Around and About - Norwood Record

Volume 2, Issue 11 March 19, 2009

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LoLoLoLoLow bidsw bidsw bidsw bidsw bidsContinued on page 5

SeniorSeniorSeniorSeniorSeniorsssssContinued on page 4

Aroundand About

Cars go zipping down the track at this year's annual running of the Cub Scout Pack171 Pinewood Derby. The event was held at First Congregational Church

COURTESY PHOTO

Alix Campbell and Kelsy Smith take a break from the runway at last Friday night’sSenior Prom Fashion Show at the Coakley Middle School. The event was sponsoredby the Norwood Post Prom Party Committee.

PHOTO BY PAUL ELDRIDGE

Vera Gately and her "Irish Eyes" are smiling last week during a St. Patrick's Daythemed sing-a-long at the Senior Center

PHOTO BY PAUL ELDRIDGE

Low bidsbringhigh hopes

KrKrKrKrKrystal Grystal Grystal Grystal Grystal GrooooowwwwwStaff Reporter

‘CommonSense’presentedto seniors


Norwood seniors had a chance tohear some alternative ideas on the pro-posed new high school project as theCommon Sense Committee broughttheir show to the Senior Center lastweek.

The Common Sense Committee hasstressed the importance of preservingthe current high school and made theirargument to local seniors who will bevoting, along with the rest of the town,in the April 6 election on whether to ap-prove an override that would fund thedestruction of the current school and theconstruction of the new model schoolat the Nichols Street site.

“My biggest problem is tearing thatbuilding down,” said committee Chair-man Frank McKeown. “Look at all theother buildings in town. They’re old andthey’re still in great shape.”

In the presentation, McKeown andother members of the committee, includ-ing Finance Commission member JohnHayes and Historical CommissionChairwoman Judith Howard, also tookissue with claims that the new buildingcan’t be constructed on another site, thestated price the town will have to payand the reasons why the old buildingcan’t be saved.

“I seem to be the only member ofthe FinCom that is bothered by the factthat we’re going to spend $5 million totear down an $11 million building,”Hayes said. “I just don’t buy it.”

Hayes recommended that the townconsider selling the current building toan area college or university as a satel-lite campus or administrative officebuilding, but said he doubted that townwould consider any other options thanwhat is currently on the table.

McKeown referenced two conflict-ing assessments of the 84-year-oldbuilding that did not make a strongenough case to put the school before thewrecking ball. McKeown said a reportissued by an independent firm hired bythe Massachusetts School Building Au-thority in July of 2007 cited no specificissues with the building that deemed itstructurally insufficient, and another re-port issued that September by the townthat claimed the school was in need of

Town officials were dealt a pleasantsurprise last Friday morning as bidsfrom general contractors interested inbuilding a new Norwood High Schoolcame in lower than anticipated, amount-ing to a potentially huge savings for thelargest building project in the town’shistory.

Architects from Ai3 estimated thetotal project cost at $79 million, includ-ing $5 million in non-reimbursable coststhat the town will pay, but last weekeven the highest bidder didn’t top the$60 million mark for their base bids.

Of the six contractors pre-qualifiedto bid on the project, only three submit-ted bid packages by 11 a.m. Fridaymorning.

J and J Construction placed a highbase bid of $56,347,000, while FontaineBrothers came in a close second with abase of $56,081,000. Agostini Construc-tion, the firm responsible for theWhitman/Hanson model school that theNew Norwood High School will bebased on placed the lowest base bid of$53,468,200. The total project costs forthe two lowest bidders are $70,742,776and $68,129,976, but each price will bereduced by the $6 million the town hasalready spent on design and feasibilitystudies.

Contractors, industry professionalsand other local officials working on theproject packed into the FinCom roomin Town Hall to hear Norwood Purchas-ing Agent Kathy Carney open the docu-ments. In less than 10 minutes, the bidswere in and the room cleared as TownManager John Carroll, Project ManagerTim Bonfatti and architects from Ai3convened to discuss their good fortune.

“The bids were extremely favor-able,” Carroll said. “The town will savea lot of money.”

Project Manager Tim Bonfatti saidthat the town couldn’t have chosen abetter time to seek bids for such a largeproject, as prices for construction ser-vices are lower than they have been in adecade.

“All of these firms see what’s goingon with the economy, and want to getwork, so they are willing to take jobs atcost just to get a project in hand, whichis really fortunate for the town,” he said.

According to Bonfatti, the price ofconstruction commodities has declined,leading to significant savings for those

Page 2Page 2Page 2 The Norwood Record MarMarMarMarMarch 1ch 1ch 1ch 1ch 19, 20099, 20099, 20099, 20099, 2009

CALL (781) 769-1725

To advertise, Group reviewsreimbursement process

PPPPPaaaaaymentsymentsymentsymentsymentsContinued on page 3


While the question stilllooms as to whether the townwill approve spending $35 mil-lion to build a new high school,members of the PermanentBuilding Construction Com-mittee are already working tofigure out how the state will paytheir share.

In a packed meeting that in-cluded members of the FinanceCommission, Project ManagerTim Bonfatti explained theMassachusetts School BuildingAuthority’s ProPay system, onwhich he was recently trained.

According to Bonfatti, theelectronic system will allow thetown to be reimbursed for eli-gible expenses within 15 daysof submitting invoices, a vastimprovement from the state’sprior process that often tookyears to bring money back tomunicipalities. “We basicallyhave to fill in a spreadsheet forevery invoice, then they takethat and do an audit,” Bonfattisaid.

PBCC member Paul Meyersaid that the state would betracking the invoices to makesure the proper point people inNorwood have stamped thembefore they issue a reimburse-ment payment. “Our invoiceshave to be approved and issuedfor payment before we can be-gin the reimbursement pro-cess,” he said, “but this processisn’t on a granular level. We canbegin the process for moneywe’ve already spent.”

The MSBA will review themonthly invoices, whichBonfatti said needed to clarifybetween eligible and ineligiblecosts, and that the state wouldissue payment by a wire trans-fer.

Through a series of flow-charts, Bonfatti explained thechain of command and thetimeline the invoices musttravel to make it to the MSBAand produce a payment back tothe town.

In a rough draft of the sched-ule, Bonfatti anticipated thePBCC would meet to approveApril invoices in mid-March.The Project Manager will sub-mit the request to the MSBA,who will begin a preliminaryaudit while the invoices andstate issued forms travel to thetown accounting departmentand the Board of Selectmen forsignatures. The complete pack-age including the requiredforms and signatures wouldthen also be sent to the MSBA,who will complete a final auditand issue a wire transfer backto the town.

But the first round of pay-ments could present some prob-lems if the process hits a snagand is delayed. PBCC memberEd McKenna said that there isa state law that sets a definitetimeline for the town to pay forthe work being done.

“The state law says we haveto pay within 15 days and canbe charged one over prime forevery day we are over,” he said.“By this schedule, we will bethree days overdue by the timewe get reimbursed.”

Bonfatti said there wouldstill be time to adjust the sched-ule and work out the kinks toavoid any extra costs.

“The first time through isgoing to be difficult, but oncewe get into the system it willget easier,” Bonfatti said.

McKenna said he wanted tomake sure the money being sent

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Norwood dodges foreclosuresin tough housing market


Payments continued from page 2

FFFFForeclosuresoreclosuresoreclosuresoreclosuresoreclosuresContinued on page 6

While the housing market ison shaky grounds, fewNorwood homes are in dangerof foreclosure, and finance of-ficials say the cause is conser-vative financing.

Norwood Bank PresidentChristopher Dixon, Town Trea-surer Bob Maguire and FinanceCommission Chairman AllanHoward all said that the townis weathering the storm nowbecause local government andsmall town service at commu-nity banks have avoided thehigh risk mortgage and financepractices that have so manylarge financial institutions introuble, and are causing recordnumbers of homes to fall intoforeclosure.

“We’ve always been veryconservative here,” Dixon said.“We never participated in thesubprime or other funky mort-gages. We gave loans to peoplewho qualified for loans, but alot of these brokers were fix-ing their documentation to

make people qualify when theydidn’t. At a community bank,we don’t do things like that.Our standards have alwaysbeen in place.”

However, even the strictestrequirements cannot preventdelinquent payments, but bothDixon and Maguire said theyare more likely to work withhomeowners than to foreclose.“We try to work with ownersand the banks to offer paymentplans,” Maguire said. “Wedon’t have any formal programsin place to handle these situa-tions, because it’s not as big ofa problem here.”

The city of Boston has usedCommunity Development Cor-porations in each respectiveneighborhood to help combatthe foreclosure crisis, but inNorwood, housing hardshipsare typically dealt with on acase-by-case basis between lo-cal banks and town govern-ment.

“We really try to work withpeople to get them back on theirfeet if they’re having trouble,”Dixon said. “Of course delin-

quencies hurt us, and we needpeople to make their payments,but we can offer help that largerinstitutions can’t.”

The larger problem is thatpeople are waiting too long toget help, Maguire said. Dixonagreed that while there have notbeen any instances of full fore-closure in Norwood, there havebeen a few close calls. “Unfor-tunately, what happens is thatpeople who get behind on theirpayments don’t contact us,”Maguire said. “There’s defi-nitely a stigma about it, andpeople don’t want to come for-ward and talk to us, but mostof the time, the bank hearsabout it first.”

“We have definitely dealtwith people who are in dangerof going into foreclosure, butthey need to talk to us insteadof burying their heads in thesand,” Dixon said.

For many on the foreclosurefence, the recent approval ofPresident Obama’s stimuluspackage included a huge allot-

back and the invoices beingsent in are monitored to avoidconfusion as the town worksthrough the payment and reim-bursement process.

“It worries me that if moneykeeps getting wired in everymonth with a different numberor code, we’ll be paying allthese bills with different num-bers. We have to be able to trackthis,” he said.

FinCom member JoeGreeley said the PBCC shouldstick to bricks and mortar, andlet the money matters worktheir way through the properchannels.

“With your PBCC hats on,you’re not really responsible

for tracking reimbursement un-less something gets kickedback,” he said.

“But we’re the first peoplewho get called to the Selectmenand the FinCom when theywant to know where the moneyis,” said PBCC member DickWeiner.

Meyer said the PBCCwould only have issues if therewere discrepancies in theamount of money the town re-ceives as opposed to the antici-pated amounts, and recom-mended that the committeetrack invoices at their weeklymeetings instead of letting amonth’s worth of invoices pileup.

Chairman Ted Callahan saidthat in the initial stages of theprocess, submitting invoices inone fell swoop would be thesimplest way to get the state theinformation they needed.

“The point is well taken, butwe don’t want to gum up theworks with all these invoices,”he said.


SO LONG, FAREWELL...

Letters to the Editor

Editorial

The Norwood Record and its advertisers assume no financial responsi-bility for errors in advertisements printed herein, but will reprint, with-out charge, that part of the advertisement in which the error occurs. Nopart of this newspaper may be reproduced without the express writtenconsent of The Norwood Record Newspaper.

Norwood Record510 Washington StreetNorwood, MA 02062

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Michelle TorantoOffice Manager

Seniors continued from page 1

HEART OBSTACLECOURSE WINS 1STPLACE!

To The Editor:A sincere, heartfelt thank you

to everyone for your confidenceand support of my heart obstaclecourse micro-grant proposal.

We overwhelmingly came infirst with 585 votes. Secondplace finished with 261 Votes.

Coming soon, for anyone in-terested, I will be putting a videoclip of the course on my teacher’sweb page. Go to Norwood Pub-lic schools/ Cleveland school/t e a c h e r s w e b s i t empacettifitzgerald.Heart Ob-stacle Course.

Thank you for your time andeffort.

Michelle Pacetti-FitzgeraldPhysical Education

& Health Teacher

KEEP EXISTING SCHOOLTo the Editor:I live across the street from

Norwood High. Every day whenI get the mail, I look over to theschool. It literally takes mybreath away. Some want to re-place Norwood High with a“model school.”

Historically and architectur-ally significant buildings shouldbe preserved and, when neces-sary (like now) be renovated andupdated to code. Renovating theschool would keep it in its samelocation and save the athleticfields at the “school on the hill,”a major aspect to a student’s highschool experience. There areother important considerationsthat need to be acknowledged.

1. Whitman-Hanson is situ-ated on 60 acres of land set backfrom the street; the closest neigh-bor being 1/4 mile away.Norwood High is situated on 20acres of land and neighbors di-rectly abut school property. Newconstruction will greatly impactthese homes. The area is knownfor ledge and a high water table,yet, when neighbors asked for

written reports of each, to con-firm or refute, none was given.

2. The front façade ofWhitman-Hanson is coveredwith veneer; however, the backof the school has no veneer, butis made of cement masonry unitsexposed to the weather, whichwill deteriorate over time. Thismay be a reason why a newschool is meant to last only 50years. Norwood High is coveredwith bricks that completely sur-round the school. A demolitioncontractor will keep all its valu-able copper, steel girders, andbricks for resale if it is torn down.

3. Norwood High is a southfacing building and receives di-rect natural light. When properlydesigned, student classroomsshould face the south side. How-ever, in an architectural drawingof the proposed new school, thegym takes up practically half ofthe front of the school, not class-rooms.

4. Large classrooms are pro-posed in the new design, butstudies have shown that studentsare better educated with smallclasses with fewer students. Onereason why parents who can af-ford it send their children to pri-vate schools is smaller classeswith fewer students. On a per-sonal tour of Norwood High,there was a large math class sit-ting in one small classroom,where right down the hall therewas an empty much larger class-room. This is an easily fixedscheduling problem.

5. In the recent report TownMeeting Members received, itstates the existing school has187,000 square feet. However,Norwood High has “231,258square feet of floor space and canaccommodate up to 1,425 stu-dents.” The quote is from theCommission on Public Second-ary Schools’ report to the princi-pal of Norwood High on schoolfacilities. This exceeds the227,500 square feet of the pro-posed new high school. (Today,

there are less than 1,100 stu-dents, which is 325 fewer thancapacity). Fact: NHS is largerthan the proposed high school.

6. The same report states thedebt exclusion will be 25 years.However, if one were to add upthe payback years 2009 through2035, it adds up to 27 years on aschool that is supposed to lastonly 50 years.

7. The “how much” of thiswhole project is questionable.While the Article on the Warrantfor Special Town Meeting onMarch 23 has no funds specified,the Motion authorizes the Trea-surer, with the approval of theBoard of Selectmen, to “appro-priate, borrow or transfer fromavailable funds” $73,138,965.But residents are told that thetown only needs to borrow $35.4million. The Motion further au-thorizes the Permanent BuildingConstruction Committee to carryout the project – the same com-mittee that is responsible for allpublic buildings, including thePolice and Fire Station. Further,the Article states that “anyproject costs the Town incurs inexcess of any grant approved byand received from the MSBAshall be the sole responsibility ofthe Town. . .” (Emphasis added).The grant is $43,779,874. Beprepared to add the interest andthe overrides to the $79 million.

8. The ballot question toNorwood Voters on April 6, 2009has no money value included –no actual dollar figure. The vot-ers will be voting blindly.

There are many who believethat there will be much regret ifthis proposed new “modelschool” passes, for the studentsthemselves, for parents who arethinking of college expenses fortheir children, for seniors, and forthose who believe, as I do, thatthe value of the Future is found

serious repair.‘What are we supposed to

believe,” McKeown asked.“The point is that there are con-tradictions between what theWorking Group says we needand what the report says.”

McKeown went as far as tosay that town officials andmembers of the Committee of21 make it appear as thoughtotal reconstruction on the cur-rent site was the only optionafter having exaggerated thedeficiencies of the building.“The impression I get is thatthey are building all of this upso they can replace it,” he said.“They keep telling us they can’tfind another site, but I’m goingto say they don’t want to findanother site.”

Howard, as chair of the His-torical Commission, stressedthe architectural value and aes-thetic importance of the Greek

Revival style school built byfamed architect William G.Upham.

“We have in our midst thevery core of who we are,”Howard said. “If a building intown is old, do we just tear itdown? That’s not who we are.”

Howard said that the MSBAonly gave the new building a50-year life span, and that giventhe longevity the current build-ing has shown, should be pre-served.

“That school was built tolast. The new school will bebuilt for 50 years, and it’s go-ing to take 27 years to pay itback. Norwood High School is30 years beyond the 50 yearmark, and given the attention itdeserves, could go on another50 years,” she said.

Howard also pointed outthat the town would be respon-sible for interest payments on

the $73 million figure that willgo before town meeting nextweek, not on the town’s shareof $35 million. She said thatalthough the tax impact appearsminute according to charts andgraphs provided by the town,the average Norwood residentwill still feel the financial bur-den of the new building.

“They say our property taxrates are lower than othertowns, but they don’t show youthe demographics,” she said.“Norwood’s average income islower than those of othertowns.”

Hayes agreed the price tagfor a new school was too muchto ask of many residents alreadystruggling to make ends meet.“I don’t think they realize howmany people are living on theborderline,” he said. “It’s allabout the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots.’ It is as simple as that.”

In response to the unsurprising departure of State Sen. Marian Walshfrom the seat she has held since 1992, we offer the following: Don’t letthe door hit you on the way out.

That may sound harsh. But the reality is that Walsh has made search-ing for a new job more of a priority than nearly anything else we haveseen her tackle in recent months.

Week after week, there has been no shortage of rumors about Walshand the many new gigs — including a judgeship — that she was sup-posedly up for. In each case, rumor after rumor, it was her cozy rela-tionship with Gov. Deval Patrick that was said to be the catalyst.

Finally, after months of searching, the $75K a year pol found whatshe was looking for, a $100,000 raise.

Walsh, whose district includes Norwood, Westwood and portionsof Boston, will vacate her post to accept a position as assistant execu-tive director of the Massachusetts Health and Educational FacilitiesAuthority, a position that had previously gone unfilled for 12 years.Though the assignment comes with a hefty, hefty pay raise, we areassured that it is not a taxpayer-funded post. That hardly matters though.

Let’s review Walsh’s recent accomplishments, such as they relateto street-level constituent needs.

(Cue “Jeopardy” theme).If nothing comes immediately to mind, there is good reason for it.

In Norwood, the overwhelming issue of the day is the construction ofa new high school. It is a massive undertaking. But yet, we see, notmassive enough to warrant even a token appearance from Walsh. Herinput: zero. Her assistance: zilch. Her deemed interest level: nada.

Head deeper into her district, over to Boston. There, Walsh hassuccessfully re-routed traffic from Dedham through the streets of theHyde Park neighborhood, much to the horror of those residents. InWest Roxbury, an ambitious plan by State Rep. Mike Rush’s ambi-tious plan to restore Havey Beach was laid to waste by Walsh’s inten-tional lack of support. Rush may be a gentleman, in that he has told themedia he bears no ill will for Walsh’s determination that the plan neededmore work. But some insiders are quick to point out that Walsh’s opin-ion had much to do with a hissy-fit over not being consulted from theget-go.

Some thanks this was for Rush who, some of you may recall, triedto help Walsh’s husband, former District Judge Paul Buckley, pad hispension back in 2007. Rush submitted a bill that would have allowedjudges to count military service toward their pensions, a move thatwould have added $30,000 to Buckley’s annual pension. The bill passedin the House, but failed to make it past the Senate. Yet again, though,it was Deval to the rescue. He appointed Buckley to a nearly $109,000position as commissioner of the Department of Industrial Accidents.

Even if you are a Walsh supporter, consider the fact that she isgoing to cost your municipality money it cannot afford to spend.

Norwood town officials are unsure of the exact cost of a specialelection. According to Town Accountant Bob Thornton, the town firstneeds to determine when the state requires the election to take place. Ifit can be scheduled during a regular, general election, the costs areminimal, but if an election needs to held for the specific purpose offilling a vacant senate seat, the price tag could be higher.

We’ve all heard stories of Walsh’s alleged political courage. Ofhow she stood against Cardinal Bernard Law and for gay marriage,despite her staunch Catholic upbringing. But here is courage for you,Walsh will not so much as return a phone call to follow-up on her terseresignation announcement. In fact, we are so used to being rerouted toconsultants and underlings, we’re not even sure we can say anymorewhat her actual voice sounds like.

Walsh’s departure will set in motion a flurry of would-be candi-dates who have eyed her office longingly for a very long time. We canonly hope that whoever replaces her, will think more about the votersthan his or her own career path.

Walsh was once someone predicted to have a wonderful careerin public service. It is a shame that, in the final analysis, so muchpotential was wasted.

LeLeLeLeLettttttttttererererersssssContinued on page 21


Low bids continued from page 1

Residents questionZimble clean-up plans

Residents told the NorwoodHealth Department that theywere tired of facing the dust anddebris around their home, pol-lution they believe is a directresult of the former ZimbleDrum Site and former WinslowTannery, located at 61 EndicottSt.

Residents voiced their con-cerns at a meeting last Thurs-day night.

The soil at the EndicottStreet property, near theWalpole line, is contaminatedwith arsenic and polychlori-nated biphenyls (PCBs). In the1950s, the site was once usedas a place to store old wires andtannery equipment.

Other contaminants of con-cern in the soil are extractablepetroleum hydrocarbons, aheavy weight oil, and heavymetals such as lead, chromium,copper and arsenic.

Valerie Saber, a resident onLane Drive, presented photostaken of her yard to Peter True,the site’s current owner. Saber

said she has mounds of dirt inher yard that prevent her fromopening any windows in herhome.

Saber also said that theproperty fence has fallen overseveral times causing damageto her sprinkler. Saber said shehas seen several people cutacross her yard while the fenceis down and is concerned forher daughter’s safety when sheplays outside.

True told Saber that he hadnot been made aware of theproblem, but after looking at thephotos, he said he would fur-ther look into the issue. Trueasked Saber why she had nevertried contacting him earlier butSaber responded, “I’ve calleda few times and I leave mes-sages but no one ever returnsthe calls.”

“We understand that thewindblown dust is an issue butit’s not an environmental issue,it’s a nuisance problem,” AlRicciardelli of GZAGeoEnvironmental said. “Theowner is going to spray a prod-uct on the soil which is an ad-hesive-type material that will

help to hold the sand in place,”Ricciardelli said.

“The fabric fencing aroundthe perimeter is blowingthrough to the neighborhood,”Planning Board member BillBamber, said. “Open your eyesman! We’re talking hazardouswaste, a hazardous area and ev-erything is being exposed, it’sa half hazard area that’s beingdone on both of the [sites],”Bamber said.

Marco Brancato, chairmanof the Planning Board, said heplans to draft a letter to theBoard of Appeals so the towncan hire its own engineer towork with the members in-volved in the site clean up.

“My main concern is thatthis affects so many people,” hesaid. “When the job is com-plete, we all want to feel goodabout it.”

The group plans to have thesite cleaned up by September2009. “We have no plans tobuild over the land when thecontaminants have been re-moved,” True said. “It is goingto stay just the way it is untilwe get financing.”

JennifJennifJennifJennifJennifer Santer Santer Santer Santer SantosososososStaff Reporter

in this buyers’ market. He saidthat the multiple levels of con-tractors, subcontractors and ven-dors are all offering lower prices,which adds up to a major dealwhen it comes to compiling a bid.“Those commodity prices are amajor source of our costs, andthey have dropped about 6 or 7percent in the past four months,”he said.

Carroll said he and other in-dividuals close to the projectwould now work to revise theproject budget and present a re-vised amount to town meetingmembers next week. “We haveto establish what the eligiblecosts are based on that bid,”Carroll said, “but there will besubstantial savings and we willbe going to town meeting with asignificantly lower number.”

That new number will be splitwith the Massachusetts SchoolBuilding Authority, who willshare in the benefits of a favor-able bidding climate.

While it is nearly settled thatthe town will choose Agostini asthe general contractor of record,based on the bids, Carroll saidthere is one detail the town mustclarify before sealing the deal andawarding the multi-million dol-lar contract.

Of the three firms, Agostiniwas the only bidder that did notidentify unit prices for the costof materials including stone, con-crete, metal and other buildingsupplies, which sparked FontaineBrothers to submit a bid protestto the town and possibly the StateAttorney General. Unit pricesfrom Fontaine Brothers and J and

J varied from $15 to $75. Carrollsaid he did not anticipate the unitprices presenting a snag in the bidprice, but that the town is stillbeing conservative in their esti-mates and will present TownMeeting members withFontaine’s numbers to ensure thelowest possible cost and to pre-vent the possibility of anotherrequest from town meeting.

“We are using their numbersso in the event that the bid pro-test ends up at with the AttorneyGeneral, and we loose, we willbe covered,” Carroll said. “If wetake the low bidder and we loose,we will have to go back to townmeeting and ask for moremoney.”

Although Carroll said he was“99.99 percent sure” thatAgostini would be the generalcontractor approved for theproject, the town would workfrom Fontaine’s $64,742,776 fig-ure, which still presents the townwith a substantial savings com-pared to the $73 million estimatefor reimbursable costs. Carrollsaid that if Agostini is approved,the town and the state will splitan additional $2 million in sav-ings.

Bonfatti said that after re-viewing Agostini’s bid, TownCounsel felt that the lack of unitprices would not significantlyalter the price. “The unit pricesaren’t part of the bid, but we don’tanticipate them being an issue,”Bonfatti said. “The bid contractsays we, the town, can waive unitprices, and we usually end upgoing back to negotiate betterprices anyway.”

Unit prices typically vary,Bonfatti said. He added that thetown does not forsee Agostinicharging unreasonable unitprices after the contract is ap-proved, and that the town wasstill getting a steal for its money.

“It’s still an amazing time todo this,” he said.

A letter outlining the bid of-fers will be sent to Town Meet-ing members this week.

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Walsh seat is open season

WWWWWalshalshalshalshalshContinued on page 7

Foreclosures continued from page 3ment for homebuyers in trouble,and potential buyers who areholding out for a good deal.

Maguire said that althoughthe stimulus money has beengeared towards banks, he be-lieves it will ultimately benefitlocal homeowners.

“We’re hoping the moneywill start to spread out and helppeople, and stimulate theeconomy by giving youngpeople the chance to get outthere in the housing market,” hesaid. “Hopefully, it’s not like thepackages that used to be offered.Some of those mortgage pack-ages were absolutely horren-dous.”

Dixon said that the stimuluspackage would, in theory, helpthe average homeowner or thefirst-time buyer, but that the ben-efits were in the eye of the be-holder.

“It’s all in the eyes of whoyou talk to,” he said. “It’s a greatopportunity for a first timebuyer, but if you talk to some-

one trying to sell a house, it’snot looking so great. First timebuyers are looking at lower val-ues and borrowing less, but theyare having trouble making adown payment and meeting thehigher underwriting standards.”

Maguire said the moneyfrom the stimulus package couldeventually help troubledhomeowners, but that it wouldbe filtered before it is distrib-uted.

“It’s indirect at best,” he said.“The money goes to the banks,not the individuals. People haveto contact their mortgage com-panies and break things down,but the package is basically two-fold; it benefits those in goodstanding and those not in goodstanding, but in my opinion, it’sa great time to buy property.”

“We find that a lot of firsttime buyers are still on thefence,” Dixon said. “They’rewaiting for the prices to godown, but people who want tosell can’t because the values

have gone down.”Dixon said the structure of

the market has shifted substan-tially, creating a standstill in themarket and stalling the stimuluseffect of the federal funds. Hesaid that in the past people havebought properties at the low endof the market with the intentionof moving up by either addingor renovating their homes, orselling their property to pur-chase a more valuable home.

“That has completelystopped,” he said. “People don’thave the equity anymore, andare either waiting for values togo up, and they aren’t going togo up.”

Property values may bedown, but hopes are still high inNorwood, as finance officialsare breathing a sigh of reliefamidst a national crisis.

“We’ve been lucky,” saidMaguire. “We haven’t felt thepinch like a lot of places have.”

“It’s like there was an earth-quake, and we’re far away fromthe center,” Dixon said. “Notthat it isn’t still tough out there,but we’re definitely in bettershape than most.”Our Chef is

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After months of rumoredjob offers, State Sen. MarianWalsh, whose district includesNorwood, Westwood and por-tions of Boston, has made itofficial that she will vacate herpost to accept a position as as-sistant executive director of theMassachusetts Health and Edu-cational Facilities Authority, a$175,000 a year position andone that had previously goneunfilled for 12 years.

Walsh, who did not returncalls from the Record seekingcomment, issued only a shortstatement thanking voters fortheir support over the course ofher more than 20 years in of-fice. No timeline has yet to bemade public as to when she willofficially leave office.

“I want to foremost thankmy constituents for their sup-port and friendship through myyears of elected public service,”Walsh wrote. “I am eternallygrateful to them. I am very ex-cited for the opportunity to jointhe team at HEFA as they con-tinue their mission of expand-ing citizen access to qualityeducation, healthcare, humanservices and cultural opportu-nities.”

Walsh was first elected as aState Representative in 1986.She was elected as State Sena-tor in 1992.

The Massachusetts Healthand Educational Facilities Au-thority helps to provide low-cost, tax-exempt financing tononprofit institutions for capi-tal projects.

Liam Sullivan, spokesper-son for HEFA, confirmed thatWalsh has agreed to a $175,000

salary offer to take the positionof assistant executive director—a position that has gone un-filled for several years.

“Senator Walsh has been onour radar since at least last sum-mer,” Sullivan said. “The hir-ing of Senator Walsh is part ofa larger initiative that we areundertaking which is reachingout to other state agencies andauthorities like ourselves to of-fer our expertise, to collaborateand to share resources to seewhat sort of efficiencies can bemade. The hiring of MarianWalsh will help implement thisinitiative.”

Sullivan said Walsh’s exper-tise as someone with highlyskilled knowledge in govern-mental operations and relationswill be an asset to their organi-zation. Sullivan called HEFA

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Staff Reporters


Walsh continued from page 5 IT’S TAX PREPARATION TIME!

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“A quasi-public authority” thatreceives a fee for their servicesand does not receive any tax-payer funding. He said HEFAis a small agency that employs15 people and should be heldup as a model for successfulstate government.

“We achieve a great deal forsuch a small organization. Wewere the largest issuer of statebonds last year and we were thesixth largest issuer of bonds inthe nation,” he said.

Walsh’s decision will forcethe municipalities she serves tohold a special election to re-place her. Within hours of herannouncement, two candidateshad already announced theirintention to run and several oth-ers are either rumored to haveinterest, or say they are mull-ing the prospect.

Waiting in the wings, readyto pounce on the news wasWalsh’s colleague from WestRoxbury, State Rep. MichaelRush.

“I will be a candidate,” Rushsaid last Thursday, the dayWalsh made the announcement.“It is a tremendous opportunity.I wish Senator Walsh all thebest in her future endeavors.For me, it’s a wonderful oppor-tunity to continue the work I’vebeen doing here on BeaconHill.”

Rush said in the last threeyears he’s been working for hisconstituents in Norfolk andSuffolk counties on a variety oflocal and statewide issues.

Rush said now was the righttime for him to build on thework he’s done in the House,but on a larger scale in the Sen-ate.

“I know the process verywell, both budgetarily and leg-islatively,” he said. “It is some-thing I’m very interested in do-ing. I want to continue the en-ergy level I’ve brought to myjob in the House to the Senateside and work with my col-leagues in both branches of theHouse and the Senate.”

Since it is an off-year elec-tion, Rush is able to retain hisHouse seat pending the out-come of any Senate run.

Bob Joyce, a West Roxburyresident, ran against Walsh dur-ing her last run. He said he willonce again seek the seat. Joyce,

a social conservative, took is-sue with Walsh’s support ofsame sex marriage. He hasmore recently been in the newsfor his boycott of the BostonPhoenix newspaper, citing itsdisplay of prostitution ads as areason that local stores shouldrefuse to carry it.

“For far too long, goodpeople in this district, andthroughout our Common-wealth, have borne the costs ofour politicians’ excesses,” hesaid. “Today we witness yetanother disgraceful example ofat least two high-rankingelected Democrats, SenatorWalsh and Governor Patrick,conspiring to allow greedyhands to dip into the coffers ofpublic and/or quasi-publicagencies. As a result of this lat-est outrage, Massachusetts tax-payers will suffer further sub-stantial financial detrimentwhich, although obscure tosome, is quite real. When, andwhether, this type of outrageousbehavior will end is entirely upto the voters.”

Boston City Councilor JohnTobin, whose district includesWest Roxbury and JamaicaPlain, said he was consideringa run for either State Senate orthe State Representative seatthat would open up if Rushwere to succeed.

Tobin, though best known inhis role as a City Councilor, haspast experience at the StateHouse as an intern, ResearchDirector of Local Affairs and astaff position with State Rep.Kevin Honan (D-Allston).

“Whoever runs for this seat,and ultimately wins it, will bethe most prepared person,”Tobin said. “These are hugeshoes to fill. Whether peopleadmired Marian Walsh like Ido, or they didn’t vote for her,one thing that is universal abouther is that she always, alwayscame prepared. She was smartas a whip and she knew the is-sues... she has my utmost re-spect and admiration and I ob-viously wish her the best ofluck. She’s been a force in thisneighborhood for over 20 yearspolitically. People in this dis-trict have come to expect excel-lence. And, even if they dis-agree with her on an issue, theyknew she was a straight shooter

and she was a person of herconvictions.”

Other rumored candidatesinclude former Boston CityCouncilor Jerry McDermott,who now lives in Westwood.McDermott did not return callsseeking comment. State Rep.Paul McMurtry (D-Dedham) isanother name touted as a poten-tial candidate, as is State Rep.John Rogers of Norwood, al-though the latter has told me-dia sources, through a spokes-man, that he has no intention ofrunning.

As for Republican candi-dates, Barney Keller, spokes-man for the MassachusettsGOP, said that several officialsin his party are considering theupcoming election. He declinedto name any of those potentialcandidates, but did take the op-portunity to slam GovernorDeval Patrick for Walsh’s ap-pointment.

“Creating a job for MarianWalsh doesn’t count as one ofthe thousands of jobs that Gov.Patrick promised to create inMassachusetts,” he said. “In-stead of rewarding supporterswith high-paying jobs, the gov-ernor should focus on creatingjobs for the thousands of unem-ployed. Unemployment ispretty high right now, 30,000people lost their jobs lastmonth. It is clear that [Patrick’s]goal is to reward his politicalsupporters with jobs first, be-fore anybody else. Its endemicwithin the Democratic party.This is what you get when youhave a one-party state.”


The Record Book

The RThe RThe RThe RThe Recorecorecorecorecord Bookd Bookd Bookd Bookd BookContinued on page 20

FREE YOGAThe Healing Moon Wellness

Center will be offering a free weekof gentle yoga series on Thursdays,at 11 a.m., through April 23, at 1Walpole St. (across from Conrad’sRestaurant) to anyone who is ex-periencing financial difficulties orunemployment. Instructors willdonate their time. Donations ofnon-perishable foods for the localfood pantry are accepted, but notrequired. Call Marcia Putnam-Todd at (781) 769-1121 to regis-ter. For more information, visitwww.thehealingmoon.com.

LUCY THE R.E.A.D. DOGLucy the R.E.A.D. will be visitNorwood on Saturday, Mar. 21,from 10-11 a.m., at the MorrillMemorial Library. Lucy is atrained companion dog who lovesto listen to children read, and sheeven turns the pages of her own

book! This program is especiallyenjoyable for beginner readers.You may bring your own book orborrow one from the library.Please register at the children’sdesk of the library, or call (781)769-0200, ext. 225.

PETER PAN PRODUCTIONOne hundred South Area

Solomon Schechter Day School ofNorwood students will perform theclassic “Peter Pan” in an all He-brew musical production on Sun-day, March 22, at noon and 7 p.m.,and Monday, March 23, at 7 p.m.,at the YMCA in Stoughton. Tick-ets are $10 each, $36 for a familyof four. For more information, call(781) 769-5555 or visitwww.sassds.org.

THRIFT SHOP HOURSThe Women’s Community

Club (WCC) thrift shop is open

Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.,Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. andSaturdays, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.,at 1194 Washington St. Donationsof clean, saleable clothing andsmall household goods are ac-cepted during retail hours and alsoon Mondays and Wednesdays,from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. The thriftshop is a non-profit, all volunteerorganization and all proceeds helpsupport local charities and civicgroups.

DOUBLES TENNISAdults, 18 years and up, can

participate in sessions runningfrom May 2 through June 22, andAug. 31 through Oct. 12, at theCoakley Middle School courts.The women’s league will meet onMondays, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.,and the men’s league will meet onSaturdays, from 9 a.m. to 10:30a.m. Cost is $25. If interested, maila check made out to the NCTA andsend it to Doug Woolley, 118Fulton St., Norwood, MA 02062,Attn: Men’s/Women’s DoublesLeague. Checks must be receivedby Apr. 22. Please note, theseleagues are for intermediate or ad-vanced players with a NTRP rat-ing of 3.0 or above.

ADULT TENNISROUND ROBIN

Adults, ages 17 and up can par-ticipate in an adult tennis roundrobin on Wednesday evenings,from April 29 through Oct. 7, atthe Coakley Middle School courts.Beginners are from 5:45-7 p.m.and advanced from 7 p.m. to 8:30p.m. The cost is $15. If interested,mail a check made out to the NCTAand send it to Doug Woolley, 118Fulton St., Norwood, MA 02062.Personal information should in-clude name, address, telephonenumber and e-mail address.

CULTURAL COUNCILSEEKS MEMBERS

The mission of the NorwoodCultural Council (NCC) is to pro-mote excellence, access, educa-tion, and diversity in the arts, hu-manities and interpretive sciencesin order to improve the quality oflife for all residents of Norwood.The Cultural Council has been anadvocate for the arts and arts pro-gramming in Norwood for about25 years, first as the Arts LotteryCommission and later as theNorwood Cultural Council. TheNCC has had a long history ofguiding and funding cultural pro-gramming in our community. Ourprimary function is to award grantmonies to individuals and organi-zations in Norwood and thebroader community who are dedi-cated to keeping our town a cul-turally rich and economically vitalplace to live and work. For ex-ample, we grant funding for enrich-ment programs at the elementaryand middle schools, music anddance programs at the Senior Cen-ter, artists demonstrations and lec-tures for the Norwood Art Asso-ciation, the carillon bell concertsyou hear on Monday nights in thesummer, and lectures and programsat the Morrill Memorial Library.We are funded by the Massachu-setts Cultural Council, the Town ofNorwood, and by the money thatwe raise as an individual organi-zation. The group meets on thethird Tuesday or Thursday of ev-ery month, at 7:30 p.m., Room 11in the Town Hall. If anyone is in-terested in joining the NorwoodCultural Council, we can bereached via email [email protected] e-mail address is being pro-tected from spambots. You needJavaScript enabled to view it. Up-coming meetings are on Thursday,March 19 and April 16 in theNorwood Town Hall. We meet onthe bottom floor in Room 11. Ifyou are interested in learning moreabout us but can not make thismeeting, please feel free to [email protected].

GOOD FRIDAYBIBLE SCHOOL

The Emmanuel LutheranChurch will hold its annual GoodFriday Vacation Bible School onFriday, Apr. 10 from 9 a.m. to noonat 24 Berwick St. Children age fourto fourth grade are invited. Hearthe Story of Good Friday and howGod’s love for us shines throughthe darkness. There will be stories,crafts, music, games and worship.A mid-morning snack is provided.This is a free event open to all chil-dren. Students are asked to bring anon-perishable food item to helpstock the shelves at the NorwoodEcumenical Food Pantry. Registra-tions are due by April 3. Call the

Church Office at (781) 762-9457to register children for this event.

CABIN FEVER PARTYThe Ladies Auxiliary to the

Norwood VFW will be hosting aCabin Fever Party on Saturday,April 4, from 8 p.m. to midnight,at the VFW at 193 Dean St. Putwinter behind you and enjoy a buf-fet dinner, dancing with DJ JoeO’Neill, raffles and a cash bar. Costis $10 per person. Tickets are avail-able at the VFW or at the door. Allproceeds will benefit the LadiesAuxiliary of the VFW programs.

COAKLEY RECYCLING DAYThe Norwood Recycling Com-

mittee and Coakley Middle Schoolwill be holding a special “SpringCleaning” Recycling Day to ben-efit the Norwood Food Pantry andthe school on Saturday, April 4,from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at theschool’s lower parking lot (near thetennis courts), off WashingtonStreet in South Norwood. Shredyour old paper tax records andother personal papers. Doc Shred-ding Corp. will secure and shredpaper-based items for a $5 per boxdonation to the Norwood Ecumeni-cal Food Pantry or an equivalentnon-perishable food donation. DocShredding Corp will permanentlydestroy and recycle your unwantedpersonal data discs (CDs andDVDs), floppies or hard drives.Doc Shredding Corp will shred alldiscs and hard drives. Fees applyand may vary according to weight.Drop off redeemable cans andbottles and donate the deposit tothe Food Pantry. Give unwantedkeys to “Keys for Hope” to ben-efit the Food Pantry. The CoakleyMiddle School is also hosting acommunity paper drive. Wantedmaterials are all your old newspa-pers, magazines, and junk mail, butplease no cardboard and no plas-tic bags. Drop off all your papersat the Abitibi containers in thelower parking lot of the CoakleyMiddle School. The paper drivegenerates money for CoakleyMiddle School teachers and stu-dents. CARTRIDGES FOR KIDSwill collect old inkjet printers, la-ser printers, cell phones, PDA’s,iPods, cameras, laptops, DVDs,video games and GPS systems.Visit their Web sitewww.cartridgesforkids.com tolearn more. The Coakley MiddleSchool is hosting a special com-munity drop off of these materialsin the lower parking lot by theAbitbi containers only on April 4,between 8-11 a.m. Proceeds ben-efit CMS. There will be a $10charge for each Television andComputer CRT/Monitor, but nocharge for other electronic items.

1. Has enough thought beengiven to considering another lo-cation for the new school so thatthe old school could be sold,leased or utilized by the Town inanother capacity?

ANSWER: At various times inthe process of the study, questionsarose as to whether the new highschool could be built at anothersite. This would leave the presenthigh school and land vacant and,ostensibly, available for anotheruse. But after years of study theBoard of Selectmen, which is the“eligible applicant” in the MSBAprocess, voted on August, 26, 2008to designate 245 Nichols Street asthe site for the new school.

There are three major argu-ments against relocating the highschool.

1. We would lose $45 millionin MSBA funding and would be setback in our planning for a new highschool for years because the agree-ment we now have is specific tothe present site on Nichols Street.

2. There is no other site inNorwood which could accommo-date the new high school. Studieshave been made of five possible

sites but all fail because of restric-tions such as size, topographicproblems, environmental prob-lems, geographical location, etc.

3. While building a new highschool at another site would leavethe present school building vacantand potentially available for an-other use, there are numerous prob-lems with deciding on that use.

A. Age & Space - The exist-ing building goes back to 1920 andnow contains 187,000 square feet.Any further use would immediatelybring into play new building coderequirements involving provisionsfor handicapped access throughout( the facility now contains severalhalf levels between floors); struc-tural changes to meet new build-ing codes; decisions about what todo with the aging auditorium,gyms, etc. All this would mean anexpenditure of many, many mil-lions of dollars to bring the facil-ity up to codes, no matter what theuse.

B. Neighbors & Zoning - De-pending on the use proposed, therewould be issues with the neighborswho are now used to the school butwould most certainly question any

other proposed use.C. Norwood’s famous “School

on the Hill” - so revered by all ofits graduates - would be gone for-ever from the site on Nichols Streetwhere it has stood for 90 years.

2. In the event that the taxoverride is defeated, what courseof action will be taken to meet theaccreditation requirements for thehigh school?

ANSWER: School and systemofficials and the local governingbody have been reminded that thehigh school has been on warningsince January 2005. Since warningis not a permanent status, the up-coming bond vote in the spring isof critical importance to theschool’s future accreditation status.In a letter dated October 29, 2008,the Commission is requesting thatthe High School Principal submita Special Progress Report by May1, 2009, providing detailed infor-mation on action taken on the re-sults of the bond vote to fund theconstruction of the new high schooland provide an updated construc-tion timeline. There is no othercourse of action available to us thatwould allow the school to meetaccreditation standards in less thanfour or five years.

3. What would be the rate per$1,000 of assessed value for resi-dents? For businesses? (Not theaverage).

ANSWER: For residences, therate is $0.39 per $1,000 of assessedvaluation. As an example, for ahouse assessed at $300,000, theproperty tax increase over the costof the project would be approxi-mately $117 per year (300x0.39).The business rate is $0.74 per$1.000 of assessed valuation, so abusiness at $300,000 would re-ceive a property tax increase of$222. For further information, spe-cific to your own situation, go towww.newnorwoodhighschool.com.

4. Why would you destroy abuilding that has an assessedvalue of over $10M?

ANSWER: As with any evalu-

ation that compares building reno-vation to new construction, the“value” of the existing buildingstructure was considered in theMSBA’s assessment of renovationversus new construction; however,some clarification is needed to bestrespond to this question:

1. “Assessed Value” is gener-ally defined as the dollar value ofan asset assigned by a public taxassessor for the purpose of taxa-tion. Since the High School is apublic building, it is not subject totaxation and therefore the term “as-sessed value” is not appropriate;regardless, the school does has“value”.

2. The school is an asset com-prised of both land and buildingstructure; however most of thevalue is in the land ( $3.6 million),which the Town would have takenadvantage of in both new and reno-vation options, so this portion ofthe school’s value has no affect onthe evaluation.

3. The value of the High Schoolbuilding structure was consideredin the cost analysis of new andrenovation options; in fact, thereis no way of doing a proper evalu-ation of the two options withouttaking into account existing value.What needs to be understood, how-ever, is that the existing building’svalue is reduced significantly bythe cost to repair, strengthen andmodify the existing building as re-quired to meet the needs of the newschool. Under almost any scenariosuch improvements would costmany millions.

Although parts of the buildingcould have been salvaged under therenovation option, there are manyother substantial costs for renova-tion that must be considered andwhich were evaluated in detail byMSBA. When all items were con-sidered - savings from the value ofthe existing building, cost tomodify, cost to provide temporaryaccommodations, etc. - MSBA de-cided that renovation was not anoption and that MSBA would onlysupport and fund new construction.

5. Westwood High sits on 60acres of land; why would you tryto fit such a large school on only20 acres? What is the impact onsports program?

ANSWER: The 22+ acres ofland at the current high school lo-cation is the largest available par-cel of land in Norwood that canaccommodate the new school andit has been deemed suitable by nu-merous groups, neighbors, designprofessionals and Town represen-tatives. It should be noted that suchland parcels, such as in Westwood- assuming the 60 acres is correct -are not always the buildable area.They often include land that is notused by the school, either becauseit’s not needed, or because it can’tbe utilized due to wetlands, zon-ing or other regulatory require-ments. The Town Engineer haspublicly shown why no other sitesare suitable on a number of differ-ent occasions.

The only field that is ‘lost’ inthe new building project will be thefootball practice field. Norwoodhas the benefit of having townfields that can accommodate thehigh school athletic program for allgames and practices. The AthleticDirector has developed a detailedspread sheet on file where teamswill play and practice during andafter construction.

6. What tax implications willbe incurred, not only immediatelybut in the future? Can we getsome actual numbers rather thanpercentages?

ANSWER: Tax tables havebeen developed that show the av-erage property tax increases overthe life of the project. The debtexclusion override that will bevoted will cover the entire cost ofthe project. There will be no addi-tional overrides in the future to fi-nance this project. For specificinformation, go towww.newnorwoodhighschool.com.

7. Does the population inNorwood warrant the need for anew and bigger school? And if so,do all students check out asNorwood residents?

ANSWER: One of the first cri-teria MSBA checks when firstworking with school districts iscurrent and projected enrollments.MSBA has verified that the227,500 sf school is appropriatefor the projected enrollments.

The model school that is beingbuilt will accommodate 1,100 stu-dents. The original design was fora building to house 1,300 students.

Supplement to the Norwood Record Newspaper • March 19, 2009 • Copyright © 2009

781.948.1150 • www.norwoodlight.com

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The Norwood Record is very pleased to present to you this pullout section of our newspaper dedicated to answering many of thequestions our readers have regarding what is, potentially, the larg-est construction effort the Town of Norwood has ever undertaken.

Over a course of 6 weeks this newspaper requested and receivedfrom our readers all of the questions presented in this issue. Thequestions were then turned over to Board of Selectmen ChairmanMichael Lyons, who graciously agreed to take responsibility fordistributing them to the proper boards and committees overseeingthe process of this project’s progression and aggregating the an-swers.

It is important for all to note that the answers printed in thisissue are the EXACT answers provided to us. No editing of anykind was done.

Finally, a thank you to all of our readers who participated in thisprocess, and to all involved in providing answers. The NorwoodRecord hopes this section is a valuable tool for all who will cast avote at both Town Meeting and on the April ballot.

To our readers:


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The present population of the highschool is 1001. The population willbe closer to 1,100 next year sincethe Class of 2013 is larger than thepresent freshman class of 2012.But beyond that our projections,verified by MSBA analysis, showsthe population dropping off.

All of our students live inNorwood. Occasionally, becauseof custodial issues, the SchoolCommittee will allow a non-resi-dent student to attend on a tempo-rary basis.

8. If the construction of thenew school goes through, howcan we make sure that the stu-dents will not abuse or destroywhatever might be new at thispoint? As far as I hear, kids man-age to do drugs and come toschool under the influence attimes, and our teachers are notable or willing to address the is-sue, either for fear or because theyfeel they are not sitters. Will weinstall cameras to attack this kindof behavior?

ANSWER: The current stu-dents at the Norwood Senior HighSchool do not abuse or destroy thebuilding, so there is no reason toexpect this to happen. In fact,Whitman-Hanson found that van-dalism decreased significantly withtheir new school, as the studentstook great pride in their newschool. The new Norwood Highwill have a comprehensive securitysystem that includes 134 video sur-veillance cameras to protect peopleand property.

A strong discipline code is inplace at the high school and all is-sues are dealt with fairly, firmlyand consistently. The new facilitywill have more security camerassince that will help curb any van-dalism to the building. Administra-tors and teachers are vigilant anddo deal with these issues in theappropriate way.

9. What about the residentswho have chosen not to have anykids, or whose children are allgrown up, is there an equitableway to distribute this future taxburden?

ANSWER: Massachusetts lawrequires that each community’s taxlevy be shared in proportion to theassessed value of residential andcommercial property. There is noother way that the tax levy may beapportioned.

10. What about the economy,does it warrant this kind ofproject?

ANSWER: In spite of theeconomy being in a down cycle,both the bidding climate and thebond market are very favorabletowards this important project.With fewer public and private con-struction projects on the immedi-ate horizon, contractors are hungryfor work. Similar situations in thepast have resulted in prices lowerthan estimated. Bonding costs arealso low relative to historic levels.Norwood has an excellent bondrating and this should result in avery favorable interest rate. Theseconditions will not continue indefi-nitely and any delay will likely re-sult in higher costs to the taxpayer.

11. What route will all the bigtrucks take to bring materials tothe high school? We live on ElliotSt. which is an easy access from1A to Nichols St. Is this street go-ing to be a cut through to get tothe high school or will otherstreets share the burden? Thereare a lot of little kids and elderly

on this street and we all know thatthese trucks can’t stop on a dime.With all the noise and pollutionthat these trucks will bring, it willnot be a pleasant time. The streetis in bad shape already. It wouldbe a complete mess in a shorttime.

ANSWER: Obviously for aproject as large as the constructionof a new high school, materials willhave to be transported to and fromthe site. And, given the fact thatthe high school is located at 245Nichols Street, some local streetsleading up to the site will have tobe utilized in the process.

A significant amount of plan-ning has gone in to developing ve-hicular routes for the project, an-ticipating that the constructionmaterials might come from almostany direction. Routes 128, I-95,One, 1-A and 109 are the main ar-teries leading to Norwood.

Locally, the streets which thecontractors will use and whichhave been approved by the Policeand Fire Departments and theTown Engineer are GeraldineDrive, Nichols Street, ShattuckPark Road, Nahatan Street andNeponset Street. Elliott Street willnot be used.

12. What will be the cost ofbusing the high school athletes tothe various fields around townwhile the high school fields arenot available? What will be thecontinued cost for the athletes, i.e.baseball, that will not be able toreturn to the high school for com-petition. Will the athletes’ parentsbe responsible for the cost?

ANSWER: It will cost $68,000each year for the two years whilethe new school is being built. Themoney is in the SchoolDepartment’s supplemental bud-get.

13. With the seniors hurting,prices and taxes going up, chil-dren applying to college, cost offood rising, if the override doesn’tpass, why is there not an alterna-tive plan?

ANSWER: To do nothing is analternative plan - but not an accept-able one to the Town. This wasclearly demonstrated in the 2006election when the $6M override todesign this project was approved.

The proposed plan was the re-sult of five years of study and sub-stantial cost. If the override is de-feated, those five years of studyand cost would have to be repli-cated. And the likelihood of re-ceiving the “deal” we now havewith MSBA is probably zero.

14. Has it been considered toexempt senior citizens from thecost of a new high school? Manyof them have paid for most of theschools now in existence. Theyare living on fixed incomes, whichare being eroded by higher costsof food, electricity, water, etc.

ANSWER: See answer toquestion # 9.

15. When did the people ofNorwood vote on building a newhigh school or renovating the cur-rent high school? It was not thevote for the $6 million dollar over-ride.

ANSWER: On January 23,2006, Town Meeting appropriated$6.0 million to design a “new” highschool. Then on April 3, 2006, anoverride vote for “replacement” ofthe existing high school was ap-proved by the voters.

16. Our property taxes inNorwood go up regularly, nowadd to that the estimated averageof $150 per year for the proposednew Norwood High School for thenext 24 years. My questions is,how is the average Norwood ho-meowner going to be able to tol-erate all of these increases all thewhile our properties are decreas-ing in value?


17. Is the money that theproject is to receive monthly fromthe MSBA unaffected by theeconomy and shortages in oper-ating budgets?

ANSWER: The MSBA has al-ready dedicated the money appli-cable for the Norwood projectwithin its five year capital plan.This money is already secure andis not subject to changes in theeconomy or state budget. Shouldthe Town not approve the NewHigh School, any successor at-tempt at securing money for aschool construction project wouldbe subject to future appropriationand, therefore, conditioned on fu-ture economic and budgetary con-ditions.

18. What is the projected ad-ditional cost of temporary reloca-tion of sports venues, etc.?

ANSWER: The Town ofWestwood has offered their facili-ties for football games during con-struction at no cost to the residentsof Norwood. The only costs for thegames played in Westwood wouldbe the usual game costs incurred ifa game was played on our site (po-lice, custodians, ticket takers, etc.).All other sports teams will playtheir home games at a school fieldin Norwood. Other costs willamount to $68,000 annually for thetwo years of construction.

19. Will there be an increasein the number of teachers, facil-ity workers, etc.?

ANSWER: The only thing thatwould increase the number ofteachers would be a significant in-crease in student enrollment. Thepresent teaching staff would appearto be adequate for our presentcourse offerings. The size of thefacility may warrant an additional.5 custodian.

20. If the tax override passeswill we see our real estate andexcise taxes go up 2-1/2 percent?Are there any other taxes or feesincreased also?

ANSWER: Only your real es-tate taxes will be affected if thedebt exclusion override passes.There will be no impacts to anyother taxes or fees. The tax tablelocated at the websitewww.newnorwoodhighschool.comshows the tax impacts for your spe-cific home valuation. On average,the property tax increase associ-ated with this project is between 4to 5 percent.

21. Who do we contact to op-pose or agree with this override?

ANSWER: The override voteis scheduled for April 6. That isyour opportunity to agree or dis-agree with the proposal.

22. If you lease the use of thehigh school for another purposeor sell it, it could be saved. Thereis land behind Jr. High North andSouth. If you build behind South,the buses would make one run forseveral students in one family andsave money (for example, 8th

grade and 10th grade from onehousehold).

ANSWER: This question isthoroughly answered in question#1.

23. Are my children’s choicesfor college going to be limitedbecause of a lack of accredita-tion?

ANSWER: The answer issimple. In a situation where a col-lege is considering the applicationsof two equal students, but one isfrom an accredited high school andthe other is not, the student fromthe accredited school has the clearadvantage. It’s tough enough forstudents to get into the college oftheir choice - why make it thatmuch harder?

24. We live near the highschool (Victoria Circle area) andhave a water problem like manyof our neighbors. We are con-cerned that blasting, etc. for thenew school will exacerbate thecondition. Has this problem beenconsidered? Some people in thearea think the flow of water canbe diverted behind the schooldown to a brook that is in the area.This situation is very importantus.

ANSWER: It is important tonote that the New High Schoolproject will fix some existing prob-lems related to water runoff fromthe current site. All rain water gen-erated within the site limits of workwill either be infiltrated into theground (in the case of fields orother landscape) or collected indrainage and transported to theTown storm drainage system (inthe case of roofs and parking sur-faces). Due to the patchwork ofsystems on the current site, thesame cannot be said at the existinghigh school. During construction,an extensive erosion control sys-tem will control any water runoff.All of these systems have beenapproved by the Town’s authori-ties, including the Planning Boardand the Town Engineering Depart-ment. There is no blasting antici-pated to be required onsite.

25. Why didn’t the Committeeof “21” even consider successfulremodels like Walpole, Canton,even Boston? Did they start withonly acceptable solution - NewSchool?

ANSWER: The School Facili-ties Task Force (aka the Commit-tee of 21) did not instruct the origi-nal architect, SMMA, to investi-gate a new high school until theyhad received eight renovation op-tions. In fact, a new high schoolwas the last option reviewed afterall renovation options were ex-hausted. Several high schools, in-cluding Walpole High, were visitedwith an eye toward renovation.Unfortunately, Norwood HighSchool’s configuration and age didnot lend itself to renovation.

Also, see the answer to ques-tion #62.

26. It is understandable thatreal estate taxes will rise due toNorwood’s new high school andwe do realize the need for a newbuilding. In the meantime, thevaluations of homes are declin-ing because of our falteringeconomy and the drop in homesales. My question is: does theTown have any plans to reap-praise Norwood homes? If not,what is the process of requestinga reappraisal for my home as, I’m

sure, its valuation has droppedthis past year.

ANSWER: The total real estatetax that the homeowner paysshould not change if the valuationincreases or decreases since thevaluations of everyone’s propertywould also change by the samepercentage to reflect market con-ditions. As an example, if your taxbill in a given year is $3000, butthe assessed value of your homeincreases by 10%, then your tax billwould still be $3000 since the otherproperty in Norwood would alsoincrease by a similar amount.What really matters is how yourhome is assessed relative to otherhomes in town, not what the actualdollar valuation is. If you are in-terested in a re-evaluation of yourproperty, then you should contactthe Town Assessor’s office.

27. Usually, with a debt exclu-sion override, it’s for 20 years.Why, when the presentation wasmade at the selectmen meetingand the school committee meet-ing, was the debt shown over 24years not the usual 20 years.Where did the 24 years comefrom? Was this done just to showthe debt to be slightly cheaper?

ANSWER: Towns can issuebonds for high schools for up to25 years. The Town Treasurer’sassumption is that for the first yearwe will issue Bond AnticipationNotes (BANs) where we pay inter-est only, thus reducing the limit ofthe bond issue to 24 years.

28. Will the question on theballot have a fixed dollaramount? What happened to thesix million we approved for build-ing plans - last year’s 2-1/2 over-ride?

ANSWER: The ballot questionwill not have a dollar amount perse but request an exemption fromproposition 2 1/2 for this project.This language has been recom-mended by bond counsel and isconsistent with Mass. Departmentof Revenue requirements. A posi-tive vote for this ballot question aswell as the town meeting articlethat lists a specific dollar amountis necessary to proceed with theproject. A portion of the previous$6 million dollar appropriation hasbeen used for design services, andany remaining monies from therewill be used in the constructionproject.

29. Will dollars allocated forthe new high school be trackable?Put something in place similar toa plan vs. actual report showingdollars spent.

ANSWER: Yes, the budget willundergo extensive review duringthe construction period. All in-voices from the contractors will bereviewed by the Owners ProjectManager with a recommendationto the Permanent Building Con-struction Committee (PBCC)whether or not to pay. Change or-ders will be reviewed in a similarmanner. The PBCC will issue amonthly update on the project bud-get.

30. Will the memorial bricksfrom the walkway be restored andwhere to?

ANSWER: All of the existingmemorial brick pavers, benchesand plaques will be salvaged andincorporated into the final design.The current memorial brick pav-ers will be reset into a memorialwalkway which is a feature of thelandscape in the front of the build-ing.


31. How much will it cost todemolish and remove the presentschool?

ANSWER: The cost for abat-ing the hazardous material in theexisting school and demolishingthe existing school has been esti-mated to be about $3 million andis included in the $79.2 millionbudget.

32. Why can’t the new highschool be located elsewhere?


33. What is Mr. Bonfatti’s pro-fessional background/resume?Would you illuminate his qualifi-cations? Does he have a contractwith the town for the duration ofthe project or can he be reas-signed by his company at anypoint in time?

ANSWER: Mr. Bonfatti hasbeen the Project Director respon-sible for the project since the com-mencement of the design phase inApril 2006. While the contract withRF Walsh Project Management,Inc. ends effective April 30, Mr.Bonfatti will be pursuing the on-going contract with his own firm,Compass Project Management,Inc. If selected by the PBCC, hehas committed to maintaining anintense personal involvement withthe project through its completion.In addition to being a 20 year vet-eran of the school building indus-try, Mr. Bonfatti is a licensed at-torney and former chair of theMedfield School Building Com-mittee which completed a largehigh school project on-time andon-budget in 2004. Incidentally,he is a 1978 Norwood High gradu-ate.

34. Does the bidding processrequire that the Town of Norwoodtake the lowest bidder? Can anycaveats be written into the con-tract that allows for penalties inthe case of: malfeasance, non-performance or similar sce-narios?

ANSWER: Under the Con-struction Reform Act of 2004, allTowns have the ability to pre-qualify general and filed sub-bid-ders. This is a tool which has notbeen available to Norwood priorto this project. ThePrequalification Committee re-viewed eight applications fromgeneral contractors andprequalified six. Therefore, whileit is required to take the lowest,qualified bidder from theprequalified pool, the process hasalready succeeded in preventingtwo firms it deemed unqualifiedfrom bidding on the project.

35. Given the fact that thisvolunteer group is charged withsignificant responsibility for aproject of this scale, if there is apunch list, do they have the au-thority to withhold payments un-til the list is completed in a satis-factory manner?

ANSWER: Yes. Under thecontract, the Town can withhold avalue equal to 1.5 times the valuefor any uncompleted work. In ad-dition, if the work is not completedto the Town’s satisfaction within areasonable period of time, theTown can complete the work andcharge the Contractor, and itssurety, for all costs incurred.

36. As the project will be un-der 780 CMR, Section 116, willthere be an architect on site alsooverseeing the quality of con-struction to ensure that the designmatches the application?

ANSWER: There will be fulltime on-site representation fromthe Owner’s Project Manager whois also a registered architect. Inaddition, the project architect willvisit the site at least once a weekto inspect the work and there willbe regular inspections from all ofthe engineers involved in the de-sign. Finally, there will be an ex-tensive quality assurance processwhich involves significant onsitetesting and inspection.

37. Will the existing desks/equipment/etc. be recycled insome fashion within the existingschool system or auctioned offlocally or on e-bay or offered tobid to the public?

ANSWER: Whatever furnitureand equipment can be used in thenew facility will be moved to thenew school. Furniture may be usedin the other Norwood schools andif there is additional equipment,there is a pubic bidding process todeal with surplus assets. Addition-ally, the “soft cost” part of the bud-get carries and estimate of $2.8million for furniture, fixtures andequipment.

38. Has it been pre-deter-mined if the existing site is locatedon a large mass of rock, or othergeologic residue which would af-fect the cost of excavating for thenew footprint of the building?

ANSWER: There have beentwo separate geotechnical studiesdone involving over 14 borings.None of the borings have indicatedthe presence of ledge or other ob-structions which would cause anincrease in the price of excavation.

39. Within town government,will there be a specific person toforward comments or complaintsto once the project has started? Ifany, who will that person be?

ANSWER: General commentsshould be referred to the Chair ofthe PBCC or the Chair of the Boardof Selectmen. But, from a practi-cal viewpoint, the Owner’s ProjectManager or the Town Engineer.

40. How will the funds thestate will provide be distributed,on a periodic time-table/asneeded/or on a pre-assigned ba-sis? If the funds become liquid ornon-available, can the state beheld liable for misleading the tax-payers of Norwood?

ANSWER: The MSBA pro-gram provides Towns with reim-bursement for the State share ofeligible costs through an on-linemonthly application process in themonth following the month theTown incurs the costs. For ex-ample, if Norwood incurs eligibleproject costs totaling $1 million inthe month of June, the State willreimburse 59.21% of those costsin July. The State is committed topaying these costs as a party to theProject Funding Agreement.

41. Will there need to be anincrease in staff?

ANSWER: See answer toquestion 19.

42. By going green, we as-sume that the costs to operate thebuilding should be reduced - whatkind of savings are anticipated -specifically? For example, 10 per-cent less than today’s cost - 15 per-cent, etc.

ANSWER: The New NorwoodHigh School will be a super-effi-cient building with highly insulatedexterior walls, roof, and floor slab.It will include high efficiency lightfixtures with daylight sensors thatreduce the energy use from elec-trical lighting when enough day-light is present. The Heating, Ven-tilating, and Air-Conditioning Sys-tems will be “Reactionary” systemsthat sense the level of occupancyactivity throughout the buildingand respond accordingly. Thebuilding will include a 20,000 gal-lon rainwater collection systemwhich collects clean water from theroof and uses it to flush toilets andurinals. All of these systems willresult in a reduction of over60,000kWh of electricity use and600,000 gallons of water use eachyear, when compared to a typicalmodern building of the same size

and use. These savings alone areworth over $100,000 per year. Thisdoes not mean that the new build-ing will be less expensive to oper-ate than the old building, as onemust remember that the old build-ing has inadequate ventilation, in-adequate lighting, and no air-con-ditioning. Providing the requiredventilation, lighting, and air-con-ditioning will obviously result inadditional energy use. However,these costs are directly attributableto providing an appropriate educa-tional environment for teachingand learning.

43. Why have Norwood resi-dents/taxpayers not received any-thing from the Town showing aline item cost comparison forrenovating the existing schooland campus versus a similar itemfor item cost estimate for an en-tirely new structure and grounds.Aren’t they both available at thistime?

ANSWER: The MSBA per-formed this comparative analysisof both options in coming to theconclusion that new constructionwas less expensive and about twiceas fast, with considerably less in-terruption. The decision was madein 2006 to proceed with a newbuilding after evaluating eightrenovation options and six newbuilding options. A new buildingcost less, took less time, and wasless disruptive than renovation.Town Meeting in January 2006approved $6 million for design ofa new building at the site of theexisting school and the voters inApril 2006 approved the debt ex-clusion override. The MSBA re-viewed the work done by Norwoodand concurred that a new buildingwas the correct solution. Also, seeanswer to question 62.

44. Are the state reimburse-ment figures on which the projectis based actual, real and con-firmed so, or are they presumed,assumed and not confirmed butonly supposed by our Norwoodschool officials and selectmen.

ANSWER: The State reim-

bursement percentage - 59.21% ofeligible costs - is actual. Theproject budget of $79.2 million isbased on actual costs for most ofthe soft costs - design, project man-agement, etc. - and a project esti-mate for construction costs (whichis the single largest portion of thebudget). Fortunately, as a partici-pant in the Model School program,Norwood will have the opportunityto know exactly the bid amount forthe construction cost prior to TownMeeting and the Override Vote asthe bids are due on March 13 - tendays before Town Meeting.

45. Has anyone on any of thecommittees talked with TimCahill? I have heard him saytwice on radio that there is nomoney for building new schools,but that there is money for reno-vation.

ANSWER: Treasurer Cahillhas been quoted in the NorwoodRecord on July 24, 2008 as sayingthe following about the NewNorwood High School: “-The oldschool can’t be fixed,” he said.“We did an analysis and we weren’tswayed by any of the town’s argu-ments one way or the other, andthere’s not a lot we think is salvage-able. It’s substandard in really se-vere ways and we realized it wouldbe more effective to start fromscratch.”. By entering into theProject Scope and Funding Agree-ment after a year of extensive re-view, the MSBA has indicated thatthey will only provide reimburse-ment to Norwood if it builds a NewNorwood High School at the siteof the current high school.

46. If this goes through, canthe town get the money in an es-crow account so it isn’t left hold-ing the debt if the money shouldbe withdrawn or cut back?

ANSWER: As noted in ques-tion 40 above, the State is obligatedto reimburse Norwood for 59.21%of eligible costs on a monthly ba-sis. Since the reimbursement oc-curs essentially as the costs are in-curred, there would be no need foran escrow account. The MSBA’s


share of the costs have been re-ceived already and are secure.

47. Is there any way to pre-serve the facade of the mainbuilding and go off the back orout back and use the building foroffices/storage etc. When Iworked for the state after the Con-sent Decree, the old ugly build-ings became our offices and theclients lived/worked in renovatedupdated space. It’s not really bro-ken, probably stronger that whatwould be built today.

ANSWER: There were overten renovation options analyzedprior to the MSBA’s decision thata new high school was the mostcost effective solution to replacingthe current high school. Most ofthese options provided for main-taining the original 1926 buildingand facade. In each instance, thechallenges related to renovationincreased the cost of the project tosuch an extent that it exceeded thecost of a constructing a new highschool. (Also see answer to #62)

48. Once the existing highschool is demolished (if indeedthat is what is to happen), I amcurious to know how the propertyfacing Nichols Street (the front ofthe proposed new school) will beused. I do not recall seeing a planfor landscaping this area, whichis now quite beautiful.

ANSWER: The landscape de-sign for the southern half of the sitefacing Nichols Street calls for alarge pastoral field area which,except for the six weeks of the fieldhockey season, will essentially beopen park area. Toward the north-ern portion of the front yard (to-ward Peabody Street), two boule-vard - style walkways with granitestairs will be used as the main pe-destrian access to the front door.In addition, there are a series ofmeandering paths (in the area ofthe current Peabody School) as analternate means to access the frontdoor.

49. With the banks not loan-ing money at the current time.

What happens if the override voteis yes but the Town Treasury can’tsecure the funding for theproject?

ANSWER: This is an unlikelyscenario. Norwood will obtainfunding from the municipal bondmarket, not the banks. We have anexcellent bond rating, one of thebest in the Commonwealth andbonds issued by the town are con-sidered a superior investment. Inthese difficult times, investors arelooking for solid investments withminimal risk, and bonds are muchmore attractive than stocks.

50. Is the current NorwoodHigh structurally sound or not? Ithought the state has certified itto be structurally sound. However,when I look atnewnorwoodhighschool.com siteand check under ‘‘Why a newschool?’’ I saw it has structuraldeficiencies. So, is the currenthigh school structurally sound ornot?

ANSWER: While the currenthigh school is considered structur-ally sound by the codes that werein effect when it was build between1924 and 1962, it would requiresignificant structural strengtheningand upgrades to meet new codesthat would be triggered under evenmoderate renovation options.However, since the construction ofall of the buildings which make upthe high school, there have beennumerous code changes whichwould necessitate major structuralreinforcement should the buildingsundergo any significant renovation.Mostly, these measures would benecessary to strengthen the build-ing in case of earthquake, althoughseveral changes would be neededto bring classroom sizes up to cur-rent MSBA guidelines.

51. As a second opinion isthere any way the committee mayconsider getting an estimate froma company other than SMMA, orAi3 on fixing the 43 items on theNEASC list? There has to be othercompanies who specialize in reno-vating old building. Most people

get two or three prices from dif-ferent companies before doingany work on their homes.

ANSWER: There have beenthree other attempts by three sepa-rate architects to estimate the costof renovating the current highschool in addition to the SMMAestimates. Mount Vernon Archi-tects undertook an estimate in 2000which, equalized to today’s dollars,arrived at a very similar conclusionas SMMA. In 2004, KLQ provideda one page summary estimatewhich arrived at a dollar amountless than either Mount Vernon orSMMA. However, that estimatedid not account for several mea-sures that would be needed to pro-vide lasting value to the Town. Forinstance, they did not improve thestructure to meet seismic require-ments; provide for a new roof; re-place the existing heating or elec-trical system; improve the audito-rium; reconfigure classroom sizesto meet MSBA requirements; reno-vate the gymnasium or repair thebuilding exterior. The last estimate,commissioned on instruction fromthe MSBA in 2007, was preparedby Preconstruction Associates.That estimate arrived at the con-clusion that a phased renovation ofthe existing school would cost ap-proximately $20 million more thana new school and take twice as longto complete.

52. Can it be proven by a state,or fed study the loss of a highschool accreditation will result inthe loss of property/home valuesin a Town?

ANSWER: While there are nohard and fast numbers specific toNorwood regarding a loss of ac-creditation, that decision wouldsurely spark a rightful outcry fromparents or future parents that thequality of education being offeredtheir children in the NorwoodSchool System was being loweredby the loss.

And a recent publication by theNational Association of Realtors isemphatic about the relationshipbetween the quality of publicschools and the value of homes.

“The quality of public schools in-fluences where people buy a homeand what they pay for it. Regard-less of whether they have children,buyers care about the reputation ofthe local schools because theyknow that schools directly affect acommunity’s vitality as well as ahome’s resale value.”

And a recent survey performedby that association “showed thatAmericans rank quality of publicschools second only to crime whendeciding where to live. Poorly per-forming schools can limit the de-sirability of even the best housingstock while great schools can at-tract new life into the worst neigh-borhoods. Communities cannotthrive without attracting and keep-ing families who want good pub-lic schools for their children be-cause no matter how magnificentthe homes, residents will stop send-ing their children tounderperforming schools whenbetter public schools are nearby.”

53. Any idea on when theCommittee of 21 will start to workon the Coakley Middle Schoolwhich, if I remember correctly,was suffering from many of thesame issues as the current highschool, which was the originalorder by town meeting. The lastestimate I thought I heard on theCoakley to fix it was $11-12 mil-lion. Just wondering if the stategets involved again with theCoakley if it might say to tear thisschool down as well and build anew one?

ANSWER: As was done withthe High School, a “Statement ofInterest” was also submitted by theTown to MSBA for the CoakleyMS. The MSBA asked all schooldistricts to identify their top prior-ity and the High School wasnamed. The High School is theright school to focus our efforts onbased on accreditation, size, enroll-ment, age and condition. TheCoakley is actually the newestschool in Norwood (1974), andwhile it needs some upgrades, itdoesn’t compare to the problemsat the high school.

54. What is going to happento our athletes when we have noavailable fields to play on. Arethere going to be buses for theseathletes to travel every day tothose fields? Are we as parentsexpected to leave our jobs to takeour kids to practice every day? Areour athletic fees also going up? Iunderstand that sacrifices have tobe made, but why might the fami-lies of our town’s athletes sacri-fice the most?

ANSWER: Bus transportationwill be provided for the footballsquad because of the equipmentneeded in that sport. Other athleteswill walk to their venue or be trans-ported by fellow students or par-ents. Keep in mind that all prac-tice and game facilities are in theTown of Norwood and are reason-ably close for student accessibil-ity. Also keep in mind that this is atwo year inconvenience and we allmust ‘keep our eyes on the prize’ -that prize is a new 21st century fa-cility for our students and our com-munity.

Each year, the athletic fee as-sessment issue is discussed andreviewed by The Administration,Norwood School Committee, andthe Athletic Director.

55. Has anyone given a pricefor an addition onto the completeback of the existing school? If thatcould be done, at about the sameprice as the taxpayers will have

to pay after the state money forthe new building, there would bescience and math labs and severalother rooms. The rest of the oldbuilding could be renovated oneroom at a time later.

ANSWER: On April 5, 2004,an override question to do just thatwas soundly defeated. That defeatled to the current study and the rec-ommendation to build a NewNorwood High School.

56. Given all the recent newsarticles and public awareness,why would Norwood school offi-cials risk endangering our chil-dren by allowing this extremelyexpensive synthetic turf to be in-stalled at NHS, knowing in ad-vance what the potential medicaldangers are for lead poisoning(particularly when the proposedhigh school field is to be used andoverly used for so many sport ac-tivities)? Real grass is going“green;” synthetic turf is artificialand a potential health hazard.

ANSWER: The synthetic turfspecified for the Norwood highschool will be the most environ-mentally-friendly and user-safeproduct available on the markettoday. The Norwood High Schoolsynthetic turf specifications do notallow for the use of inferior andlesser quality products or manufac-turers which contain lead or othercomponents which may pose a riskto the users. There is much debateabout whether synthetic turf ismore “Green” or environmentallyfriendly than natural grass. Syn-thetic turf does not have to betreated with chemical fertilizersand pesticides, which environmen-talist frown on. Synthetic turf doesnot require countless hours ofmowing, which results in the burn-ing of gasoline and the associatedeffects of global warming. Thereare numerous companies attempt-ing to generate natural grass seedswhich require less fertilizer, pesti-cide, and mowing in order to bemore environmentally friendly.Unfortunately, these grasses can-not tolerate the effects of constantplay, and are more suitable fordecorative lawn areas. No naturalgrass can provide the same con-stant use that synthetic turf pro-vides. Synthetic turf also providesa consistently smooth surface with-out divots, ruts, or rough spots.Many Massachusetts Towns thatcurrently utilize synthetic turf raveabout the benefits of extendeddaily use, extended seasonal use,and reduced maintenance costs. Asynthetic turf field at the NewNorwood High School can easilyprovide more than double the “Usetime” of any natural grass fieldwithin the Town. This increasedamount of available use, combinedwith the reduction in maintenance,seems to make synthetic turf anexcellent choice for the Town ofNorwood.

57. In March of 2008, theMSBA announced favorably on anew high school for Norwood.This despite the report of The STVGroup, an independent architec-tural and engineering firm hiredby MSBA to assess and evaluatethe conditions at NHS, found noserious problems. For example:Under the heading...BuildingStructure the comment was “Noissues were noted.” Another com-ment: “While the building ap-pears to be ‘tired’ anduninspiring, it does not appearto be obsolete and in need of totalreplacement.” Further: “Thebuilding is generally well orga-nized and the classrooms mostly


of appropriate size with good daylighting and views.” Question:Why did all the powers that becompletely ignore this STVGroup report?

ANSWER: That was a state-ment made by one architect on awalk-through visit very early in theevaluation process before any ac-tual designs were prepared or costestimates done. STV Group wason an assignment by MSBA tovisit hundreds of schools in Mas-sachusetts to gain preliminary in-formation about them. Subse-quently MSBA hired other archi-tects to look, specifically, atNorwood High. These architectsconcurred with ours that renova-tion was not a feasible option forNorwood. (See answer to # 62)

58. The 2004 override sug-gested $12 million for the MiddleSchool and $18 million for NHSadditions, renovations, etc. It wasdefeated. How did the Committeeof 21 rationalize sidetracking theMiddle School and determiningthat Norwood needed a new highschool?

ANSWER: The MiddleSchool was built in 1974; sectionsof the High School are almost 90years old. The High School’sneeds far exceed those of theMiddle School.

59. When was the last demo-graphic study done reflectingwhere most of the high school stu-dents currently live and wherefuture students might reside?That should be taken into accountin discussions of a location for thehigh school.

ANSWER: Since the recom-mended option was to keep theHigh School at 245 Nichols Street,there was no need for a demo-graphic study.

60. Wouldn’t an educationalcomplex be more beneficial withthe middle school and high schoolsharing an area? The middleschool could utilize the new, state-of-the-art computer, science,math labs as well as updated the-atre arts venues, library, and ath-letic facilities. Perhaps a connect-ing corridor could unite the twobuildings. Resources could beshared as could the instructorsproviding higher level course se-lections to those eligible.

ANSWER: There is no roomat the current site, or anywhere inthe Town for that matter, that couldreasonably accommodate this con-cept.

61. When the schools inNorwood were analyzed over 5years ago, the school committeeproclaimed that the middle schoolwas also in need of upgrades/renovations. It also had over-crowding issues. The committeeinsisted that the use of modularclassrooms would be temporary,and they would be eliminated in5 years and a more permanentcure found. We’re now dealingexclusively with the high schoolissue. Are we ignoring the defi-cits of the middle school? Theeducational complex idea would/could be a possible solution.Other towns have used this con-cept successfully.

ANSWER: The renovationsneeded at the middle school (builtin 1974) pale in significance tothose at the high school. (circa1924)

62. Why would the Chairmanof the Massachusetts School

Building Authority (MSBA) ig-nore the written evaluations andrecommendations of two indepen-dent consultants of their ownchoosing who stated thatNorwood Senior High School isstructurally sound but needs mod-erate to major renovation?

ANSWER: He did not ignorehis own consultants. The MSBAconducted a detailed inspectionwith an independent architecturalconsultant in 2007-2008 to deter-mine the specific condition of theexisting high school building.Based on that evaluation, MSBAstated that renovation is not a vi-able option and agreed that a newbuilding is the recommended op-tion. The MSBA Board unani-mously approved the project.What this question refers to is apreliminary evaluation MSBA per-formed in 2005-2006 for all cities,towns and school districts in Mas-sachusetts. It consisted of spend-ing a day and a half in town andlooking at all eight school build-ings, so in reality it was nothingmore than a windshield survey anda brief walk-through at eachschool.

The MSBA Chairman, his staffand his consultants agreed finallythat renovation made no sense inthe final analysis. Here is just someof the reasoning used in coming tothat conclusion.

1. Renovation would cost morethan the Middle School Option a.Over $3.0 million would have tobe spent on the careful and selec-tive removal of hazardous materi-als in the building (Asbestos, lead,etc.) b. The entire existing build-ing would have to be modified forfull building code compliance as aresult of the renovations c. Theentire existing building would haveto be modified for handicap acces-sibility to all areas d. The entireexisting building would have to bemodified to comply with currentstructural/seismic requirements e.Enormous interior demolitionwould be required in order to con-figure appropriately sized class-rooms, science labs, and criticaleducational spaces f. The build-ing would have to be renovated insections or “Phases” because thereis no alternate location for all ofthe students g. As a result of di-viding the renovation project intomultiple “Phases”, the time re-quired to complete renovationwould be almost twice as long (fiveyears) as the time required to com-plete a new model school.

2. Renovation would displaceand disrupt educational deliveryfor five years. a. With no alternatespace available, students, faculty,and staff would be squeezed intoinferior educational space as theyhave to vacate certain sections ofthe building for long periods oftime in order to make them avail-able for the contractor to renovate.b. With no alternate space avail-able, students, faculty and staffwould have to occupy spaceswithin the building directly adja-cent to ongoing renovation activi-ties; including the complicationsassociated with noise, dust, hazard-ous material removal, security, etc.c. The new model school would beconstructed behind the existingschool, with faculty, staff, and ad-ministration moving into the newbuilding in two years.

3. Renovation would requiremany compromises to the requiredsize and spaces within the build-ing. a. Due to the layout and con-

figuration of the existing building,they are many limitations with re-gard to the configuration, size, andadjacency of many spaces withinthe building. Expanded classroomswould be long and narrow. Thesprawling nature of the current planwould continue to require exten-sive time for students to navigatebetween classrooms. A new modelschool will be compact, with ap-propriately sized and configuredspaces. b. The renovated buildingwould be almost 25,000sq.ftsmaller than the minimally accept-able educational program.

4. A renovated building wouldnot be as efficient to operate. a.The sprawling existing buildingconfiguration results in an enor-mous amount of exterior wall, roof,and window area. All of these ar-eas translate into compromises inthe heat loss and heat gain capa-bilities of the overall building en-velope. Despite renovations, theexterior building envelope willnever be as efficient as a new build-ing envelope. b. Insertion of reno-vated mechanical, electrical, andplumbing systems into an existingbuilding generally involves mold-ing the systems to the availablespace within the existing building.This results in compromises to theefficiency and effectiveness ofsuch systems. c. The efficient sys-tems incorporated into the modelschool will result in operating costssavings of 200k-300k per year.

5. Renovation projects oftenresult in the discovery of unantici-pated building conditions - result-ing in delays and added costs a. Itis impossible to know what condi-tions will be encountered behindceilings and walls when the reno-vation is begun. Design and Con-struction professionals generallyrecommend that at least 10% of thetotal project cost (In this case ap-proximately $6.0 million) be putaside to address unanticipated con-ditions encountered during therenovation of an aged facility, par-ticularly one as old as NorwoodHigh School. It is impossible toknow the extent of these costs un-til walls, ceilings, and hazardousmaterials are removed during reno-vation.

63. What is the exact rate andamount of interest on the $35.5million loan? Why did the lengthof time of the loan change from20 years to 24 years? What taxeffect will this have onhomeowners? Businesses? Se-niors who own their homes?(Some may have additional ex-penses of a college education in-curred after high school gradua-tion, and there are more than6,000 seniors here in Norwoodout of a population of 28,000).

ANSWER: The interest ratechosen by the Town’s Bond Coun-sel, is 51/2 %. This is a conserva-tive rate given the present marketconditions and likely will be lowerwhen Norwood actually borrowsthe funds. At that rate, the totalprincipal and interest will be$60,222,337. The tax impacts thathave been calculated include bothprincipal and interest costs. For theanswer to the term of the loan, seeanswer to question #27.

64. Why has the MSBA set alife expectancy of only 50 yearsfor any new public school? NCSCbelieves schools should be built tolast.

ANSWER: The 50 year lifeexpectancy for structures is a stan-

dard number used in engineeringeconomic analysis when evaluat-ing different alternatives. A newbuilding built to modern buildingcodes with proper maintenancewill last for a longer period of time.

65. Why was a plan for reno-vation never seriously consideredand never offered to voters? Whywas the NHS 2004 RenovationPlan at a cost of $18 million neverreviewed for reconsideration as acomparison with the current pro-posed plan?

ANSWER: The 2004 Overridewas Not a renovation plan. Sinceno state reimbursement was avail-able at that time, the plan was tobuild new science classrooms andrenovate the existing science class-rooms into regular classrooms. Itwas never a complete renovationplan.

The $18 million (2004 dollars)plan was overwhelmingly rejectedby the voters in 2004. That planwould also not address all the 43problems referred to by New En-gland Association of Schools andColleges in their 2005 letter. In2006, after a thorough review anddiscussion of 14 total alternatives,eight of which were renovation andsix for a new building, town meet-ing and the voters approved $6.0million for the design of a newschool building behind the currenthigh school. Also, see answer toquestion #62.

66. Where, and at what cost,are the permanent practice fieldand the baseball field thatNorwood High School athletesnow have, but will lose as the re-sult of new construction, to be re-located? How much will it costtaxpayers to bus or transport theseathletes for the next 50 years ifthese fields are built elsewhere?Are these fields not included inthe reimbursable items by thestate?

ANSWER: Currently softballteams practice and play their gamesoff-site at various fields aroundtown. Costs are already includedin the School Department’s opera-tional budget. If any additionalfields were needed, they would notbe reimbursable by the MSBA

The baseball team will play atPeter Wall Field at the BalchSchool as they used to do up until

five years ago. The impacts fromlosing a practice field are minimaland easily mitigated. There willonly be a conflict with the JV foot-ball team for 2 days per week for aperiod of 6 weeks in the fall. TheJV team will practice at theCoakley fields. The cost will be$1,800. No other town athleticteams will be impacted by theproject.

67. Will school and town offi-cials come back to the taxpayersin a couple of years with an over-ride to relocate these fields and tobus athletes? Will they come backagain for an operational over-ride?

ANSWER: There will not bean override for field relocation.There are no plans, either now orin the future, for an operationaloverride.

68. What about the plans forthe other Norwood schools thatare over 50 years old? Are they tobe replaced, renovated, or arethey to be repaired? When arethese other schools going to beattended to and for how much?Is there a 5 or 10-year master planfor the systematic maintenance ofall our schools?

ANSWER: The Director ofBuildings and Grounds has devel-oped, presented a 10-year capitalbudget and had it approved by theSchool Committee in 2007.

69. How much is the Owner’sProject Manager (OPM) beingpaid?

ANSWER: The OPM and hisstaff have been paid $406,000 todate. It is expected that that totalwill increase to $490,000 by thebeginning of construction. Con-struction administration work bythe OPM could total another $1.5million.

70. How much was Norwood’sformer architectural firmSymmes, Maini & McKee paid fortheir feasibility study of Oct. 31,2005 and their project report ofJanuary 2006 that are no longerneeded?

ANSWER: SMMA was paida total of $315,000 for their workwhich has now been concluded.That number included a feasibilitystudy early on in the study, plus ex-



tensive traffic studies, conceptualdesigns, topographical studies,geographical studies, sub-geo-graphical work, etc. With few ex-ceptions, all of this informationwill be incorporated into the finalproduct for the new school.

71. Studies have shown thateven with a high grade of syn-thetic turf, it still is not “goinggreen.” Isn’t grass the only cov-ering for a “green” football field?Isn’t there a large problem withthe artificial/synthetic turf at Con-cord-Carlisle High School andother schools throughout thecountry? (See The Boston Globe,Jan. 19, 2009, page 1.)

ANSWER: The synthetic turfspecified for the Norwood highschool will be the most environ-mentally-friendly and user-safeproduct available on the markettoday. The Norwood High Schoolsynthetic turf specifications do notallow for the use of inferior andlesser quality products or manufac-turers which contain lead or othercomponents which may pose a riskto the users. There is much debateabout whether synthetic turf ismore “Green” or environmentallyfriendly than natural grass. Syn-thetic turf does not have to betreated with chemical fertilizersand pesticides, which environmen-talist frown on. Synthetic turf doesnot require countless hours ofmowing, which results in the burn-ing of gasoline and the associatedeffects of global warming. Thereare numerous companies attempt-ing to generate natural grass seedswhich require less fertilizer, pesti-cide, and mowing in order to bemore environmentally friendly.Unfortunately, these grasses can-not tolerate the effects of constantplay, and are more suitable fordecorative lawn areas. No naturalgrass can provide the same con-

stant use that synthetic turf pro-vides. Synthetic turf also providesa consistently smooth surface with-out divots, ruts, or rough spots.Many Massachusetts Towns thatcurrently utilize synthetic turf raveabout the benefits of extendeddaily use, extended seasonal use,and reduced maintenance costs. Asynthetic turf field at the NewNorwood High School can easilyprovide more than double the “Usetime” of any natural grass fieldwithin the Town. This increasedamount of available use, combinedwith the reduction in maintenance,seems to make synthetic turf anexcellent choice for the Town ofNorwood.

72. Why is the gym located onthe south side in the most recentarchitectural plans of a newschool? Shouldn’t most class-rooms be located on the south sidefor natural sunlight?

ANSWER: The gym is thesame side as the Model School,Whitman Hanson Regional HighSchool. The classrooms are de-signed to utilize maximum day-light.

73. According to the New En-gland Association of Schools andColleges (NEASC) written reportto Norwood school officials, thecapacity for the existing school is1,425 and the actual count isabout 1,100. How can school andtown officials say that NorwoodHigh is overcrowded?

ANSWER: The capacity of thesenior high school was never 1425students, although during the yearsit was severely overcrowded itmight have had that many highschoolers within its walls.

The actual count in 2008-2009is 1001. The school is designedfor 1100.

74. According to the MSBA,renovations receive 5 percentmore in reimbursable state funds.Did they change their own rules?

ANSWER: MSBA rules havenot changed. The additional 5%for renovations continues to be partof their program. However,Norwood was able to take advan-tage of the MSBA Model SchoolProgram that gives an additional5% for participating in that pro-gram.

75. In January 2009, town of-ficials had all town-owned build-ings re-assessed. Norwood Highis assessed for over $10.7 Million.The replacement value of theschool building alone would be inthe $25-35 million range. To-gether with the cost of demolition($3.5 million in 2005) and haul-ing away the debris, the townwould be destroying an extremelyvaluable asset. (The demolitioncontractor would keep all thevaluable copper, steel girders, theantique bricks on the edifice, andall the other items of value for re-sale and profit). Why wouldNorwood taxpayers allow such avaluable architectural treasure tocome under the wrecking ball andcrane?

ANSWER: According to theour architect, demolishing the cur-rent school will cost $1,063,062and removal of Asbestos-contain-ing materials, hazardous materials,and lead from the existing schoolwill cost $1,750,000 (Total$2,813,062). The purported “as-sessed” value of the building is ameaningless number in this analy-sis. What is important is not whathas been spent in the past on thebuilding but what must be spent inthe future to address the needs ofthe high school. Keeping the ex-isting building requires that an-other site be found for a new school

and the studies have shown thatsuch a site does not exist. Even ifone was available the inherent de-lay would result in added costs tothe taxpayers, and there is no guar-antee that MSBA would still fundthe project. If a developer actu-ally did purchase the building, theextensive renovation costs wouldmandate that a massive project bebuilt to recoup the costs. Theneighborhood impacts would beenormous and change the charac-ter of the entire area.

76. Why are school and townofficials trying to squeeze such alarge high school building onsuch a small piece of land caus-ing high school students to losetwo very important athletic fields?Have the concerns of the neigh-bors whose homes directly abutschool property been addressedsatisfactorily?

ANSWER: The current 22 acresite is the largest town-owned prop-erty that best fits the new building,which is 40,000 square feet largerthan the current school. There havebeen several meetings with theHigh School neighbors. Their in-put has been very valuable and theirconcerns such as drainage, traffic,parking, lighting, noise, etc havebeen incorporated into the design.There will more meetings with theneighbors and if they have any ad-ditional concerns, they will also beaddressed.

Only the baseball field will beeliminated from the site and, asstated previously, the baseball teamused the field at the Balch Schoolup until the past several years. Thegreen area in front of the buildingwill be used for girls’ field hockey.The supposition behind this ques-tion is that there are other sitesavailable, but the analysis hasshown that there are no viable sitesin Norwood large enough for a new

high school. Norwood is a smalltown of approximately 10 squaremiles and the large developableparcels have already been built on.There have been a number of meet-ings with neighbors, both as agroup and individually, to discussissues such as drainage, parking,traffic, construction scheduling andlighting. The current proposal ad-dresses their concerns.

77. PARADE Magazine choseto include a photo of NorwoodSenior High School in their na-tional publication on Sept. 28,2008. Did its editors believe theexisting Norwood High was themost beautiful high school inAmerica representing the idealhometown high school?

ANSWER: Many of us weresurprised to see the picture ofNorwood Senior High School ap-pear in the September 2008 ParadeMagazine along side an articleabout high school reunions but wedisappointed that article made noreference to Norwood nor did theauthor have any connection toNorwood or the High School. Theexisting Norwood High School isan attractive building when viewedfrom a distance. However, whatlies behind those walls is not up tocurrent standards as evidenced bythe accreditation warning fromNEASC. MSBA has stated that thebuilding cannot be renovated andunanimously approved the con-struction of a new Norwood HighSchool at the site. The new build-ing will incorporate many of thedistinctive architectural featuresfrom the old building.

Hopefully in September 2011,Parade Magazine will feature aphotograph of the New NorwoodHigh School proclaiming it one ofthe most attractive in America.


portsS

Girls' hockey award winners, Meredith Kiy (Most Improved), Taylor Donners (UnsungHero), Kate Allan (Unsung Hero), and Ali Maloof (MVP). More photos appear on page19. COURTESY PHOTO

Norwood High recently rolled outthe red carpet for its winter sports awardwinners. MVPs, unsung heroes, andmost improved players were all recog-nized by their respective head coaches.

In boys’ basketball, Matt Cliffordwas tabbed as the MVP, after a stellarseason in which the star forward provedexceptionally tough in the paint despiteoften being double-teamed. Clifford wasa main force in leading Norwood to itssecond straight state tourney berth. Oneof his biggest buckets came againstWellesley in the tourney clinching game.Clifford followed up his own reboundand made the ensuing foul shot to givethe Mustangs a 49-43 lead with just 1:35remaining.

“It hasn’t been easy for Cliff downlow,” said head basketball guru RichCormier, after the win. “He’s been get-ting double-teamed all year. But hemade a big, big basket for us.”

Meanwhile, as the unsung hero,Mike Goodwin, who was named nextyear’s captain, often contributed withclutch defensive and offensive efforts.On the defensive side, Goodwin provedparticularly strong in the tourney clinch-ing game against the Raiders, when heguarded Wellesley phenom Evan Kulak.

“Mikey Goodwin, to see how he de-fended [Kulak], his defense was tremen-

dous, in particular in the second half,”lauded Cormier.

Most improved player Mina Awadlit it up from three-point range, whilealso adding terrific defense. AgainstWhitman-Hanson in a Division 2 Southtourney preliminary round loss, the se-nior drained three three-pointers in theopening half, and played “solid de-fense,” said Cormier. “He had a terrificnight,” added the coach. “He came upso big. He just had a remarkable game.”

Girls’ basketball recognized the al-ways reliable Emily Dixon, a junior, asthe squad’s MVP. Dixon, a co-captainand next year’s leader, was the team’sgo-to player in the post, accumulatingbig scoring and rebounding numbers.One of her biggest nights came againsthost Natick in the opening game for bothteams. Despite a 62-55 loss, Dixonpoured in 18 points, while shooting aperfect 8-for-8 from the floor.

As the unsung hero, senior co-cap-tain Jenn Canniff provided feisty de-fense, while most improved playerMeaghan Troiano was often among theteam’s scoring and rebounding leaders.Troiano also combined with Dixon tohold the opposition at bay in the post.Against BSC rival Framingham, themuch smaller Norwood squad had a dif-ficult time stopping Flyers, but Mus-

Athletes inthe spotlight atawards banquet

MikMikMikMikMike Ste Ste Ste Ste StollerollerollerollerollerStaff Reporter

SporSporSporSporSports Ats Ats Ats Ats AwwwwwararararardsdsdsdsdsContinued on page 18

If you’ve already seen Boston Col-lege football legend Doug Flutie throwhis famous Hail Mary pass for the1,000th time, you may want to switchyour allegiance to this game in years tocome.

Hey, who needs ESPN Classicswhen you can have the equivalent inyour own backyard? In — count’em —FIVE overtimes (hello, UConn-Syra-cuse), the Magic edged the Mavericks,48-46, to capture the Norwood townchampionship in the sixth grade boys’division.

The recent hoop thriller was filmedby Norwood Public Access (NPA) tele-vision, making this contest an “InstantClassic” for the local cable channel.

In what was arguably the largestcrowd ever on hand to witness a bas-ketball game at the Savage Center, theplayers slowly grew accustomed to thenoise, as play started to heat up in thethird quarter, after the Mavericks held a14-11 lead at the half.

Brian Dittmeier drained a pair ofbuckets from beyond the three-point arcto push the Magic to a 25-23 lead, butthe steady play of the Mavericks’ PatO’Brien, Dimitri Thaxter, and JoeyBarrett kept things close to even, head-ing into the final frame.

The Magic stormed out quickly inthe fourth quarter on baskets by JackRiley, Andrew Bernazani, ColinGreeley, and Rich Whelan. However,Cullen Weidenaar and Jesse Flemmingeach scored for the Mavericks to tie thegame again. Appropriately, the teamswere knotted at 33-33, after regulation.

In an almost unimaginable sequence,four overtime frames ended with thescore still tied. With both teams in foultrouble and nearly exhausted, Dittmeierhit several clutch shots and also earnedthe assists on other key points fromChris Heckmann and George Gereige inthe extra sessions. Strong play on theboards from Rich Whelan, Jack Long,and Joe Bartucca also helped theMagic’s cause. Steve Mulholland andJames Driscoll, meanwhile, set the pacefor the Magic with terrific hustle ondefense.

The Mavericks responded in kind,hoop for hoop, as crucial overtimepoints were garnered by James Ferreiraand Mike Murphy. And matching theMagic’s strong defense were PratJakkaraju, Mike Maffeo, and JarydAntrim for the Mavericks. Joe Panettaalso offset the Magic’s play under theglass with countless rebounds on bothsides of the court.

The game was ultimately decided inthe fifth overtime, when the Magic pre-vailed by the 48-46 margin. Dittmeierfittingly dribbled the ball in, walking offthe final seconds. The Magic stormedthe court to celebrate, while the coacheson each side — Sean Porter and ChrisRyan for the Magic, and Pat Conroy andJohn McGowan for the Mavericks —congratulated all of the players on bothsquads.

Dittmeier scored a game-high 20points for the Magic, while Bernazzanipoured in 13. The Mavericks were ledby O’Brien, Thaxter, Barrett, andWeidenaar who had 12, 11, 9, and 9,respectively.

Paul Clifford contributed to thisstory.

In five-overtime hoopthriller, Magic edgeMavericks for title


Tennessee outlasted BC, 40-31, towin the town championship in the sixth/seventh/eighth grade girls’ division.

BC, coached by Norwood High hoopsensations Emily Dixon and StephaniePerry, jumped out to a four-point advan-tage at the end of the first half. WithJessie Gorman running the point, BC

capitalized on early scoring opportuni-ties courtesy of Julia Copponi, OliviaPhilbrook, Kristen Flynn, and KimCrockett.

Tennessee mentors Kelli Millin andKatie Lang, also athletes at NHS, madesome halftime adjustments, and theirsquad made good on them at the start ofthe second stanza. Terrific rebounding

Tennessee prevails overBC in girls’ hoop title


Hoop titleHoop titleHoop titleHoop titleHoop titleContinued on page 18


tangs’ first-year head coach MaureenJennings praised the duo for a job welldone.

“[The Flyers] had a very big postplayer, and Emily and Meaghan did anice job containing her,” said the coach,whose squad stayed competitive in the58-45 loss. “It was a rough game, but[we] played hard.”

The relentless Mike Verrochi wasnamed MVP for boys’ hockey. Verrochiand unsung hero Steven Mahon, bothswift in the offensive zone, figuredheavily in the scoring mix, while theMustangs’ other unsung hero, ChrisO’Brien, proved to be a defensive cog,while helping to support the offense.After missing most of last season dueto injury, Pat Cavanaugh was honoredas the most improved player for his con-tributions at wing. The Mustangs madethe Division 1 South tourney, beforefalling to Marshfield, 2-0, in the firstround. Norwood clinched a postseasonberth with an exhilarating 5-3 victoryover nemesis Walpole on Feb. 4. “Thekids played awesome,” said head coachBill Clifford, after the win. “Everyonewas doing his job. They worked hardthis year, and one of the main goals wasto reach the tourney.”

In girls’ hockey, Ali Maloof was ac-knowledged as the team’s MVP for anincredible campaign in which the starforward dominated in the offensivezone. Maloof often checked in with ahat trick or better, while also helping thedefense immensely in shorthanded situ-ations. Taylor Donners and Kate Allanwere honored as unsung heroes for theirHerculean defensive play - as well asAllan for her stellar efforts in goal inplace of injured starter Jill Walsh - whilemost improved player Meredith Kiywent beyond expectations as an offen-sive stalwart. Head coach BillO’Donnell saw the improved play by histeam as the season progressed, as theMustangs won five games, exceeding

their win total of four from last winter.“The goal during the season has beento compete, especially with teams thathave won state championships likeWellesley,” said the coach. “[We’re]working hard and learning to competeagainst the very good teams, and that’ssomething the coaching staff is reallyhappy with.”

Gymnastics saw MVP Manar Zakicontribute with personal-best tallies andhelp Norwood break team records al-most on a weekly basis. “She has con-tinued to increase her all aroundscore...,” noted assistant coach NoraGlynn during a mid-season stretch. Zakiwas often supported by other top scor-ers such as unsung hero Jayme Igoe,most improved player Victoria Driscolland the coach’s award recipient KellieMcClure.

In Wrestling, senior captain TomJulian took home the top prize as MVP,after a sensational season in which thestar qualified for the state tourney alongwith unsung hero and newcomer A.J.Silletti and junior Matt Hennigan. Mostimproved players Aquie Moxam andFady Beshay were honored for theirheavy contributions in a winning sea-son for the Mustangs, who doubled theirwin total from a year ago. Norwood fin-ished at 12-11, after closing at 6-14 lastyear. “I think we have the potential,”head coach Jim Asam said at the startof the campaign. With 10 juniors return-ing next season, Asam is looking for-ward to more great things next year.

Boys indoor track honored unsungheroes Stephen Curley and RobertSheehan and most improved playerDavid Girvan, while girls track recog-nized MVP Meghan Underhill and un-sung heroes Kathryn Bernazzani andKaitlyn Gatto. Boys’ head coach JimForrest spoke for both teams, as girlshead mentor Matt Curran and his wifewere expecting a baby any day.

Sports Awards continued from page 17

Girls' indoor track award winners Katie Bernazzani (Unsung Hero) and Meghan Underhill(MVP). Not pictured, Kaitlyn Gatto (Unsung Hero).

COURTESY PHOTO

In a frantic ending to the recentNorwood town championship seventh/eighth grade boys’ title game, AdamNoepel hit a buzzer-beating jump shotjust inside the three-point arc to leadthe Warriors to a stunning 51-50 winover the Bulls.

The Bulls sped out to an early firstquarter lead by moving the ball aroundadeptly to the open man. Baskets byMike O’Donnell, Ed Murray, RobertWright, and Kevin Perry led to a 15-7lead at the end of the opening stanza.

The Bulls withstood a Warriorsrally in the second frame, increasingthe pace of the game. Jake Ryan,Giovanni Santos, Alex Cubelli, AidanCullinane, and Sean Regan controlledthe boards, while orchestrating a ter-rific fast break to get the Bulls towithin one, 24-23, at the half.

However, the Warriors continuedtheir overall dominance well into thethird quarter, stretching their lead toeight points at 41-33. Using a magnifi-cent fast break of their own along withsupplying solid defensive pressure,the eventual winners staged excellentscoring opportunities that often foundthe net. Steve Chisolm, Sam McGrath,Sean Conway, and Eric Noepel led thesquad in steals, while proving strongon defense, leading to lay-ups byAdam Noepel, who led the Warriorswith 20 points.

The Bulls stayed within strikingdistance by controlling boards cour-tesy of Daron English, Dylan Martin,and Rodney Jean Marie, who scoreda team-high 20 points. Determined tostay in the game, the Bulls increased

their defensive intensity in the lastquarter, as evidenced by the play ofGiuseppe Carchidi, Rylan Greeley,and Jared Conroy. Brendan Walshstole the ball on two consecutive pos-sessions, while English, at point guardcontinued to feed Jean Marie, the openbig man, time and again to get theBulls even closer. With less than 15seconds left in the game, the English/Jean Marie duo worked their magicagain to give the Bulls their first lead,50-49, since the first half.

But the Warriors quickly moved theball up the court, and found Noepel,who calmly released the winning shotjust inside the arc to secure the winfor the Warriors as time expired.

The league would like to thankNorwood Public Access (NPA) tele-vision for filming the game and sup-porting Norwood Basketball all year.


Noepel’s threeseals b-ball title


Calling allCoaches

The Norwood Record islooking to hear from all coachesand parents in Norwood aboutour local sports teams.

Have a tip or a story idea?

Call Mike Stoller at (781)769-1725 or e-mail us [email protected]

ExExExExExciting fciting fciting fciting fciting finish tinish tinish tinish tinish tooooosesesesesevvvvventh/eighth grade seasonenth/eighth grade seasonenth/eighth grade seasonenth/eighth grade seasonenth/eighth grade season

Hoop title continued from page 17

Norwood Youth Football & Cheer is offering a $500 scholarship to a formeryouth football player and former youth cheerleader, who participated at leastthree years in the program.

Candidates must be a graduating high school senior and attending either a2 or 4-year school in the fall of 2009.

Applications are available in the Guidance Office at Norwood High Schooland surrounding private high schools.

Application deadline is April 15.For more information, call Tank Nardelli, president, at (781) 769-7057.

Norwood Youth Football/Cheeroffers $500 scholarship

by Sarah Morrissey, Veronica Alley, andChristina Hart propelled a string of fastbreak baskets by Alanna Keady, AmyDuggan, and Kelly Duggan, as Tennes-see stole the lead at 26-22, after threequarters.

BC stayed within striking distancein the final frame, thanks to outstand-ing play under the glass by Nicole Butts,Gianna Pugliano, and Emily Clifford.Steady defense from Rachel Hubby andRachel Wood created turnovers, lead-ing to a few early hoops for BC.

Then, on the defensive side,Tennessee’s Sandy Lynch, LeticiaGomes, Kara Shea, and NicoleMarchant started to hold BC at bay,while Christina Hart and Kelly Duggantook over offensively, controlling thelow post and combining for 13 pointsin the fourth quarter.

The league also thanked NPA TV forsupporting Norwood basketball this sea-son.



Wrestling award winners, Aquie Moxam (Most Improved), A.J. Silletti (Unsung Hero),and Tom Julian (MVP).

Girls' gymnastics award winners, Jayme Igoe (Unsung Hero), Vicky Driscoll (Most Im-proved), and Manar Zaki (MVP).

CELEBRATING NORWOOD’S ATHLETES

Girls' basketball award winners Meaghan Troiano (Most Improved), Jenn Canniff (UnusungHero), and Emily Dixon (MVP).

Boys' basketball award winners Mina Awad (Most Improved), Michael Goodwin (UnsungHero), and Matt Clifford (MVP).

Boys’ indoor track award winners David Girvan (Most Improved), Rob Sheehan (UnsungHero), and Steve Curley (Unsung Hero).

Boys' hockey award winners Patrick Cavanaugh (Most Improved), Steve Mahon (UnsungHero), Chris O'Brien (Unsung Hero), and Mike Verrochi (MVP).


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The Record Book continued from page 8

McMANUSElizabeth A., 72, of Norwood,

March 13. Sister of Caroline M.McManus of Norwood and the lateattorney Thomas K. McManus andthe late Patricia Maria McManusSCNJ. Loving aunt of Thomas P.McManus and his wife Anne ofGroton, Atty. Leo J. McManus andhis wife Vicki of North Haven CTand Maura P. Mathers of Cam-bridge. Great aunt of Sean, Dillon,Michael, Emmeline and Ryan.Daughter of the late Patrick andCaroline (Krasnovsky) McManus.Interment Highland Cemetery,Norwood. In lieu of flowers, do-nations may be made in her nameto Mass Citizens for Life, 529Main St., #206, Charlestown, MA02129 or The Animal RescueLeague, 10 Chandler St., Boston,MA 02116. Funeral arrangementsby Kraw-Kornack Funeral Home,Norwood.

MINKEVITCHJoseph M., 75, of Norwood,

March 8, of Franklin, formerly ofNorwood. Veteran of the U.S.Army, Korean Conflict. Belovedhusband of Lois A. (Kinnear) andthe late Alice P. (McCarthy). De-voted father of Patricia A. Ivattsand her husband Robert ofWalpole, Cindy L. Poshkus and herhusband David of Canton, StephenM. of Norwood and Marcel A.Dion, Eric R. Dion, Jason D. Dion,all of Franklin. Brother of GertrudeAugusta of NH, Jean Breen ofNorwood and the late Michael E.,Frederick, John and FrancesMinkevitch. Also survived by 13grandchildren. Interment HighlandCemetery, Norwood with full Mili-tary Honors. In lieu of flowers, do-nations may be made in his nameto the American Diabetes Associa-tion, P.O. Box 11454, Alexandria,VA 22312. Funeral arrangementsby Kraw-Kornack Funeral Home,Norwood.

O’DAYRaymond Francis, 79, of

Norwood, March 11. Retired lieu-tenant, Town of Needham FireDept. Beloved husband of Virginia(Prisco). Devoted father ofRaymond F. Jr. of Norwood,Donna Corsini and her husbandPeter of Plymouth, VenetiaDonnelly and her husband Stephen

of N. Attleboro and SandraCoughlin of Norwood. Also sur-vived by seven grandchildren. Sonof the late Roland and Venetia(Jorpeland) O’Day. IntermentBrookdale Cemetery, Dedham. Inlieu of flowers, donations may bemade in his name to St. Catherine’sChurch, 547 Washington St.,Norwood, MA 02062. Funeral ar-rangements by Kraw-Kornack Fu-neral Home, Norwood.

PARSONSDoris G. (Prouty), of Milton

and Norwood, March 9. Belovedwife of the late Charles R. Parsons.Devoted mother of Robert M. Par-sons of Norwood and the late Flo-rence Avery. Grandmother of Dou-glas Avery of NH, Charles Averyof CA, John Avery of Billerica,Kim Busa of Raynham, RobynCurrier and Scott Parsons, both ofStoughton and Brian Parsons ofChicopee. Also survived by 12great-grandchildren. IntermentBlue Hill Cemetery, Braintree. Inlieu of flowers, donations in Doris’memory may be sent to St.Michael’s Episcopal Church. Fu-neral arrangements by Chapman,Cole & Gleason, Milton.

Condolences extended to:Eileen Quinn on the death of

her sister-in-law, Pauline A.(Palumbo) Quinn in Lowell, Mar.13, at Northwood, age 88.

Electronics recycling will also beoffered again at the scheduled Haz-ardous Waste Collection & Recy-cling Day on Saturday, May 9. Formore information or to volunteer,contact Norwood Town Manager’soffice at (781) 762-1240.

BLOOD DRIVEThe Norwood Community

Blood Drive will take place onMonday, March 30, from 2-7 p.m.at the Norwood Civic Center. Re-freshments will be provided by lo-cal merchants. For an appointmentto donate, call (800) 448-3543 or(781) 461-2053. Positive identifi-cation is required.

NORWOOD REPUBLICANTOWN COMMITTEE

The next meeting of theNorwood Republican Town Com-mittee will be Monday, March 30,at 7:30 p.m., at the Historic MorseHouse, 1285 Washington St.,South Norwood. All are welcome.Call or e-mail Lynne for more in-formation at (781) 769-1567,[email protected] or email Patat [email protected].

FLAVORSOF NEPONSET VALLEY

The tenth annual Flavors ofNeponset Valley, an elegant soireeof fine food and wine from regionalrestaurants, caterers, wineries andbreweries, will be held on Thurs-

day, March 26, from 5:30-9 p.m.at Christina’s Function Facility,Foxboro. The event is sponsoredby the Neponset Valley Chamberof Commerce. Tickets are $45 ($55at the door) and blocks of 10 areavailable for $350 pre-paid. Pur-chase 10 tickets by March 18 andbe entered into a drawing to winlimo service to the gala. The draw-ing will be held on Thursday,March 19, at noon. Bid on restau-rant gift certificates, baskets, wine,sports memorabilia and more atthe Gala auction. Reservations arerecommended and the dress codeis “business attire.” Tickets areavailable at www.nvcc.com, or callthe Neponset Valley Chamber ofCommerce at (781) 769-1162.

NORWOODART ASSOCIATION

The Norwood Art Association(NAA) will hold its next meetingon Thursday, March 19, at 6:45p.m., in the Simoni Room of theNorwood Library. The meetingwill feature a watercolor demon-stration by noted artist and teacherNancy Howell, past president andcurrent board member of the NewEngland Watercolor Society. Sheleads painting workshops to Italyand throughout New England andher work is in private and corpo-rate collections in the UnitedStates. Howell typically starts witha blank watercolor paper and cre-

ates a painting from scratch ex-plaining her style, the art suppliesshe uses and answering questionsfrom viewers. Anyone interestedin learning more about painting inany medium would learn from thissession. The event is free and opento the public.

FDR’S HOUSEKEEPERCome to the Morrill Memorial

Library on Thursday, March 26, at7 p.m., to hear a “live” interviewwith Henrietta Nesbitt -the house-keeper throughout the four admin-istrations of President Franklin D.Roosevelt. Henrietta was hired byEleanor Roosevelt without the pro-fessional experience previouslyrequired at the White House formenu planning and food prepara-tion, yet Henrietta was there dur-ing the hardships of the Great De-pression, World War II and thecomings and goings of theRoosevelt family. Come and learnhow Henrietta interpreted what theFirst Lady and the President re-quired — not always was she inagreement with the First Family,the press, and even royalty. BethGoldman stars as Henrietta Nesbit.Karol Bartlett stars as the Inter-viewer. Beth is a librarian inNorwood and Karol is a librarianat the Morse Institute in Natick.This is the second project Beth andKarol have created and producedthemselves. The Friends of the Li-brary and the Norwood Arts Coun-cil (through the MassachusettsCultural Council) are funding thispresentation. The program is freeand handicapped accessible. Reg-ister at the library or call (781) 769-0200.

NORWOOD’SWOMENS’ CLUB

The Norwood Womens’ Clubwill hold their next meeting on

Tuesday, April 14, 12:30 p.m., atthe Emmanuel Lutheran Church,24 Berwick St. The program willfeature a performance about JohnAdams where “he” will share factsabout his life and the historic timesin which he lived. Light refresh-ments will be served. All are wel-come. For more information, callTrina Mallet at (781) 762-8173.

LENTENWORSHIP SERVICES

Emmanuel Lutheran Church,24 Berwick St., will be offeringmidweek Lenten worship serviceseach week throughout Lent onWednesday afternoons at 2 p.m.,and Thursday evenings, at 6:45p.m. For more information, call thechurch office at (781) 762-9457.

BALCH SCHOOLITALIAN DINNER

The annual Balch School Ital-ian Dinner will be held on Friday,March 20, from 5:30-7:30 p.m., inthe school cafeteria. For $5 perperson, you will enjoy a hot anddelicious pizza dinner, includingsalad, beverage, coffee/tea andyour choice of assorted desserts.Soda can be purchased for $1 percan. Members of the 5th gradeclass will serve as the hosts for theevening and all proceeds from theevent will go towards the fifthgrade yearbook and end-of-yearactivities. Creative baskets, chockfull of goodies, will be raffled-off.

GOLF TOURNAMENTNorwood Hospital is holding

its 32nd Annual Golf Classic onMonday, June 1, at Walpole Coun-try Club. The event includes lunchand then 18 holes of golf, with anew car going to the hole-in-oneshooter on a designated Par 3 hole.Raffles will be featured through-out the day and appetizers, dinnerand an awards ceremony will fol-low play, as well as silent and liveauctions where bidders will takehome items like Boston Red Sox

tickets. Anyone interested in be-coming a sponsor and/or enjoyinga day of golf and activities whilesupporting Norwood Hospital,may call Susan Dowling inNorwood Hospital’s DevelopmentOffice at (781) 278-6001.

TRIVIA NIGHTThe Norwood Diamond Club

is holding an annual Trivia Nightto benefit the Jack CrimminsScholarship fund on Friday, March27, at 7 p.m., at the Norwood Elk’sLodge. There will be light refresh-ments, cash bar, raffles and a grandprize for the winning team. Thecost is $15 per person. Tables of10 are $150. For more information,contact Ed Hickey at (781) 551-0408, Tracey Black at (781) 762-9931 or Bill Marchant at (781)762-5411.

CIVIL WAR ROUNDTABLEThe March meeting of the Olde

Colony Civil War Roundtable willbe held on Thursday March 19, at7 p.m. at the Endicott Estate, 656East St., Dedham, (exit 14 off route128). The speaker for the eveningwill be member Brian Murphy on“Sergeant Peter Hart, NYPD —The First Volunteer.” The featuredspeaker will be Pulitzer Prize win-ning author (2007 biography)Debby Applegate, speaking onHenry Ward Beecher, the subjectof her book “The Most FamousMan in America.” A book sale willprecede the program. A raffledrawing and refreshments will fol-low the speakers. The meeting isfree and open to the public. TheOlde Colony Civil WarRoundtable boasts over 150 mem-bers from communities on theNorth Shore to Cape Cod, fromBoston to Framingham. It is a non-profit, incorporated organizationdedicated to the study and discus-sion of the American Civil War.Proceeds of book sale and rafflego to Civil War preservation ef-forts.


Legal

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTSWARRANT FOR TOWN ELECTION

APRIL 6, 2009

TOWN OF NORWOOD

Norfolk, ss.

To either of the Constables of the Town of Norwood in said County, Greetings:

In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are hereby required to notifyand warn the inhabitants of the Town of Norwood qualified to vote in elections tomeet in the various voting precincts designated for their districts in Norwood onMonday, the Sixth day of April, 2009 at 7:00 o’clock in the forenoon, then and thereto act on the following:

To choose all necessary Town officers. The following are to be chosen by ballot, namely:One Selectman for three years; one Moderator for one year; one Member of the Boardof Health for three years; two Members of School Committee for three years; oneMember of School Committee for one year (to fill a vacancy); two Members of theFinance Commission for three years; two Trustees of the Morrill Memorial Library forthree years; one Member of the Town Planning Board for five years; One Member ofNorwood Housing Authority for five years; Nine Town Meeting Members for DistrictOne for three years; One Town Meeting Member for District One for two years (to filla vacancy); Nine Town Meeting Members for District Two for three years; Nine TownMeeting Members for District Three for three years; Nine Town Meeting Members forDistrict Four for three years; One Town Meeting Member for District Four for oneyear (to fill a vacancy); Nine Town Meeting Members for District Five for three years;One Town Meeting Member for District Five for one year (to fill a vacancy); NineTown Meeting Members for District Six for three years; One Town Meeting Memberfor District Six for one year (to fill a vacancy); Nine Town Meeting Members forDistrict Seven for three years; Nine Town Meeting Members for District Eight forthree years; Nine Town Meeting Members for District Nine for three years.

And to vote on the following question:

Question 1:Shall the Town of Norwood be allowed to exempt from the provisions of propositiontwo and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bonds to be issued inorder to fund the design, planning, construction, equipping and furnishing of a newNorwood High School at 245 Nichols Street?

____________Yes

____________No

For these purposes, the polls will be open at 7:00 o’clock in the forenoon and shall bekept open until 8:00 o’clock in the afternoon when they may be closed.

And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting attested copies thereof in tenpublic places in this Town seven days at least before the time and day of said meeting.

Given under our hands at Norwood this tenth day of March, 2009.

Norwood Record, 3/19/09PPPPPolice Logsolice Logsolice Logsolice Logsolice Logs

Continued on page 22

Police LogsTuesday, Mar. 100738 phone. Larceny, report

filed. Location/address: 95 WinterSt. Caller reports her patio furnitureis missing off her deck. N665 re-sponded.

1104 walk-in. Larceny, reportfiled. Location/address: 87 SumnerSt. Subject in station to report lar-ceny of jewelry, last seen at Christ-mas time and just realized it is miss-ing.

1107 phone. Susp. activity, re-port filed. Location/address: 140Norwest Dr.

1140 911. Medical emergency,papers exchanged. Location/ad-dress: 46 Irving St. Request forambulance. NFD handled.

1314 phone. Message delivery,no action required. Location/ad-dress: 64 Austin St. Canton P.D.requests notification made for deathof relative. No one home, unable todeliver message.

1551 walk-in. Fraud, spoken to.Location/address: 67 Centennial Dr.Woman in station with possiblescam check from Readers Digest.Officer spoke to her, no crime, junkmail.

1556 phone. Phone harassment,civil matter. Location/address: Ra-diator Express - 51 Morgan Dr.Report multiple phone solicitorcalls. N664 reports caller willhandle through F.T.C.’s” do notcall” registry and then recall P.D. ifcalls persist.

1604 phone. Parking violation,gone on arrival. Location/address:568 Block - Washington St. Reporta Boston cab co.’s cab parked instand. N679 reports gone, sign doesnot specify Norwood cabs only.

1707 initiated. Serve summons,services rendered. Location/ad-dress: 12 Old Farm Rd. No longerlive there.

1710 initiated. Restraining or-der serv., services rendered. Loca-tion/address: 99 Bruce Rd. Hanley,Kathryn-no longer lives there.

1752 phone. Complaint of m/v,services rendered. Location/ad-dress: Roosevelt Ave. Caller re-

ported pc MA 613CJ9 traveling atexcessive speed. N669 reports mvparked at home, unoccupied, N669will make extra checkes of area forremainder of shift.

1847 cellular. Susp. activity, re-port filed. Location/address: 111Block - Lenox St. Report adult fe-male having her 10 y.o.a. son so-licit money for a flower made outof paper to help pay to fix an in-jury, injury is allegedly false. Unitslocate, spoke to same, N666 to file:1). incident report; 2). 51A report.

1858 911. Accidental 911, con-firmed accidental. Location/ad-dress: 83 Countryside Ln. Malestated misdialed.

2131 phone. Citizens com-plaint, spoken to. Location/address:775 Norwest Dr. Caller reported hisestranged wife entered his propertywithout permission. Officer re-ported wife is on the lease and law-fully entered property. Caller ad-vised.

2301 phone. Susp. person, ser-vices rendered. Location/address:Hilliar Music - 41 Cedar St. Twocallers reported suspicious maleparty in the area. Party getting inand out of a gray minivan pc MA815DC8. Officers reported partychecking the area for his lost cat.Party advised.

2319 911. Medical emergency,Fire Dept. notified/respo. Location/address: 766 Norwest Dr. Party re-quest ambulance then refuses to goto Norwood Hospital. NFD thenspeaks to caller’s sister, she willtransport him to a Boston hospital.2341 2nd call, reconsidered, NFD,N661 sent, refuses help again andleaves w/family member.

2330 phone. Assist other policedepart., services rendered. Loca-tion/address: 109 Olde Derby Rd.A. Boston Police requested notifi-cation to resident Mikel Jones abouta purse found in Boston. Officer leftmessage with party’s mother.

Wednesday, March 110719 911. Medical emergency,

transported to hospital. Location/

address: 843 Neponset St. Callerstates girlfriend having stomachpain. N664, N662, NFD responded.

0730 phone. Report of fight,arrest(s) made. Location/address:Coakley Middle School - 1315Washington St. Detective will filecharges against three female stu-dents for a fight today at school.Juvenile arrest. Age: 13. Charges: a& b, School disturb.

0745 911. Medical emergency,transported to hospital. Location/address: Norwood Central - LenoxSt. Harvard Vanguard states theyhave a client (fire fighter, AlanVernon) at the Norwood Centralhaving chest pains. N666, NFD re-sponded.

0815 phone. Citizens com-plaint, spoken to. Location/address:25 Centennial Dr. Lynne Narbutcalled inquiring about getting po-lice reports. Says she is going tocourt today to speak to a judge be-cause she does not want to involvethe police.

0835 phone. Well being chk.,spoken to. Location/address: 37Dean St. 1st. Mother, MargaretKilroy would likes 32 y.o. son’s wellbeing check. Mother and son havenot spoken in several months. Hehas many medical issues. Officersspoke to him, he is fine and is onthe 1st floor. Mother advised he ishome and ok.

0954 911. Medical emergency,Fire Dept. notified/respo. Location/address: 92 Nahatan St. 8. VNArequests ambulance transport toNorwood Hospital for patient. NFDhandled.

1015 radio. Warrant arrest,arrest(s) made. Location/address:Walgreens - 951 Bos.-Prov. Hwy.As a result of mvs, Luis Valentinarrested on warrant. No tow, pas-senger had valid license. Arrest:Valentin, Luis A. Address: 4Chelmsford St., Methuen MA.DOB: 12/26/1967. Charges: war-rant arrest.

in both the Present as well as thePast. It is important to preserveour historic buildings.

Then there is the question ofall the other schools. But that isanother story.

Judith HowardTown Meeting Member

District 3

WHAT AN OPPORTUNITYTo the Editor:What an amazing opportu-

nity we have on April 6.A “perfect storm” of devel-

opments over the past few yearsand months have created a once-in-a-lifetime chance forNorwood residents to give theirstudents an affordable highschool they so desperately needand which generations to comewill enjoy.

Think about it for a minute:A School Building Authoritythat’s providing oversight andgenerous state funding. A newmodel school program, forwhich Norwood was chosenfirst in line, saving us millionsof dollars. And a lousyeconomy that, with private de-velopment at a stand-still, makesnow the best time in the last 70

years for publicly funded con-struction projects to move for-ward, saving us millions morein labor and material costs.Plus, with few if any competingprojects on builders’ agenda, it’sa good bet the new school getsdone on-time and on-budget.

Now is the time to act, toseize the day. Carpe highschool. We’ve been given thisbrief shining moment where somany pieces have fallen intoplace; where the work of somany over the last five years isabout to payoff for everyonewho calls Norwood home, andfor everyone who wants to seethis very special town of oursremain special.

April 6 is the day whenNorwood will vote yes for com-mon sense. Vote yes for its fu-ture. Vote yes for our children.

Vote yes for our town. Joseph F. Ailinger, Jr.

SHOULD BESECRET BALLOT

To The Editor:To have a vote that is fair,

where voters can vote their con-science, without being intimi-dated, the vote must be by se-

cret ballot. A person’s vote canbe influenced from intimidationby a supervisor, a peer or evena family member that can ob-serve the way that person votes.

When we go to the polls tovote on election days, we electpresidents, governors, and leg-islators by secret ballot. Evenour selectmen, town moderator,and town meting members areelected by secret ballot. Townmeeting in the past has had se-cret ballot votes and they willin the future. The voting for thenew high school is of such im-portance that for it to be a fairvote, it must be taken by secretballot.

Robert SullivanTown Meeting Member

District 1

FULL OF MALARKEYTo the Editor:Your headline, “Seniors

back new high school” in the 3/12/09 edition of the Record ispure, unadulterated malarkey(the definition of which is“speech or writing designed toobscure, mislead or impress;bunkum”) as found in Webster’syou -know-what.

In the spirit of St. Paddy’sDay, I’ll be thrilled to presentyou (Dennis, Krystal or Paul)

with the first Malarkey Awardsince St. Patrick supposedlydrove the snakes from the Em-erald Isle. WOW! Whatmalarkey! And I’ll bet that notone of you ever kissed the Blar-ney Stone. I thought that news-papers were supposed to printfacts.

Shame on ye now for notprinting the facts!

Frank McKeown

SAVE THEHIGH SCHOOL BUILDING

To the Editor:Should the new high school

come to pass, I want allNorwood citizens to seriouslytry to save the main high schoolbuilding. It has stood stately onthe hill for decades, served thou-sands and has been a testamentto the character of all that havegraced its halls.

Many of those men andwomen went off to serve theircountry, some never returning.

The Armory became the Recre-ation Center, the ShattuckSchool serves as elderly hous-ing, the fire station become arestaurant twice, the JuniorHigh ( fire damaged in 1969) isnow a medical office building.The Dean and Morse houses re-main. Even Norwood Hospitalmaintains all its building. TheJunior High North has servedmany functions over the years.The Plimpton press buildingstill serves a purpose.

The main high school build-ing is as much a part of theNorwood landscape as any ofNorwood’s other awesome ar-chitectures. I have always ad-mired the ingenuity of Norwoodresidents. There has to be a wayto save that building and all thatit represents. If this happens,please do not demolish this im-pressive structure of our heri-tage.

Faith MacPhee

Letters continued from page 4


Police Logs continued from page 21

2/2/09–2/27/09

BUYER SELLER ADDRESS PRICE

Weekly Property Transactions

NORWOODKeeman, Wendy Angelillo, Christopher E 315 Neponset St #67 $132,000Giampa, Diana M Giampa, Diana M 31 Lancaster Ln $160,0001406 Washington St RT Neponset River RT 1406 Washington St $200,000Booth, Russell A Gordon, Wayne D 132 Winslow Ave $209,000Fitzgerald, Francine Perry, James A 407 Nahatan St #2 $219,000Harris, Colleen Giglia, Salvatore 379 Neponset St #B $245,000GMAC Global Reloc Svc Brown, Gerald E 138 Vernon St #138 $275,000Fine, Abigail H GMAC Global Reloc Svc 138 Vernon St #138 $275,000Noonan, John D Johnson, Crystal L 909 Washington St #10 $316,000Mahmoudi, Djamel Osullivan, Patrick 25 Saint Joseph Ave #2 $329,900Sichonidis, Michael Achi, Leila H 65 Sturtevant Ave $362,450Meimarides, Nikolaos G Coan, Antonetta 56 Winfield St $400,000Michopoulos, Aristotle V Mcdonagh, Agnes 2 Nahatan Ct $400,000EHKA Realty Co LLC Kemalian Realty Inc 1500 Bos Prov Tpke #12A $585,200

“Copyrighted material previously published in The Banker & Tradesman, a weekly trade newspaper.It is reprinted with permission from the publisher, The Warren Group, www.thewarrengroup.com/bn”

1057 walk-in. Larceny, reportfiled. Location/address: Citgo - 960Bos.-Prov. Hwy. @ 199 Dean St.Woman in station to report pursetaken from car today.

1246 phone. Lost and found,services rendered. Location/ad-dress: 38 Tamworth Rd. Packagesthat have bedding items fell off atruck and the resident picked themup. Off. returns with them and wasable to locate the business owner,Sleep Easy. Employee notified andthey will make arrangements to pickup the property.

1515 phone. Assist citizen,taken/referred to other. Location/address: 129 Cottage St. Home-owner found a blk. lab. tied outside.NACO notified to pick it up.

1618 phone. Drunk person, areasearch negative. Location/address:14 St. John Ave. Caller reported in-toxicated party left on foot. Offic-ers checked area, nothing found.

1817 walk-in. Larceny, reportfiled. Location/address: 10 GeorgeWillet Pkwy. Walk-in reported lar-ceny of motorcycle parts.

1852 initiated. Vandalism, re-port filed. Location/address:Prescott School - 66 Richland Rd.Officer reported lawn damage neardoor 12.

1854 phone. Well being chk.,report filed. Location/address: 94Roosevelt Ave. Sister in NorthCarolina reports while speaking tomother on phone, could hear sisteryelling in background. N665 reportsno domestic, medical issues w/daughter, report filed.

2031 911. Drunk person , pro-tective custody. Location/address:206 Central St. Caller reported partyin a dark VW either drunk or expe-riencing a medical issue. NDF re-sponded. Negoshians towed pc RIEH476. Transport to station. P/C:Beadles, Susan. Address: 8Westgate Rd., Cumberland RI.DOB: 05/25/1959. Charges: protec-tive custody.

2127 phone. Medical emer-gency, protective custody. Location/address: 25 Centennial Dr. 6. Callerrequested ambulance. Callersounded confused or intoxicatedover the phone. Officer reportedprotective custody, transport to hos-pital. Summons: Narbut, Lynne M.Address: 25 Centennial Dr. 6,Norwood MA. DOB: 01/03/1976.Charges: a & b with dangerousweapon, protective custody.

2154 walk-in. Larceny, reportfiled. Location/address: Stop &Shop - 1415 Bos.-Prov. Hwy. Callerreported theft of wallet and chargeson credit card.

2200 911. Domestic, arrest(s)made. Location/address: 724Norwest Dr. Caller reported domes-tic. Officer reported one under ar-rest victim denied medical treat-ment. Arrest: Bradley, Jason. Ad-

dress: 724 Norwest Dr., NorwoodMA. DOB: 08/10/1981. Charges: a& b. Summons: Campbell, Rebeca.Address: 724 Norwest Dr.,Norwood MA. DOB: 10/01/1972.Charges: a & b.

2352 phone. Noise complaint,services rendered. Location/ad-dress: 17 Tremont St. Caller re-ported car horn noise in the area.Officer reported car alarm reset.

Thursday, Mar. 120057 phone. Susp. activity, spo-

ken to. Location/address: RadfordWarehouse, aka: Radford Transport- 675 Canton St. Truck drivers fromRadford report suspicious male attop of hill all dressed in black. N677locates party who lives on CantonSt. out for a walk. (Stephen Pilot/11-6-54).

0214 initiated. Susp. activity,services rendered. Location/ad-dress: 15 Autumn St. Officer reportstrunk open on car in driveway. Se-cured same.

0217 initiated. Building check,building checked/secured. Loca-tion/address: Workmens Hall - Wil-son St. Lights left on. Building handchecked secure.

0604 phone. -Noise complaint,spoken to. Location/address: KerryPl. Caller from Pellana Rd. Reportstruck on Kerry Place. N669 re-sponded and spoke with employees.

0702 911. Suicide/or threat, re-port filed. Location/address: 125Pleasant St. Caller states he stabbedhimself in chest. N664, N662,N668, NFD responded. Med-flighted from Norwood Airport.

0932 phone. Animal complaint,taken/referred to other. Location/address: 26 Forrest Ave. Rabidskunk in yard. NACO handled.

1021 phone. Vandalism, reportfiled. Location/address: 20 HickoryRd. Mr. Matinsen reports bottom ofhp ramp to his home has been van-dalized.

1304 phone. Assist citizen, ser-vices rendered. Location/address:174 Gay St. Off. assisted the resi-dent (plaintiff) while she removedproperty. No problems, she will re-main with the defendant’s mother.

1307 phone. Restraining orderserved, legal service made. Loca-tion/address: 137 Nahatan St. Off.responds to Dedham Court to pickup a 209A.

1424 phone. Susp. activity, spo-ken to. Location/address: Keegan’sNorwood Jewelers - 1135 Washing-ton St. Keegan’s reports 2 malesentered store, walked around andleft. The store had customers. b/male & Asian male are walking to-wards Dean St. Officers fio’d sub-jects who were in MA 195BW3.Checked ok. Spoke to caller.

1523 phone. Domestic, reportfiled. Location/address: HannafordMarket - 434 Walpole St. Witness

reports w/male shouting at a w/fe-male and believes he hit her. Theywere on foot and heading towardRite Aid on 1A. He was standingby til an officer arrived. Officer re-ports verbal only, See report.

1537 phone. Susp. activity, re-port filed. Location/address:McDonalds - 32 Broadway St.Manager reports male subject eithersmoking or rolling a marijuanajoint. He is able to smell it. Personid’d, no proof.

1540 phone. Illegal trash dis-posal, report filed. Location/ad-dress: Delta Hospital Supply - 31Astor Ave. Trash left in thedumpster that was not part of thebusiness.

1616 phone. Larceny, reportfiled. Location/address: MorrillMemorial Library - 33 Walpole St.Caller reports past larceny. N662 tofile report.

1631 phone. Kids gathering,group moved. Location/address:Gazebo - Town Common - 566Washington St. Kids gathering atgazebo. N661 sent. Group moved.

1728 initiated. Domestic,arrest(s) made. Location/address:635 Washington St. @ 7 Cottage St.N663 is flagged down by male partyin a vehicle who cannot get anothersuhject out of the vehicle. N661sent. N449 responds. N663 placesone male under arrest. See report.Arrest: Collier, Terrence J. Address:972 Norwest Dr., Norwood MA.DOB: 09/08/1983. Charges: A & B.

1756 initiated. Restraining or-der serv., services rendered. Loca-tion/address: 69 Valley Rd. Officerserved restraining order in hand toMichael Pfistner.

1959 phone. Vandalism, reportfiled. Location/address: 106Westover Pkwy. Caller reportedunknown party tossed eggs at house.Officers checked area.

Friday, March 130029 phone. Susp. activity, ser-

vices rendered. Location/address:Rojo - 69 Bos.-Prov. Hwy. Callerreports a ladder against buildingbehind Rojo’s by Access Road thatleads back out to Everett St. that hestates he didn’t believe was therebefore. N665, N662 responded andchecked roof where ladder wasleaning. Nothing found. Officersremoved ladder and laid on ground.

0537 911. Medical emergency,transported to hospital. Location/address: 389 Washington St. 6.Caller reports 25 yr. old male hav-ing seizure. N669, NFD responded.

0559 911. Medical emergency,transported to hospital. Location/address: 45 Rose Ct. Caller requestsa transport to hospital for elderlymale. N662 dispatched.

0610 phone. Lockout FireDept., notified/respo. Location/ad-dress: 39 Tremont St. Caller reportsthat he is locked out of vehiclewhich was left running. NFD noti-fied

1121 phone. Threats, reportfiled. Location/address: 265 Pros-pect St. Worker received a threat viaemail and the sender’s info wasblocked.

1334 phone. Well being chk.,services rendered. Location/ad-dress: 333 Union St. JessicaJohnson, girlfriend, concernedabout boyfriend who lost his jobtoday and is very upset, stated heshould put an end to things. He livesin basement apt of house. She stateshe has a 22 caliber gun. Officerscheck home, he is not there, phonemessage left for him. David Day(subject) called dispatch to say heis at gas station getting sticker formv he registered this morning.Westwood P.D. questioned indi-vidual in their town and believes he

is ok. Sgt. satisfied with results.1429 phone. Animal complaint,

gone on arrival. Location/address:50 Ridgewood Dr. @ 3 KenwoodDr. Caller reports raccoon roamingthe neighborhood acting strange.NACO notified. Unable to locateanimal.

1509 phone. Drug law violation,spoken to. Location/address: 36Jefferson Dr. Strong odor of mari-juana coming from apt. Officersspoke to resident and caller, nosmells.

1546 phone. Assist citizen, spo-ken to. Location/address: 94Hampden Dr. Resident reports at-tempted Internet scam. N679 spoketo resident, had not followedthrough on same so not a victim.

1822 phone. Fraud services,rendered. Location/address: 43Lydon St. Caller reports he some-one is trying to scam him. N665sent. N665 reports not a scam. Ad-vised.

2021 phone. Unwanted party,arrest(s) made. Location/address:33 Florence Ave. Caller wanted herbrother to be removed from herhouse. N665 and N663 responded,report filed by N665. Arrest:Hannon, Sean Patrick. Address: 33Florence Ave., Norwood MA.DOB: 07/10/1983. Charges: lar-ceny over $250, b&e daytime andlarceny over $250, possession ClassA.

2148 phone. Drunk person, pro-tective custody. Location/address:742 Washington St. @ 4 Guild St.Caller reports dk female stumbledout of vehicle. As a Result, N666placed one female in pc and releasesto a friend. Negoshians tows MAreg$55MR83. P/C: Gearty, Donna.Address: 145 Coney St., Walpole,MA. DOB: 04/30/1959. Charges:protective custody.

2149 phone. Mischief (kids),services rendered. Location/ad-dress: 32 Harrow Rd. Caller reportssomeone breaking into his house.N662, N663, N668, N677 respond.no b & e, kids fooling around run-ning around neighborhood. Partiessatisfied.

Saturday, Mar. 140102 phone. Vandalism, report

filed. Location/address: 33 Rock St.Caller reports guest leaving herhome has 2 slashed tires and thathers and husband’s rear tires are flat.N669, N665 responded.

0116 radio. Assist citizen, ser-vices rendered. Location/address:Krayzee Horse Pub and Grill - 1112Washington St. @ 2 St. James Ave.N661 reports lock-out. AAA (Inter-state ) notified and responded.

0144 initiated. Susp. activity,spoken to. Location/address: Syms- 560 Bos.-Prov. Hwy. MA reg#CI74ER parked behind Syms. N665responded. N666 reports localyouths (fio’d) and sent on their way.

0208 phone. Susp. activity, spo-ken to. Location/address: OldeDerby Rd. A. Caller reports blackFord Explorer in parking lot run-ning for past 1/2 hour. N663, N662sent. All in order. 2 girlfriends incar talking. (MA reg# 689DC8).

0551 911. Medical emergency,transported to hospital. Location/address: 601 Lansdowne Way T4.Officer reports person transportedto Norwood Hospital.

1158 phone. Animal complaint,taken/referred to other. Location/address: 9 Earle St. Resident findsinjured rabbit. N.A.C.O. notified.

1212 walk-in. Fraud, reportfiled. Location/address: 32 OolahAve. 2. Bank account.

1222 cellular. Assist otheragency, assisted party. Location/address: 61 Brookview Cir. Reporthousing authority set up the trans-

fer of a resident to another facilityon Monday 3/16/09. Family mem-ber has arrived today and wants totake resident with them. N677spoke to all parties and matter re-solved.

1404 phone. Mischief (kids),gone on arrival. Location/address:140 Railroad Ave. Report 3 w/m,teenagers, hanging around in alley-way at rear of building along rail-road tracks, they do not live in com-plex.

1409 cellular. Domestic,arrest(s) made. Location/address:160 Lane Dr. Contractor that wasat home reports he believes thehomeowners were involved in adomestic. As a result, N662 placessubject under arrest, N670 trans-ports to station. Arrest:Shaughnessy, John. Address: 160Lane Dr., Norwood MA. DOB: 03/09/1964. Charges: a & b.

1425 phone. Missing person,report filed. Location/address: 700Lansdowne Way T3.

1450 phone. Citizens com-plaint, services rendered. Location/address: Town Pizza - 20 BroadwaySt. Report convenient store ownerplaced 2 stickers on pizza shopowners mv. N677 spoke to all par-ties, matter resolved.

1628 phone. Assist citizen,taken/referred to other. Location/address: 41 Neponset St. Caller re-ports loose dog running around andshe put the dog in the back yard.NACO notified.

1631 phone. Report of fire, pa-pers exchanged. Location/address:Bistro 712 - 712 Washington St.Caller reports he can smell some-thing burning but cannot locate it.N661 sent. NFD notified. No fire.

1752 phone. Drunk person, pro-tective custody. Location/address:Nahatan St. Caller reports dk. maleparty walking towards Shaws.N668, N677, N661, n669 respond.As a result, one male placed in pc.NFD then transported male party tothe hospital. P/C: Eckert, Brian M.Address: Grove St., Worcester, MA.DOB: 09/22/1949. Charges: disor-derly conduct, protective custody.

1755 phone. Well being chk.,services rendered. Location/ad-dress: 76 Hickory Rd. Caller reportsher aunt was supposed to be at herhouse in Portland me at 2 p.m. andhas not arrived. N663 went to Resi-dence, female party is okay. Willcontact aunt.

2022 phone. Threats, reportfiled. Location/address: 76 WalnutAve. Walk in party reports that hisex wife has made threats to him andhis pregnant wife. N666 to file re-port.

2046 911. Susp. activity, reportfiled. Location/address: 82 HoyleSt. Cell phone caller reports beingapproached and then followed by aperson in a dark sedan. Caller ad-vised to continue to the stationwhere she was assisted by ofc. andsgt.

2216 phone. Noise complaint,spoken to. Location/address:Cleary, Joseph - 89 Earle St. Callfor loud music. N677, N665 sent.Spoken to.

Sunday, Mar. 150137 phone. Drunk person, pro-

tective custody. Location/address:Norwood Hospital - 800 Washing-ton St. Caller reports mother just leftthe hospital with her seven year olddaughter and the mother is dk.N663, N662 to check area. N663locates at Norwood Depot. As a re-sult, one female placed in pc andreleased to her husband. See reportby N663. P/C: Lima, Sandra. Ad-dress: 56 Adams St., Norwood MA.DOB: 09/03/1978. Charges: protec-tive custody.


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