PRST-STD U.S. Postage PAID Hopkinton, MA 01748 Permit No. 109 ECRWSS Postal Patron
HOPKINTON INDEPENDENT Vol. 19 Number 18
September 27, 2018
Fire dept. annouces staff changes
Board decision paves way for parking lot
Chief: Even with new hires, ‘department at capacity’ By Jim Kleinkauf Contributing Writer
By Jim Kleinkauf Contributing Writer
Staff changes page 4
PHOTO/JIM KLEINKAUF
Hopkinton Fire Chief Steve Slaman sat down with the Independent earlier this month to talk about staff changes and challenges ahead for the Fire Department. As for changes, Slaman was in the process of hiring the second of two new firefighters, which will bring the department to a total of 29. “We had requested four new positions and the town agreed to two,” said Slaman. While the department was still in hiring negotiations with one candidate, the other, John de Rivera, 23, of Northbridge, is in his first month with the Fire Department. A former Northbridge firefighter, de Rivera has a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a paramedic certificate from Quinsigamond Community College.
Hopkinton Fire Chief Steve Slaman is flanked by new Training Officer John Sheridan, (l) and new Firefighter Jonn Rivera (r)
In the last year, we responded to 2,253 calls for service. Out of those, 1,900 were effective responses. It’s the remaining 253 that were not which concern me. Steve Slaman Fire Chief
Residents and visitors enjoy Polyarts Festival By Michelle Murdock Contributing Writer
PHOTO/ SARAH DUCKETT
The 44th annual Polyarts Festival, showcasing a total of 70 vendors, took place on Saturday, Sept.15 at the Hopkinton Town Common. With the weather cooperating and providing a bright sunny day, attendance was up this year resulting in all of the food vendors, including the Friends of the Library’s famous apple crisp, selling out before the event’s end at 4 p.m. Hopkinton resident Carol Cheney, along with her sister Leah, performed as members of the band Alter Ego, a Polyarts regular every year. Polyarts page 13
Attendees visit one of the booths at the Polyarts Festival.
The site plan for a proposed school bus parking lot to be built behind Hopkinton High School was approved Sept. 17 by the town Planning Board. The proposed parking lot will eliminate athletic field #9, making it possible for buses to drop off students at the rear school entrance. Town Meeting in May approved $400,000 for the parking lot. The project is in line with the campus master plan to improve safety at the High School by removing the bus traffic from where parents drop off students. The plan adds also parking spaces at the high school. The final plan includes enough space for 30 buses and 35 bus drivers’ cars. The proposed parking lot will also allow Hopkinton to collect approximately $50,000 in excise taxes, which is now being collected by Ashland, where the buses are currently parked. When the school district applied for site plan approval and went out for bids in June, it was hoped that the parking lot project could be completed during the summer before school began again in the fall. That schedule proved to be overly optimistic in light of a number of realities. The first was a series of protracted discussions between the school district’s engineering consultant, World Tech Engineering, and that of the Planning Board’s, Beta Engineering. It took three public hearings over the course of the summer, for the two firms to come to agreement in the areas of storm water management, lighting and landscaping. Money turned out to be another stumbling block. Project Engineer Bill Mertz, of
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Planning Board page 27