Selectmen on bagel sculpture, the Fourth, concerts, power and public safety

The Norwood Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday for a jam-packed meeting touching on a host of issues.

First up, both Norwood Fire Chief Tim Bailey and Norwood Police Chief Chris Padden came by to give general updates on their respective departments.

Bailey said the timeline for new vehicles has shifted. The Town approved a new ladder truck and a new ambulance at last year’s Town Meeting – $650,000 for the ambulance and $3 million for the ladder truck – and it’s looking like the estimated two-plus-year timeframe is going to go very much into the plus side (not to mention the 2024 Special Town Meeting-approved $1.3 million fire engine).

“It is not very optimistic,” Bailey said. “The new engine will be the fall of 2027, and the new ambulance will be the fall of 2028, and the new ladder truck will be the fall of 2029. So we have a ways to go with that.”

The ladder truck has already been out of service for weeks at a time – most recently because of a hose issue that required delicate work threading the hose through the ladder – and the engine’s lifespan of use was estimated to be four years from the 2024 Special Town Meeting. That means the Town’s current fire engine apparatus “will no longer serve the Fire Department's needs in any manner,” according to the 2024 Capital Improvement Plan – https://gvimes.link/fireeng – by 2028.

Police Chief Padden went over several recent arrests in big cases around Town, including a weapons theft in which a Kentucky resident tried to steal guns here in Norwood and was promptly caught, as well as a scam ring that was operating out of a prison in Georgia.

“We concluded a multi-state scam investigation involving inmates in the Georgia correctional facilities resulting in criminal charges for four of them,” he said. “They were calling from the correctional facilities and scamming residents here in Norwood.”

Padden said it was a problem here in Massachusetts as well, as both states allow inmates access to phones or tablets.

“What could go wrong there?” he said.

Padden advised that residents should not send money or gift cards when asked by unknown parties. If you think you need to pay a bill or legal cost, hang up and reach out to the organization yourself, and then ask a close friend or family member for advice.

“A lot of our seniors get hit for real money, and our advice is do not send money for anything,” he said. “If you do send money, make sure you vet it with a family member before you do. We’ve trained bank tellers and other groups around and they’ve called us when a scammed senior comes in. I will tell you, the (Internal Revenue Services) IRS does not want to be paid in gift cards or crypto.”

Padden added that some of the most common criminal activity they see is the result of crimes of opportunity.

“And I just want to remind the public out there to lock your doors at night in your cars and don’t leave your keys in your cars,” he said. “All of our stolen cars, all of our car break-ins; people will just drive up, come off the highway, go into a neighborhood, check the car doors and break-in. And if there’s some keys in that car, they’ll take (the car) too.”

Padden also said the department is likely to return about $100,000 to the Town because it has not had to expend its overtime budget.

“We’ve had a very fortunate year without any injuries or long-term losses, which drains our budget very quickly,” he said. “Hopefully it will remain that way and we’ll be able to give some money back to the Town.”

Also at the meeting, the Board approved a request from Spot! Bagels to put a bagel sculpture on the Town Common. There was some pushback from some members, most notably Cheryl Doyle, who said she feared the Town may be offering free advertising to the business, as well as risking liability. Town Manager Tony Mazzucco said the thinking was that a bagel, in and of itself, does not represent the business, and there will be no markings that would do so. In terms of liability, Doyle said she was worried that someone might fall, hurt themselves, and sue the Town. Mazzucco said the agreement will have Spot!’s liability on this issue, baked in.

In other news, Norwood Light Superintendent Dan Morrissey, Assistant Superintendent Jason Haber and Assistant Superintendent/Broadband Darryl Hanson all came in to present the Norwood Light budget, which increased 1.18 percent increase in the electric budget and no rate increases.

“There has not been a rate increase since 2018,” Morrissey said.

Selectman Amanda Grow asked about the Norwood Community Media (NCM) issue for the Broadband. Basically, Norwood Light is getting out of the cable and TV business to focus solely on streaming. That means that, legally, it no longer has to send part of its subscriber fees to NCM, as it is now going to focus on internet and streaming services rather than cable, and that fee carve out was specifically tied to broadcasting and cable in the Massachusetts state law concerning public media. Along with Xfinity and Verizon, Norwood Light’s broadcast fees paid virtually all of NCM’s costs and will take a third out of its budget when broadcast is cut off completely.

Grow asked about proposing an opt-in system, similar to community choice energy schemes that allow residents to opt-in to paying a higher price for cleaner energy generation (no fossil fuels). Morrissey said their system isn’t really set up for that, but they would consider it if NCM came to them. He said after the initial discussions with NCM on Norwood Light’s leaving the broadcast industry – and a third of NCM’s funding with it – NCM has not approached them with any kind of plan.

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The Norwood Independence Day Committee also stopped by. Committee Maria Henry went through the history of the event, and said this year will be celebrating the country’s 250th birthday. The shirts will feature the Town’s spiritual found Aaron Guild. She added that in its more than three decades of existence, new members are needed.

“We have some new people coming in, but anyone who has any interest, give us a call,” she said.

Committee members also shared the schedule, which starts with the 1 p.m. Children’s Bicycle, Tricycle, Doll Carriage, and Historical Character Parade, followed by the Norwood Reads Frederick Douglass Together at 2 p.m., the Independence Day Carillon Concert at 2:30 p.m. the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Historic Washington No. 7 Fire Department Bell at 4 p.m., the Firecracker 5K at 5 p.m. and the annual Fourth Parade at 5:30 p.m.

The Norwood Concert Committee stopped by and shared the list of upcoming acts for this year’s festivities. As always, Roundhouse – made up of Norwood residents who have been playing in Town since the 1970s – will kick off the Wednesday Summerfest Concerts on July 8 at 6:30 p.m. July 15 is the Willie J Laws Band, July 22 is the Love Dogs, July 29 is Sweet Harmony, Aug. 5 is PanNeubean Steel, Aug. 12 is Boston’s Erin Og, Aug. 19 is Slapback, and Aug. 26 is the Squeezebox Stompers.

Sunday Concerts on the Common starts on July 5 at 6:30 p.m. with Portrait in Jazz, July 12 with Roy Scott Big B and, July 19 with Westwood Swing Band, July 26 with Sharon Concert Band, Aug. 2 with JBTS Big Band, Aug. 9 with She Bop Swing Orchestra, Aug. 16 with Compaq Big Band, Aug. 23 with Dan Gabel and His Orchestra, and Aug. 30 with Legacy of Paul Alberta Jazz Orchestra (made up of Norwood music graduates).

The Monday Carillon Concerts will also start at July 4’s celebration being the first show. July 4 will feature Margaret Angelini, Lee Leach and Christina Meyer (special start time at 2:30 p.m.). The next Monday at 6:30 p.m. with John Whiteside, then July 13 with Christina Meyer, July 20 with Andrea McCrady, July 27 with Anton Fleissner, Aug. 3 with Joey Brink, Aug. 10 with Jonathan Lehrer, Aug. 17 with Margaret Pan, and Aug. 24 with Margot Lang and Jordan Scoville.

Open tours of the Carillon will be available after each show.

In other news, Boch Automotive VP Michael Clemmey came by to drop off the annual check from the Boch Fund for the Norwood Board of Selectmen.

“To do with what they feel fit for the Town of Norwood,” Clemmey said. “Short and simple. We appreciate the Town of Norwood, the people of Norwood, we enjoy working here, we’re building a new addition at Subaru, everyone can see that and we’re very excited to continue our success here in Norwood.”