New school, Tremont Nail Factory top Town Meeting agenda

Oct 20, 2018

Tomorrow, Monday, Oct. 22, Town Meeting voters will be asked to place a $90 million new school proposal on the November election ballot, fund a $1.4 million clean up of the Tremont Nail Factory complex and revamp the Onset Bandshell.

Wareham’s Fall Town Meeting begins at 7 p.m. Oct. 22 in the Wareham High School auditorium. All registered voters may attend and participate.

Brief summaries on some of the major agenda items are below with links to more information. 

$90 million proposed elementary school

School officials are seeking voter approval to spend $40 million to build and equip a new consolidated elementary school to replace the Decas and Minot Forest elementary schools. Tentatively named the Decas School at Minot Forest, the new school would be built at the site of the current Minot Forest School. The 159,000-square-foot building would be designed to educate 1,020 students from kindergarten through Grade 4. The new school would cost a total of $90 million. With the state committed to contributing $50 million, the $40 million represents the town’s share.

At Town Meeting, voters aren’t being asked to build the school. They are being asked to approving funding for the project. A “yes” vote in would allow the town to borrow the $40 million and increase taxes over the next 20 years by the amount needed to repay the debt. A ballot question in the state’s general election on Nov. 6 will determine whether or not plans to build the school go forward.

For more information on the school, check out the link below:

Questions, answers on proposed $90 million school

Rezoning Tremont Nail for new businesses

Voters will be asked to allow manufacturing and other uses at the historic Tremont Nail Factory complex. Currently, a Colorado-based marijuana manufacturer is interested in opening a facility at the site. Town officials announced recently that the company could generate more than $2 million for the town. 

For more information on Organa Brands and the rezoning, see below: 

Potential deal between Wareham, marijuana manufacturer worth $2.4 million pending zoning change

Environmental clean up at Tremont Nail Factory complex

Voters will be asked to approve spending $1.4 million of Community Preservation funds to remove contaminates from the Tremont Nail Factory District complex.

Each year, the Community Preservation Committee awards money to projects through the Community Preservation Act in four categories: open space, historic preservation, affordable housing and recreation. The money is raised through a 3 percent surcharge on property tax bills. Spending the funds must be approved at Town Meeting.

The $1.4 million request to clean up the Tremont Nail Factory Complex would pave the way for more economic development at the site, said Selectman Peter Teitelabum.

Starting in 1819, the site was home to the Tremont Nail Company. For more than 100 years, cut nails and other products were manufactured in the complex before the company moved to Mansfield. In 2004, the town of Wareham bought the site using Community Preservation Act funds. Teitelbaum said the clean up is being mandated by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Teitelbaum said if the funds are approved the work is expected to take 12 months.

Sign bylaw changes

Proposed changes to a town bylaw regarding signs will go before Town Meeting voters on Oct. 22 with the goal of alleviating public confusion and adding enforcement options.

The item was added to the Town Meeting agenda by Selectmen at the request of Planning and Community Development Director Ken Buckland back in September as a way of cleaning up neglected and forgotten signs around town.

One such proposed change to the bylaw would allow fines to be applied directly to a violator’s property tax bill by the Town Treasurer, if approved.

For more on these proposed changes, see below:

Reworked sign bylaw to go before voters at Town Meeting

Harbormaster funds transfer

A transfer of $146,330 collected from harbor service permits will go before voters at the Oct. 22 Town Meeting to fund what Wareham Harbormaster Garry Buckminster called a “medley of projects.” 

If approved, the transfer would place this money in the Harbormaster’s Maintenance and Improvements account to install new floating decks in Onset and conduct a dredge survey of the town. It would also be used to upgrade the communications systems used by Department of Natural Resources Officers and pay for leases on several pieces of equipment.

For more on the transfer, see the link below:

Wareham Harbormaster requests $146,330 transfer at Town Meeting for new docks, dredging survey

New Lillian Gregerman Bandshell

An agenda item put forward by the Onset Bay Association will ask voters at the Fall Town Meeting to approve up to $333,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to replace the Lillian Gregerman Bandshell in Onset. The aging structure at 1 Union Ave. hosts a variety of events during the summer such as free concerts and movie nights which routinely draw crowds numbering in the hundreds.

According to association President Kat Jones, the replacement of the bandshell critical to its continued success as a summertime destination and economic hub.

“There’s only so much cosmetic repairs can do,” Jones explained. “We’re at the point where it’s time for a complete overhaul.”

According to Jones, the proposed replacement would take the bandshell back to its Victorian roots in style.  

The existing benches at the structure would be restored and brick stairwells would be built between aisles to prevent further erosion when it rains. Landscaping as well as the installation of additional seating, audio equipment, lighting and handicap accessible areas are also included in the association’s replacement plans.

For more on this request, see the link below:

Onset Bay Association to request $333,00 at Town Meeting for new bandshell