FRAMINGHAM – Some news tidbits from last night’s Friends of Saxonville meeting:
There are several city projects in the works for Saxonville, District 2 City Councilor Brandon Ward told the meeting, including Central Street water and sewer improvements (see Central Street Water & Sewer Project to Affect Traffic On & Off Through Fall 2027 ) and possible upgrades to Reardon Park, Danforth Street Park, and Simpson Park.
The McGrath Square reconstruction project, which was included in Mayor Sisitsky’s proposed capital budget, made it through the City Council Finance Subcommittee, Ward said. The full Council still has to vote on that capital budget, but Ward expressed optimism that the project will be funded.
When finished, he expects a revamped McGrath Square will “fundamentally change” the feel of central Saxonville – “especially as a place that’s friendly for pedestrians, that encourages people to park and get out of their car and visit our local businesses.”
Friends of Saxonville Board member Steve Weisman said if the project is budgeted, there will likely be another public meeting in late fall, with a complete design plan expected by Spring 2027. Construction might begin in the spring/summer of 2027 and would take at least two years, he said. The project covers areas immediately around the Central/Concord/Danforth/Elm intersection.
Renovation of the historic Athenaeum Community Hall on Concord Street is making progress, but there’s still a long way to go, FoS Board member Jan Harrington said. It is under budget and on deadline, but the windows won’t be delivered until next month, there’s no paint yet (what you see on the building is primer), and the current project only covers three sides of the exterior (not the rear) and not the interior at all.
Built in 1847, the hall had many uses over the year, including as a meeting place for community groups such as local veterans. Now the only available public meeting space north of Rte. 9 is the 50-seat community room at the McAuliffe Library, Weisman noted.
The 10th Friends of Saxonville community mixer will be on June 4 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the new Big Blue Swim School, 235 Old Connecticut Path (in the Stop & Shop plaza). Like all the mixers, it is free and the public is welcome.
The center section of the Carol Getchell Nature Trail is under design to make it accessible for wheelchairs and strollers (as the north and south sections currently are), with construction expected this autumn. Dave Anderson noted that one of the best things about this Saxonville gem is that on most of the trail you don’t hear any traffic noise.
People can access the trail at the end of Little Farms Road on one end and Danforth Street & Sudbury Landing on the other. (Stairs down from the Stapleton School area have not been renovated.)
There will be a community paint day on May 23 from noon to 3 pm at Saxonville Beach to help paint a beach house mural designed by students at Keefe Tech.
FoS is partnering with Keep Framingham Beautiful to host a Keep Saxonville Beautiful day on June 20 from 9 am to noon, when volunteers will be picking up trash around the village. There will be more information on the Keep Framingham Beautiful Facebook page.
Edwards Church will be observing its 200th year next year. There will likely be one or more community events around that milestone.
It is going to be a difficult budget year, both State Rep. Jack Lewis and Councilor Ward told the meeting, partly due to factors beyond local and state control. “None of us decided to bomb Iran a couple months ago, and thus gas prices have gone up,” Lewis said. “This year’s state budget is leaner than I’ve ever seen in my 10 years in the House.
“The pandemic was bad, but I’ll be honest, we had partners in the federal government, and so we were able to secure funds to balance what could have been really bad for our municipalities and our state. We’re now at a point where we’re not getting that support. . . . And we are bracing ourselves for what could be up to a billion-dollar cut in our budget next year if this federal administration follows through with some of their threats around Medicaid and Medicare.”
He noted that while in past years there have often been last-minute increases in local aid, “That’s not this year. There will be no savior on a white horse coming.”
Ward noted that while Chapter 70 state education funding rates may have risen slightly for Framingham, the loss of 700 students this year vs last year means that “we come into this budget cycle with way less Chapter 70 funds than we would have had in past years.”
“Chapter 90 funds — our road and bridge funds — are up, which is great, but as we alluded to, costs are going up as well. So a 0.78% increase doesn’t necessarily always match inflation. And then UGA, the unrestricted general government aid, took a real hit as well — that’s another key way we fund our budget.”
Next year’s budget is still in the process of being hammered out.
Also last night, Rep. Lewis invited residents to call his office if they need help – even if the problem might be federal or local. “If you ever have an issue and you don’t know where to turn, or your neighbors do — even if you know that it’s not a state issue. We have called embassies in the Middle East before on behalf of constituents to try to help expedite a visa for somebody to come over and be with their sister who was dying of brain cancer. We get creative. . . . there’s no magic wand, but the benefit of our jobs is people pick up the phone.”
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