Needham’s Select Board will discuss preparations for the Pollard Middle School funding vote when it meets Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 6 p.m. The agenda also includes the town’s annual financial audit and updates on railroad crossing improvements and road work.
The Oct. 19 Special Town Meeting will consider a $322.66 million appropriation for the new middle school. According to the town’s financing report, the total project cost is $325.4 million, including $2.75 million previously approved for the feasibility phase.
The Massachusetts School Building Authority has approved a maximum grant of $80.64 million. The town estimates it would borrow approximately $242.96 million to cover its share of the new appropriation.
The Finance Committee voted 5-4 on Wednesday, Oct. 7, to recommend the borrowing, according to the Pollard project’s official meeting updates. Borrowing authorization requires a two-thirds majority at Town Meeting.
Residents must also approve a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion by a simple majority in the Nov. 3 election. The ballot question would allow the town to raise property taxes above the levy limit to make payments on the project’s debt.
Town Manager Katie King is scheduled to brief the board on Special Town Meeting preparations at 8:10 p.m. The warrant also includes two zoning amendments from the Large House Study Review Committee, a tree preservation bylaw and a proposed single-property historic district at 178 South St.
Quiet-zone and road updates
King and Public Works Director Carys Lustig are scheduled to present a quiet-zone update at 7:15 p.m.
The $8.2 million project would upgrade safety equipment at five public railroad crossings, allowing the town to seek a designation that eliminates routine train horn blasts. Engineers would retain discretion to sound horns when safety requires it, according to the town’s quiet-zone overview.
The May 11 Special Town Meeting approved borrowing for the improvements. Engineering consultants Tighe & Bond and Benesch are working with the MBTA and commuter rail operator Keolis on the project’s scope and schedule.
The project is among the major commitments shaping the board’s priorities. At its Aug. 15 goals-setting meeting, Select Board member Kevin Keane said the town needed to focus on Pollard, Stephen Palmer and the quiet zone, as the Needham Observer reported.
A Chapter 90 road-work update follows at 7:30 p.m., with King, Lustig and Streets and Transportation Director Tyler Gabrielski scheduled to present.
Audit and other business
According to the Oct. 13 meeting agenda, independent auditor CBIZ CPAs, Deputy Town Manager and Finance Director David Davison, and Assistant Finance Director Cecilia Simchak will present the fiscal year 2025 audit at 6:20 p.m.
Deputy Town Manager Liz LaRosee is scheduled to discuss the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s draft combined sewer overflow control plan at 7:45 p.m. Support Services Manager Myles Tucker will lead a discussion of a proposed policy for purchasing and selling secondhand goods at 8 p.m.
The board will also hold Eversource grant-of-location public hearings for utility work at 84 Wildwood Drive and 47 Robinwood Avenue and consider appointments to the Needham Council for Arts and Culture and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Residents can attend at Town Hall, 1471 Highland Ave., or join through the Zoom link in the agenda. Individual agenda times may shift as discussions proceed.
The board encourages residents planning to speak during public comment to notify the Town Manager’s Office in advance at [email protected] or (781) 455-7500, ext. 71204. Town offices will be closed Monday, Oct. 12, for Indigenous Peoples Day.
