CPC hesitant on playgrounds

The Norwood Community Preservation Committee (CPC) met last week and discussed the upcoming projects that will be voted on by Town Meeting come spring of 2026.

While that might feel far away, the Community Preservation Act (CPA) process in Norwood is relatively close, with public hearings now scheduled for Jan. 14, Jan. 21 and Jan. 22 for all the project proponents to come in and have their say. To see a full list of potential projects go to https://tinyurl.com/38a26xkx

However, be aware the CPC is designed to remove projects that don’t fit the CPA criteria or members do not feel have a strong enough case for the funds, which could happen in the interim. So this might not be the final list that gets to Town Meeting.

There were two projects that brought up some debate or discussion. The first is, as of the date of publication, not listed on the project lineup on the website. The project is for the purchase of about a quarter-an-acre of land, according to CPC member and Trails Advisory Committee Chair Joseph Greeley, that sits directly southeast of the end of St. Paul Avenue. The idea, he said, is to buy the land, which is basically unusable for anything else, and combine it with the abutting Bernie Cooper Memorial Waterfront Park.

“Not only would this be good for ensuring that the whole property is owned and controlled by the Town, but down the road if there is going to be like a footbridge going over to Morse Street, that would be the perfect place to put it,” he said.

A footbridge to cross Hawes Brook would be welcome there, as currently, if you start from Morse/Short Street you have to go all the way down to Washington Street, travel north, and go down St. Paul Avenue to get to the park.

The CPA process will fund the legal transactions needed for facilitating the property transfer, but the current landowner, the Neponset River Land Holding Association, basically wants to donate it. But Greeley said they still have to go through the legal process.

The other issue was that of school playgrounds being presented for CPA funds. CPC member Debbie Holmwood said she had misgivings about using CPA funds for a department that has its own capital budget and capital process.

“We talked about it two weeks ago, it was funding school property programs, and I know it’s all needed,” she said. “The playground at the airport (just opened this year) feels a bit different than the playgrounds at the schools, but you total up these four projects, it’s $750,000. That’s a lot of money that has another funding source. And I get that it’s hard to raise money through your (parent teacher association) bake sales and so on and so forth. They need to know that we’re pushing it forward; I hate to say I completely disagree, but I completely disagree.”

“I’m with you on it, don’t feel bad about it,” said CPC member Cheryl Doyle.

Member Joseph Sheehan and Chair Catherine Walsh said they used to feel the same way.

“I have to say that was my initial feeling, but I have to admit I’ve been swayed a bit,” he said.

Sheehan said after some internal discussions between the CPA Coordinator Kristen Walsh and the schools, the school department presented letters of support from residents on the projects, as well as reasoning behind seeking the funds outside of the regular capital funding process, he changed his mind.

“The public support was pretty thick; there was an eight-year-old girl named Paige who said it all pretty simply,” he said. “A third grader, and she convinced me. That was good enough for me, but also the schools weighed in too.”

The committee agreed they would keep an open mind when the projects come in on Jan. 14, Jan. 21 and Jan. 22 to advocate for their proposed funding.

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The CPC considers projects that are either for affordable housing, historic preservation or open space and recreation, as per the CPA law set up by Massachusetts in 2000.

Other projects include a historic preservation project for facade repair and replacement project for the Norwood Masonic Building Corporation at 76 Day St. The masons will be supplying most of the funding at $450,000 to $500,000 – though no word if their masonry skills will be put to use. The group is requesting $150,000 of CPA funds to complete the project. CPC members confirmed that if the building is sold in the next 10 or 15 years, there is a built-in clawback of funds if that happens.

Also for historic preservation is a $30,000 request to secure and protect the old Town Reports, which has been requested from Town Manager Tony Mazzucco. The next preservation request is for $114,000 to repair the Howitzer cannon in front of Town Hall, which was brought back as spoils from World War I. Lastly is $24,270 being requested for an inventory of historical assets at Town Hall, the Morse House and the Memorial Library. Mazzucco is requesting these funds on behalf of the general government, along with Morrill Memorial Library Director Clayton Cheever.

A few more projects are set for open space and recreation. The Town is requesting $32,280 for a study to look at restoring the stone wall at Shattuck Park.

Also for recreation is a $25,000 request from the Conservation Commission to add to its conservation fund, which is used to purchase land to keep in conservation. Next is the Recreation Department requesting $100,000 to resurface the Father Mac’s playground. After that is the Department of Public Works (DPW) and Recreation Department’s request for $92,000 to help with building new dugouts at the Cleveland School.

Also for schools is an expansion of the Callahan Elementary School Playground for $200,000, a replacement of the front playground at the Prescott School for $249,720, and a new bathroom and concession stand at the High School (requested by the Norwood High School Alumni Association) for $250,000. It should be noted that all those school projects do have other funding sources attached to them besides the CPA.

Lastly, for affordable housing, the Community Development Department is requesting $14,000 as part of the annual funding for the shared housing organization that Norwood has been a part of for four years now.