% to approximately $13.6 million. Wakefield also will receive a number of earmarks to support the installation of air conditioning in the upper floors of the Senior Center, upgrades to the Mapleway softball fields, accessibility projects at the Albion Cultural Exchange, and the installation of a pollinator garden at a to-be-determined location.

• The Town Administrator Search Committee has received 23 applications for Wakefield's Town Administrator position, and they will be interviewing six candidates later this month. Based on those interviews, they will identify 3-4 candidates for the Town Council to interview on August 12 and 14.

• Interim Administrator Gill noted that the Town Council will be meeting next week to approve $1.6 million of short-term Bond Anticipation Notes to support the Butler Avenue remediation and the Department of Public Works salt shed projects approved at Town Meeting in May, and $106 million of long-term bonds for the Wakefield Memorial High School project, water main repairs, and road repaving. While Wakefield's credit rating was downgraded from a AAA rating with a negative outlook to a AA+ rating with a stable outlook due to the level of debt incurred for the high school project, it is not expected that this change will have a material impact to the interest rates paid by the Town.

• The Town Council accepted a $25,000 donation from the developers of 62 Foundry Street for roadway improvements in the area. We also appointed Tommy Frohlichstein to a three-year term on the Environmental Sustainability Committee.

• Interim Administrator Gill offered his thanks and praise for Wakefield's Public Works staff, who have managed residential trash and recycling collection due to the strike at our vendor, Republic Services. He also noted that we have informed Republic of our intention to withhold payment from them due to their inability to fulfill the terms of their agreement with the Town.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, July 23 at noon for the sole purpose of approving Wakefield's next round of borrowing. The meeting will take place on Zoom only.