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HOPKINTON INDEPENDENT Vol. 20 Number 1
January 9, 2019
Dog park sited for Fruit Street
Celtics honor local hero
Selectmen provide initial support to concept
By Jim Kleinkauf Contributing Writer
The town Parks and Recreation Commission, at its Dec. 10 meeting, voted 5-0 to relocate a proposed dog park from the town-owned Hughes property off Hayden Rowe Street to town land on Fruit Street. Last year’s Town Meeting voted down funding for a dog park on the Hughes property following negative testimony from many residents in that neighborhood. At least 50 of those same neighbors attended the recent Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to reiterate their opposition to the Hughes site. The Fruit Street property, however, offers 257 acres of townowned land. Along with town wells and open space, there already are turf and grass fields operated by the Parks and Recreation Commission. In a recent interview, Parks and Recreation Commission Chairman Dan Terry discussed the pros and cons of the Fruit Street location. “Although we haven’t picked an exact location, there is plenty of land, and parking should not be a problem,” he said. Dog park page 7
By Michelle Murdock Contributing Writer
think that [a 3 percent increase] is fabulous.” The budget increase also includes the expansion of the arts program down to the kindergarten level. “We are one of the only districts in the area whose visual arts programming doesn’t begin until the first grade,” said Dubeau. Dubeau also pointed out that the budget for Marathon includes a $4,000 decrease in the supply
Developer Chuck Joseph appeared before selectmen at their Dec. 18 meeting, seeking the board’s support for a public/private co-venture that would help to solve the town’s downtown parking issues. Joseph presented a concept plan for the Hopkinton Village Center project, located at 25 and 35 Main St., which proposes to build six buildings, with two units per building, for a total of 12 condominiums. In addition to parking for the use of the condominium owners, the concept plan includes a 32-space municipal parking lot with a preliminary estimated development cost of approximately $500,000; a cost to be borne by the town in exchange for the gift of the land on which it will be built. The current property has three driveways leading out to Main Street, one of which Joseph said will be eliminated and replaced with a lighted walkway to the municipal lot. Understanding that the funding to construct the parking lot will need to be approved by Town Meeting, Joseph said it would be helpful to know beforehand if the project had the support of the selectmen. With respect to timing, Joseph hoped to move the project forward ahead of the downtown corridor project and is tentatively seeking funding approval at the May 2019 Annual Town Meeting. John Coutinho was happy to see a proposal aimed to improve downtown parking, saying he had been asking about parking for the last three to four years. “Conceptually, it seems to work,” Coutinho said.
Budget page 15
Parking page 4
Hopkinton High School lacrosse player Conor Murphy, who helped save a choking teammate’s life last year by performing the Heimlich maneuver, was recognized by the Boston Celtics during their home game on Jan. 2 as part of the team’s Heroes Among Us program.
‘Hard decisions’ ahead after presentation of school budget requests By Melissa Orff Contributing Writer
T
he Hopkinton Public School district continued discussions on the FY20 budget by presenting individual department budgets during the Dec. 20 School Committee meeting. The administration for a number of the district’s buildings laid out its budget for next year, speaking to increases that “support continuous improvement” and that “align with
Developer proposes partnership to increase downtown parking
Hopkinton Public School’s vision and values.” At Marathon Elementary, school officials are asking for an increase of 3 percent, or $105,000. The major drivers of the budget increase are personnel, with a request for a part-time (0.5) librarian, a part-time (0.5) adjustment counselor, and an additional kindergarten teacher. “We are ever growing,” said Marathon Principal Lauren Dubeau. “Given the increase in the number of students [over the past year], I
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