Wareham residents can look forward to a 2023 full of development, innovation and improvement. From dog parks to sewer pipes and an updated Main Street, there are numerous projects that are planned to meet benchmarks and come to fruition throughout the new year.

Development

Between the ambitious plan to shift the use of municipal buildings and the urban renewal plan for Wareham Village, drastic makeovers are planned for Wareham.

Town Administrator Derek Sullivan proposed to move town departments and the Council on Aging to the former Decas school building. The Multi-Service Center would become a community center, and the Police Department would relocate to the current Town Hall in August.

“The Select Board is supportive of the plan,” said Board member Tricia Wurts. 

Select Board Chair Judith Whiteside said that the town is currently waiting to receive cost estimates for the project. 

Sullivan could not be reached for comment.

The Wareham Redevelopment Authority is moving forward with its 20-year urban renewal plan for Wareham Village. If approved by the state, the plan would drastically change the layout of Main Street and Merchants Way.

“The main goal is to revitalize Wareham Village,” said Redevelopment Authority Chairman Dan Butler.

 The Redevelopment Authority presented three concepts for the project during a meeting on Dec. 1. All concepts included the construction of mixed-use buildings and new residential development.

Butler said that the the Redevelopment Authority will continue to collaborate with the Planning Board to make necessary changes to the town’s zoning bylaws.  

“We have to... entice developers to come into the Village and begin to buy properties, raze them or expand and improve on them,” he said. 

The Redevelopment Authority will discuss further plans for the project at its next meeting on Thursday, Jan. 26.

The controversy surrounding solar development in town will also continue into 2023.

Proposed solar farms on Fearing Hill Road, Charge Pond Road, 0 Route 25 and 150 Tihonet Road created concerns about hazardous waste and water contamination.

“It’s getting more controversial as we go on,” said Ken Buckland, Director of Planning and Community Development. 

On Nov. 16, 2022, the Wareham Conservation Commission denied a permit for the Fearing Hill solar project due to its potential negative environmental impact.

Improvement

2023 will bring a multitude of infrastructure improvements to Wareham.

At last fall’s Town Meeting, residents voted to replace the deteriorating sewer pipes in Swifts Beach. 

Director of Water and Pollution Control Guy Campinha said that the pipes in must be updated from a gravity sewer line, which allows sewage to naturally flow downhill, to a low-pressure sewer line which uses pump stations to move the sewage. Low-pressure sewer lines do not have joints. Instead, sewage flows in a straight line, reducing the possibility of leakage.

Campinha said that pipes near Bay View Road were replaced in November, but the rest of the Swifts Beach sewer infrastructure is in need of repair.

Colder weather has delayed construction, which Campinha said will start in spring or summer. 

Safer roads and better business are in store for Cranberry Plaza in 2023.

Select Board Member Alan Slavin said that construction on Route 6 and Route 28 will be completed by spring.

The new and improved Cranberry Plaza will have a traffic light at the intersection, a bike path and sidewalks on both sides of the road. 

“It will bring safety,” Slavin said. “We’ve seen well over 100 accidents a year from people taking left-hand turns on that road in either direction. It also should make for better business overall.”

Slavin added that similar construction projects, like improvements to Route 9 in Natick, bring increased traffic once the improvements have been made.

Schools

According to Superintendent Matthew D’Andrea, the Wareham School district plans to address learning loss by providing all-encompassing student support throughout 2023.

The amount of Wareham students that “met or exceeded expectations” with their MCAS scores drastically declined between 2019 and 2022. 

“As we see students who might need additional help we provide them with lots of in school resources,” D’Andrea said. “We provide blocks of time for students to receive help that they might  need in areas such as literacy and ensure that they get the support they need to get caught up.” he said.

In addition to declining test scores across the district, the amount of students who were chronically absent increased from 16.3 percent in 2019 to 35 percent in 2022 resulting in post-pandemic learning loss.

“We are making sure that we are looking at that assessment data, making sure that we are providing good core instruction for our students in the classroom,” he said.

Along with tracking testing data and providing in-school support for students, the school district plans to offer high school students opportunities for career preparedness in 2023. 

According to D’Andrea, a career pathway program that is focused on public safety is being developed and planned to be active in the fall of 2023.

“Kids who are interested in a public safety career can develop a background and necessary skills for a career,” said D’Andrea.

Similar to districts across the country, the Wareham School District experienced a shortage of school bus drivers in 2022.

According to D’Andrea, recent hires have helped to aid the situation but the district will continue to asses the need for drivers.

“Hopefully we wont have a shortage [in 2023],” he said. “Hopefully these hire will put that behind us.”

Community

The Onset Bay Association will bring back beloved seasonal events in 2023.

Onset Bay Association Executive Director Kat Jones said that Wareham can look forward to ChalkFest, fireworks, family beach walks and more. 

However, the association is taking a break from the annual Blues Festival this year. 

“We had a tough event last year,” Jones said. “We didn’t do as well as anticipated.”

Music lovers need not worry about the Summer of Love Concert Series, which will return for 2023.

The Onset Bay Association will host an open mic fundraiser at the 1883 Lounge on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m., with proceeds going toward the concert series. 

Dog lovers can rejoice as the long-awaited Wareham Dog Park plans to open in early spring. 

“All of the major construction and development should be done in the next couple of months,” said Wareham Dog Park Affiliation President Corey Blanchard. 

Whiteside is optimistic about the changes coming to Wareham, and thinks that the rest of the town should be, too.

“It’s an exciting and positive time,” she said.