Here are the posted open, public Southborough committee and board meetings for this week* along with my selected highlights from the agendas.
These days, some meetings are over zoom, some in-person, and others are hybrids that allow both participation through both options.**
As always, be aware that changes to the meeting schedule (and agendas) are known to happen throughout the week.*** For an updated list of meetings, visit the Town website.
Monday, August 15, 2022
- Capital Planning Committee Meeting, 7:30 pm (agenda and materails) Agenda Highlights: Vote on recommendations for roads and/or sidewalks for consideration in road maintenance bid contract; Request for adding Fire/Police Shelter Relocation for radios to Capital Plan (see related post for more background)
Tuesday, August 16, 2022
- Trails Committee Meeting, 7:30 pm (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Closeout project for Aqueduct Connector Trail; Peninsula Trail update; MassTrails Grant contracting and project kickoff planning; ARPA funding update; crosswalks next step; Shed and Tool Purchase; Choate Fund 2022 grant next steps; Constitution Drive trail system; Discuss using CSX railroad causeway
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
- Registrars of Voters Meeting, 5:30 pm @ Town House Hearing Room, 17 Common St (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Annual votes authorizing Town Clerk for work related to elections and hiring of election workers; Discuss upcoming State Primary and State Election (including details around vote-by-mail and in-person early voting, provisional ballots, and potential audit)
- Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting, 7:00 pm (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Public Hearings on 359 Turnpike Rd/68 Flagg Road (special permit/variance to change directional sign for Wendy’s to sign for Nan’s Market), and 250 Turnpike Rd special permit (to convert existing site from office space to self-storage)
Thursday, August 18, 2022
- Golf Course Committee Meeting, 9:00 am (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Status/follow-up of safety concerns and updating course master plan
- Joint Meeting of Policy Development Subcommittees for Northborough, Southborough, and Northborough-Southborough Regional School Committees, 5:00 pm (agenda) Agenda Highlights: 2nd review of “Small Necessities Leave Policy”; 1st Review of polices related to tobacco, drug and alcohol, smoking, wellness, pregnant students, and head injury and concussions (Click here to register for webinar)
Friday, August 19, 2022
- Library Board of Trustees Meeting, 11:00 am (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Library Assistant Job Search Update; Review Pending Library Capital Items; Community Center Exploratory Committee; Façade Restoration Project; Beginner’s Guide to Southborough Library; YA Collection Diversity Audit
*I don’t include closed Executive Sessions unless the agenda indicates the possibility of some action in an open public session at the opening or closing of the meeting.
**Details on watching meetings remotely:
- Town committees and boards that advertise remote meetings can be joined on zoom (details here). They are also streamed live and saved for replay via the Town’s YouTube Channel for Remote Meetings. (Though, occasionally there are glitches.) If they don’t advertise a remote option, assume that only in-person attendance is allowed.
***Note: After last week’s post, an agenda for an Economic Development Committee meeting did pop up. But the virtual meeting ended up not being held due to technical issues. They are trying to see if they can reschedule for later this week.
Presumably, the really disastrous condition of Southborough’s main roads – Cordaville north of the public safety building, the Main and Newton intersection, to name two – will be handled in some other way or are baked into unfinished projects that are already in progress. I hope…
If not, the only side street to touch is Winchester, where the pavement is failing into gravel on its north side. The rest have serious cracking, for sure, and crummy cold patches, but the poorly done trench on Cordaville has been there for years, and the Main and Newton intersection is basically craters of the moon during the ongoing drainage project (although I assume the project includes a full repaving).