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Volume 13, Issue 32 AAAAAugust 6, 2020ugust 6, 2020ugust 6, 2020ugust 6, 2020ugust 6, 2020

School Nurse Leader Jill Driscoll discussed problems and concerns she sees with reopening the schools later this fall.COURTESY PHOTO

Senior Centernow open onlimited basis

School Committee hearsfrom officials on school return

JefJefJefJefJeff Sullivf Sullivf Sullivf Sullivf SullivanananananStaff Reporter

Norwood Senior Center DirectorKerri McCarthy said to date the Cen-ter has continued to serve residentsduring the COVID-19 pandemic,though all of its usual programminghas had to be virtual.

“We closed programming but wenever closed services,” she said.“We’ve always been available to helppeople who needed any type of assis-tance or referral.”

But things have changed. McCarthysaid the Senior Center opened up forits first classes since the start of thepandemic, though at significantly re-duced participation rates due to socialdistancing.

“I just looked into attendance fromlast year compared to today and lastyear there were 176 people at the Se-nior Center,” she said. “Today, weopened with limited programming,just two exercise classes, and we hadI think it was 14 people, which is kindof sad, I know.”

McCarthy said they’re taking ex-tra precautions to help keep their pa-trons safe and healthy.

“What we’re doing now is limit-ing the number of participants in anexercise class because we have to havethat 14 feet of distance,” she said.“We’re limiting exercise programs,but residents can call and register touse the fitness room. We have twotreadmills and a bike in there. Peoplecan sign in to use the computer labstoo, but there is no indoor socializing

Senior CentSenior CentSenior CentSenior CentSenior CenterererererContinued on page 6

Schools RSchools RSchools RSchools RSchools ReopeningeopeningeopeningeopeningeopeningContinued on page 2

MarMarMarMarMary Ellen Gambony Ellen Gambony Ellen Gambony Ellen Gambony Ellen GambonStaff Reporter

Several Town and School Depart-ment leaders met before the SchoolCommittee on Wednesday, July 29 totalk about their efforts to make the stu-dents’ return to class as safe as possible.Yet everyone from parents to staff tokids will need to be educated on exactlywhat going to school will mean duringthe COVID-19 pandemic.

Paul Riccardi, the SchoolDepartment’s director of buildings andgrounds and Town-wide Facilities Man-ager, told the committee that the custo-dial staff has been in the school build-ings cleaning “when the world stoppedfull-time” on March 23 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

Coping with viruses is nothing newfor the department, according to Riccardi.The department bought outside sprayersthree years ago. To help combat uptickswith flu, stomach viruses or strep throat,the custodial staff sprays the buildings.

The school buildings themselvespresent challenges for the return toschool, in part because of their age.

“As you know, none of the elemen-tary schools have central air condition-ing,” Riccardi said. “Most of them haveboilers with gas heat, and the Balch hasa boiler with oil heat.”

In the spring through the summer, aswell as in the early fall, the classrooms’temperatures can soar into the 80s to 90s.

“We have fans in the rooms, but un-der COVID we can’t use those fans be-cause we can’t move the air at a high ve-

locity,” Riccardi continued. “I envisiona bunch of little kids trying to keep theirmasks on, and these rooms potentiallyheating up. That is a great concern tome.”

At Norwood High School, there iscentral air and heat, with the ability toopen windows to circulate air to up to30 percent air. The department is look-ing at the ability to purge the buildingwith fresh air twice, once during theday and once at night.

The Coakley Middle School is oldand has a mix of outside air becausethe windows are open on a regular ba-sis.

In the school buildings manned bytwo custodians, COVID-19 presents a

Page 2Page 2Page 2 The Norwood Record AAAAAugust 6, 2020ugust 6, 2020ugust 6, 2020ugust 6, 2020ugust 6, 2020

Norwood Police Dept.to participate in forum

on local policing

Schools Reopening continued from page 1


Norwood Police Department (NPD) Chief William Brookssaid he and the department will put their cards on the tablethis Thursday, Aug. 6 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. to discusswith residents how the department conducts its business.

Brooks said he feels that a lot of the rallies to either pro-test or applaud the police can sometimes become too divi-sive. He said the rally format can, oftentimes, create an ‘usversus them’ mentality, which can make it so that nothingreally gets accomplished.

“It strikes me that it would be better if people of varyingviews could gather in one place and talk about policing in aproductive way,” he said. “It is my hope that an event beingheld Thursday may accomplish that.”

Brooks said he and members of his command staff willbe available to talk with residents about just about every-thing concerning policing in Norwood, including use of forcereporting, taser use, de-escalation tactics, serving the men-tally ill and addicted, and how the department trains.

“We just want it to be a conversation about how we po-lice in Norwood,” he said. “We don’t do rallies, and we’renot conducting this forum – it’s being held by the NorwoodUnited for Peace and Justice. That being said, we’re work-ing very closely with them on this like we did during theGeorge Floyd Vigil.”

Brooks said though he and his fellow officers want to beas transparent as possible, they will not discuss specific in-cidents.

“We want to keep it as localized as possible, and we’repretty confident we can answer any question off the cuff, aslong as it’s not a specific incident, like ‘my brother-in-lawgot a speeding ticket when we think he shouldn’t have.’ Ifyou want to have those conversations we’re willing to havethem too, just have them in a one-on-one kind of way.”

Brooks said they will begin by answering questions of-ficers think residents will want to ask, but there will be aquestion and answer session as well. Any participant canask, ei ther by voice, sending questions [email protected] ahead of time or by

PPPPPolice Folice Folice Folice Folice ForumorumorumorumorumContinued on page 3

new challenge, because the nightcustodian has to come in earlierto help with the accommodationsfor lunch shifts and extended day.

“I’m concerned with - and I’llbe quite honest with you - we willpotentially have kids there until6:30,” Riccardi said. “The hoursdon’t work if we have to move upour evening custodian.”

The hybrid model, wherethere would be no in-class instruc-tion on Wednesdays, would allowfor deep cleaning of all touchedsurfaces on Wednesdays and Fri-day evenings.

“It is going to be a challenge,but I’m confident that we canwork our way through this,”Riccardi said.

He added that he is in “a hold-ing pattern” because he has to buyequipment as if the kids are goingback to school because, at thispoint, no one has heard otherwise.

Jill Driscoll, the School NurseLeader, said she has coordinatedher efforts with Riccardi to be ju-dicious in purchasing supplies.She asked that all staff and fami-lies come to school wearingmasks and come with a spare.

She praised a group calledMaking Masks in Norwood,which donated almost 500 clothmasks. Driscoll is in the processof purchasing KN95 masks,which are “a step down frommedical grade masks,” for popu-lations who cannot wear medical-grade masks. In addition, she isbuying face shields for kindergar-ten and special education students,as well as jackets, because “someof those students are very gener-ous with their personal secre-tions.”

Driscoll attended a meetingwith staff members a couple ofweeks ago, she said. Use of play-ground equipment is not recom-mended, but utilizing outdoorspace for classes was.

“If we go outside for maskbreaks, I’m sad to say it’s not go-ing to be a whole lot of fun,” shesaid, noting children will have tobe six feet apart.

“It’s not going to resembleanything close to what we feel likegoing to school is,” Driscolladded. “It’s very hard thing to con-template, because it just goesagainst everything we know andlove and understand about educat-ing children. But I do think thisvirus is only stoppable if we dothese things.”

Staffing may be a problem,because nurses cannot work re-motely, and some have small chil-dren. Some nurses also work inBoston hospitals, Driscoll noted.

Transportation is a key issue,according to Driscoll. While someparents have already indicated thatthey prefer to transport their chil-dren to school, this will create traf-fic jams.

“If you fix one problem, youcreate another problem,” she saidof the pandemic. Even with bus-ing, the driver cannot watch ev-eryone. Monitors may be needed.

Eating at school is a total un-known quantity at this point. Forexample, the Callahan holds 230students, but the cafeteria can onlysafely social distance 28.

Joan Giblin, Ph.D. askedabout gym classes. Driscoll saidthere was a suggestion from theDepartment of Elementary andSecondary Education (DESE)that gym could be held outside,and that exercise be more of prac-tices like yoga or resistance train-ing with movements performedusing one’s own body weight.

Norwood School Superinten-dent David Thomson, Ph.D. saidthat classes would involve yoga,tai chi, and activities like spacedpower walking.

“In general the only thing thatprobably will be similar to in-per-son school you knew from yourchildhood is that you will go intoa building,” he said. “What itlooks like inside of the building –most of that is going to be drasti-cally different. And I think parentsneed to understand that. And weneed to get that out to students aswell.”

Group activities will no longerbe performed, for safety’s sake.Throwing a ball could spread thevirus.

“I think the most importantmessage that I have is that this isreally a community initiative,”Driscoll said in summation. “Iknow there are some people whoare buying into the, ‘This is kindof ridiculous’ mindset. But it re-ally isn’t. It’s science. And we re-ally need to pull together as aschool community and as a

Norwood community and do thethings that are going to suppressthe number of people who are af-fected by this virus.”

Norwood Health DepartmentDirector Sigalle Reiss also gave apresentation before the SchoolCommittee. She explained thatNorwood has worked hard to“flatten the curve” since the ini-tial spike in March. There wereno new cases in the past week.Reiss said that four percent of thecases overall were in people age19 and younger.

“It’s really important to knowthere’s no such thing as zero risk,”Reiss added.

Maev Bodenhofer asked if itwould help to have cohorts inschools.

Reiss said it would help tokeep cohorts small because therewould be less children affectedand a reduced need for contacttracing.

Finance Commission ChairAnne Marie Haley said she wastold she will not know what thestate’s budget is until October.She also thought the override bud-get, which would have been ableto have been spent for schoolneeds, will now have to go towardsanitizer and PPE.

Haley asked if there could bea sharing of ideas between thechairs of the School Committee,Selectmen, General ManagerTony Mazzucco and the Fin Com,as well as Thomson, to discusscommon COVID-related finan-cial concerns.

Thomson said he did not feellike he could participate in thiswhile he was concentrating ongetting the children back to schoolwith all of the moving parts in-volved until after Labor Day.

He also presented a secondupdate of the reopening plan hegave last week. This is availableon the school department website.Much of the information is thesame.

Some of the changes wouldinclude transportation aspects.Buses could only transport aboutone-third of the previous capac-ity because of COVID, or about24 per bus.

His new catch phrase,Thomson said, is “fitting squarepegs into round holes.”

There still is no informationon federal funding. DESE is lim-iting the school year to 170 days.The school start day will besometime around September 16,but that is unclear now.

What Thomson wanted to re-mind parents of is that the viruscan spread quickly, even thoughit seems that the curve has flat-tened now.

Right now, Thomson is look-ing at the hybrid model dis-cussed at the last meeting. Headded that during the year, theremay need to be pivoting be-tween models “at a moment’snotice.”

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Police ForumContinued from page 2

writing down questions on an index card. Organizers are ask-ing participants not to bring signs.

“We won’t stop you from bringing a sign, but we just don’twant to promote that kind of rally atmosphere where every-body picks a side and just starts yelling at each other fromacross the street,” he said. “We don’t want that.”

For more information on the event and Norwood Unitedfor Peace and Justice, go to https://www.facebook.com/norwoodunited/?tn-str=k*F

Attorney David Hern and developer Derek Fitzgerald came before the Planning Board to discuss someissues they have found while working with the Mixed Use Overlay District in the Downtown.

COURTESY PHOTO

Developers: MUOD isn’t enoughfor Downtown revitalization

Planning BoarPlanning BoarPlanning BoarPlanning BoarPlanning BoardddddContinued on page 5

The Norwood PlanningBoard met on Monday, Aug.3, with developer DerekFitzgerald and attorneyDavid Hern to discuss theMixed-Use Overlay District(MUOD) approved for mostof the Downtown area at lastyear’s Town Meeting.

Hern acknowledged that ittook a lot of work to get theMUOD in place, which re-quired a two-thirds thresholdvote at Town Meeting – andthat some residents can be ve-hemently against density,Hern and members of theBoard agreed – but Hern andFitzgerald said for the currentproperty market and the costsof design and construction, itis still just not enough tomake the numbers work fordevelopers.

“As written, the MUODprovision, while they’re agreat improvement as far asdensity over the original by-law provisions, the currentdensity allowances under theMUOD are probably not go-ing to work very well formost development and rede-velopment projects,” Hernsaid. “The cost of land, sitework and the cost of con-struction will just not makea project profitable with thelimitations we have.”


Hern said he andFitzgerald came to discusswith the board how its mem-bers would feel about givinga project some leeway.Fitzgerald said he’s currentlyin discussions with a landowner on Vernon Street fortwo parcels equaling a halfacre of land. Under theMUOD, that would allow anincreased density over theoriginal zoning of about 15 to16 units.

“The problem is that thecost of acquiring and build-ing isn’t going to work withthat limitation of 15 units orso,” Hern said.

Fitzgerald said he’d needabout double what’s allowedby special permit under theMUOD, as the as-of-rightnumbers still reflect the oldzoning law. Town PlannerPaul Halkiotis said, unfortu-nately, this is not the firsttime he’s heard this from apotential developer.

“This is the fifth or sixthtime I’ve heard this alreadyand we thought we hadpushed the envelope about ashigh as we could to get thetwo-thirds vote at TownMeeting. This is a problemthat has been in the back-ground and sooner or later, ifwe want to see some projectsin the Downtown area, we’reprobably going to have to ad-dress this,” he said.

Hern said he believes theMUOD gives the PlanningBoard leeway to allow den-sity greater than allowed byspecial permit in the MUOD,and felt that if the Board re-ally wanted a project to moveforward, it could allow 30some-odd units. Board mem-bers however, said theydidn’t think “leeway” fallsunder that definition.

“I’m probably one of thefew people in Norwood whothinks apartments in the rightplace, done correctly, isokay,” said member ErniePaciorkowski. “If we allow16 and you want to get 17, wemay have some leeway there,but to get to 32, that’s a big


There is no going backto normal

Letters to the EditorOPINIONNORWOOD OFFICIALSDON’T SEETHE BIG PICTURE

To the Editor:Town officials in

Norwood seem to be mesmer-ized by apartment complexesand the developers who buildthem. You would think bynow Norwood would haveenough apartments, but no,we will soon have ForbesHill, the Doll House Museum

Development, St. Catherine’sRectory, Washington Street,Chapel Street and the Skyrestaurant development. IfTown officials have theirway apartment buildingswill be up and down Route1 . Then see how manystores and industrial com-plexes are mixed in withthe apartments. What both-ers me is Town off ic ialsnever seem to link rising

town costs and the need fornew schools etc...to the risingnumber of apartments. Checkyour rising tax bills. I feelthis Town will soon be hav-ing more financial problemswith the need for more over-rides etc… Norwood willsoon be not the great place tolive that is has been in thepast.

Henry GrahamNorwood

Norwood participates inCOVID -19 Assistance Program

The Town of NorwoodCommunity Planning & Eco-nomic Development Depart-ment, along with 22 othercommunities participated ina regional grant applicationthat will receive funding toprovide aid to local smallbusinesses suffering eco-nomic hardship related to thepandemic. In total the 23communities received$4,950,000 in funding fromthe State Department ofHousing & Community De-velopment. This funding ispart of the $19.6 millionawarded through the feder-ally-funded Community De-velopment Block Grant(CDBG) program.

The grant award for these23 communities will be uti-

lized to award individualgrants of up to $10,000 formicroenterprise businesses.A microenterprise is definedas a commercial enterprisethat has 5 or fewer employ-ees, 1 or more of whom ownsthe enterprise and must be afor-profit entity. Businesstype exclusions to the grantinclude: Real estate rentals/sales businesses, businessesowned by persons under age18, businesses that arechains, liquor stores, weap-ons/firearms dealers, lobby-ists or Cannabis-related busi-nesses.

The MassachusettsGrowth Capital Corporation(“MGCC”) will administerand oversee the grant pro-gram; Norwood’s Depart-

ment of Community Planning& Economic Developmentwill help advertise the pro-gram locally as well as be anintermediary source of infor-mation for local business.

The communities that arepart of this coalition include:Ashland, Beverly,Burlington, Canton, Con-cord, Dedham, Essex, Lex-ington, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marlborough, Melrose,Milton, Natick, North Read-ing, Norwood, Randolph,Reading, Sharon,Southborough, Stoneham,Watertown, Winchester orWoburn. An application willbecome available in the com-ing weeks with an expectedstart date in late summer/early fall.

Revolution at Charlwell (Charlwell House) at 305 Walpole Street celebrated being COVID free for allresidents and staff by hosting a “drive by box barbecue lunch” to thank first responders on July 23rd. Abanner thanking Charlwell staff for their dedication was unveiled at the front entrance of the nursinghome.

PHOTO BY XXXXXXX

CharCharCharCharCharwwwwwell is COell is COell is COell is COell is COVID-1VID-1VID-1VID-1VID-19 free9 free9 free9 free9 free

Letter ToThe Editor

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Recycle thisnewspaper.

This writer has a surgeon friend who lives in Sarasota Floridawith three kids under the age of 16, one in each of the threeschool levels: elementary, middle and high school. He told mehe has decided not to send his children back to school. I askedhim why. He said, “I have no doubt that should my kids con-tract COVID-19 they would survive, there being only a smallpercent chance they would have lingering medical issues in thefuture. However, my fears are that any one of them could comehome one day and give me a big hug and a kiss and end upkilling me.”

After that conversation I couldn’t help thinking of how for-tunate I am not to have to face that decision regarding my kids,they being all grown and making their own decisions. Somemay argue my doctor friend lives in one of the largest hot spotsin the country and has more to worry about, while others willcontinue to suggest that this whole pandemic discussion is po-litically motivated and that COVID-19 is nothing more than anexaggerated flu. And perhaps you are all correct, at least to adegree. But, the guess at this address is that most spoutingthose arguments don’t have medical degrees or have childrenabout to board a school bus because, with no skin in the game,it’s easy to make the discussion political or grab onto theoriesthat will generate less impact on you personally.

After reading the front page story this week regardingNorwood schools preparing for kids returning to class, I’mequally happy I’m not an educator or school administrator.Everyone involved in schools are no less than placing theirlives on the line to teach your kids. Like my doctor friend, canyou blame any one of them for being concerned about theirown safety as well as the loved ones they return to every dayafter school? These people are heroic, yet unlike doctors andnurses and grocery store workers, very little press appears to bedevoted to them. It’s almost as if their lives are expendablebecause parents have to get to work and the economy has torebound if we are ever going to get back to our normal lives. Idon’t envy them, but I do consider them “essential” in everysense of the word.

And when school starts, in whatever form it takes, therewill be detractors of virtually every new concept trying to beintroduced. As quoted in the school article this week, “It’s notgoing to resemble anything close to what we feel like going toschool is” said Jill Driscoll, School Nurse Leader. Yet despitecontinued warnings, parents will complain, it’s inevitable and,at times, will be even justifiable. All of this will testNorwood’s community resolve to make the best of an aw-ful situation. Here’s hoping common sense, with morethan a touch of common decency will prevail.

To send the child or to not send the child, that is thequestion. There is no right or wrong answer because eachindividual circumstance is unique. Norwood has the rightstuff to support whatever decision a parent makes. Let’scontinue to support everyone trying to finalize theirs.

The Norwood Record and its advertisers assume no financial responsi-bility for errors in advertisements printed herein, but will reprint, with-out charge, that part of the advertisement in which the error occurs. Nopart of this newspaper may be reproduced without the express writtenconsent of The Norwood Record Newspaper.

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Middle School Building Committee selects Compass for project

Planning Board continued from page 3


The Norwood MiddleSchool Building Committee(MSB) met on July 29 andvirtually sat down with itsnew Overall Project Man-ager (OPM) CompassProject Management to dis-cuss the next steps for re-placing the Coakley MiddleSchool.

Norwood has been work-ing with the MassachusettsSchool Building Authority(MSBA) for a few years nowon this project. The idea isthat the MSBA will partiallyrefund the Town on theschool replacement, if theTown follows its planningand construction guidelines.

Compass Principal TimBonfatti and Project Direc-

tor Brian Jarvis gave a pre-sentation on what the Towncan expect in terms of schoolplacement, public outreachand the design process slatedfor the next few years. Jarvissaid they feel the project willbe similar to the JFK MiddleSchool the company is nowworking on in Natick.

“It’s currently under con-struction and is due for sub-stantial completion thisfall,” he said. “They will betransitioning over winterbreak, obviously dependingon what the situation is forCovid, but the school is cur-rently on schedule. It couldend up being a very similarproject to the Coakley. It isa Grade 5-8 middle school.”

He said each grade is onits own floor in the academicmiddle wing, and there is an

auditorium/musical arts areaon one side of the buildingwith the athletic wing on theother side. Jarivs said for theJFK School, the old middleschool is about 30 feet fromthe new construction, and hefelt, depending on where theTown wants to site its newmiddle school, Norwood maydo something similar.

“It could end being a verysimilar project to that on thecurrent Coakley site,” he said,adding that Natick did look atmultiple site options. “Be-cause of the site and some ofthe constraints between prox-imity, there’s an existing el-ementary school on the site

and there are wetlands; it hadto be phased. We had sevenphases on this site start to fin-ish.”

Jarvis said the processfrom here will culminate in aTown Meeting approval andballot vote for the preliminarydesign and siting, and that’scurrently estimated to takeplace in 2022.

“Next is the preliminarydesign plan,” he said. “Thenthe preferred schematic de-sign report. And you gothrough this process and comeup with all the possible op-tions. You then narrow itdown to what you think isyour preferred solution andthen start developing that de-sign at a schematic level.You’ll then create a budget forthe project and lock that inwith the MSBA and that’s

what you’ll take to yourTown meeting.”

He said Compass willwork with the Town to fig-ure out exactly what publicprocesses, meetings and in-teraction Compass andNorwood will need to under-take before the Town Meet-ing and ballot votes.

“This is just a recom-mended schedule, and thiscould take on differentshapes as to what thosemeetings and informationlooks like and how we dis-seminate that,” he said.“Typically, it’s after the de-signer is on board with theproject... And obviously theramp up to Town Meetingwill be heavily involved

Middle SchoolMiddle SchoolMiddle SchoolMiddle SchoolMiddle SchoolContinued on page 7

piece of rope. I don’t thinkwe can do that as a Boardand I wouldn’t feel rightdoing that to the Town with-out going back to TownMeeting. I am open to lookfor more density if I thinkit works.”

Members Briand Hachy,Joseph Sheehan and PeterBamber said they agreed.

“I do know the residentsof Norwood hate the worddensity,” Bamber said. “ButI think we should be look-ing at it so it actually worksfor a developer for Down-town. If the numbers don’tadd up, what’s the use of thewhole district?”

Paciorkowski added hefelt that if a part icularproject had the right look

for the neighborhood, resi-dents wouldn’t have so muchof a problem with the unitcount.

“If i t’s a nice-lookingbuilding and it fits and isdone neatly and correctly; ifyou have two units or 200units in the building, I thinkit’s the aesthetics of thebuilding,” he said. “I thinkyou have to look at eachproject and what it’s goingto entail.”

Board Chair Al Porro saidhe felt any increase above 10to 15 percent of what’s al-lowed by the MUODwouldn’t be in the purviewof the Board. Halkiotis saidhe feels the main issue mightbe that proper ty ownersmight have their expecta-

tions set a bit too high ifthey’re looking to sell for aredevelopment project.

“Property owners believetheir property has a certainvalue and if an experiencedreal estate developer haslooked at the zoning and de-termined that with the in-creased density the projectcan’t go forward, I wouldsuggest that part of the prob-lem is that property ownershave unrealistic beliefs inthe underlying value,” hesaid.

Porro added that hewould not be opposed tolooking at a 32-unit projecton Vernon Street , andFitzgerald said he would seewhat he can do about pre-senting that. He also said he

would talk to the propertyowner about the sale priceand see what can happen.

In other news, Halkiotisannounced that as part of theCARES Act grant funding,the Town has received$140,250 for small businessrelief grants. He said theyare for companies of fivepeople or fewer that candemonstrate they sufferedeconomic hardship becauseof the pandemic. The grantswill be administered by theMass Growth Council.

He also announced thatAssis tant Town PlannerPatrick Deschenes has se-cured a grant from MassStock for $120,000 to createthree parklets in the form ofbump outs in the Downtown

area and possibly SouthNorwood.

“Pat really handled thisparticular grant applicationon his own,” Halkiotis said.

Halkiotis also said thatModerna is moving for-ward with a plan to createa 55,000 square-foot ware-house a t the UniversalTechnical Institute locationit is moving into. He saidthe plans do not alter theexisting footprint and thathe and the Building Inspec-tor Matt Walsh do not be-lieve the construction willrequire a site plan review.He said he just wanted tomake the Board aware ofthe plan moving forward atthe business park off ofRoute 1A.


Senior Center Open continued from page 1

at this time still.”McCarthy said they are

hoping to change that to allowsome form of socializing. Shesaid the Norwood Departmentof Public Works just repavedits parking lot, which hasopened up a great space.

“We’re in the process ofmaking an outdoor area; wehave new patio tables comingand barriers coming,” shesaid. “We’re going to blockoff a whole section of ourparking lot to make a kind ofpublic park for people to come

and do some social program-ming, which is what a lot ofthe other senior centers in thearea are doing.”

McCarthy said the goalwas to have the park open forthe center ’s reopening thispast Monday, but that had nothappened. She said, at the veryleast, the park will be open onMonday, Aug. 10.

“We’ll be serving coffeeout there for a couple of hoursin the morning,” she said.“Every step we take has beenunder the direction of

(Norwood Health DepartmentSuperintendent) Sigalle Reiss.She’s been extremely helpfulin getting everything set upand welcoming people backinto the Center. She is justamazing.”

McCarthy said patrons areexcited, to say the least.

“We actually ran intosomebody today who wascoming up with all her friendsto have coffee and we had totell them ‘no, hold back we’renot ready for you yet!’” shesaid. “I think a lot of people

are excited to come out andsocialize again outside. I don’tthink we’re going to have astrong rush of people cominginside, because unfortunatelywe can’t play card games, andthat’s a big part of our pro-gramming here, Bridge, Crib-bage and Whist, and we justcan’t allow that. Some of ourexercise classes have 50 or 60people and now we’re downto 12 people, which is ourlimit... Though a lot of folksare still doing Zoom activitiesand virtual programming.”

McCarthy added they arestill serving lunches through-out the summer two days aweek.

“We have never done thatbefore, the grab-n-go lunch isgoing really well,” she said.

McCarthy said they are alsolooking to host a social dis-tancing concert sometime atthe end of August with localfavorite the Swing Fever Trio.

“We do have that planned,we’ll see how the data goes,”she said. “If we can do it we’lldo it, but it will be limitedthrough registration.”

McCarthy said during theheight of the pandemic, theCenter offered services to any-one in Town who needed them,

The NFD reported flames extending to all three floors of the home be-fore they could knock down the fire.

PHOTO BY NFD

Norwood Fire extinguishes flames,saves teenager on Nahatan Street


The Norwood Fire De-partment (NFD) reported at1:59 p.m. on July 28 a largefire at 113 Nahatan St. andcommended the quick think-ing that led to one localteenager’s life being saved.

NFD Spokesperson Jo-seph O’Malley said NorwoodPolice Department OfficerKevin McDonough originallyreported the fire, which waslater confirmed by NFD ShiftCommander Captain GeorgeBent when he and his teamarrived on the scene not twominutes later.

O’Malley said the frontporch of the two-and-a-half-story house was fully en-gaged when they arrived and

brought a Westwood FireDepartment engine to thescene to help and a Walpoleunit for station coveragewhile they worked the fire.

“Engine 3 began stretch-ing an attack line while Lad-der 1 started an aggressiveprimary search and Engine 1secured a supply line from anearby hydrant,” O’Malleysaid. With fire extension onthe first floor and conditionsdeteriorating rapidly, Ladder1 Firefighters located a vic-tim trapped by the fast mov-ing fire on the interior stair-well. Firefighters from Lad-der 1 were able to quicklygrab the victim as Engine 3knocked down the main bodyof fire, allowing a safe escapefor the occupant.”

O’Malley said they then

utilized a second attack hoseon the fire, which had by thatpoint extended to all threefloors of the dwelling.

“After the main fire wasknocked down all companiesworking the fire went to workoverhauling and checking forfurther extension,” he said.“Just over an hour later thefire was deemed under con-trol. After being evaluatedby Norwood Fire Paramedicsthe victim was found to beuninjured and with a parent'sconsent refused transport toa hospital.”

He added the departmentwanted to give a heartfeltthanks to WestwoodFirefighters Local 1994 and

FireFireFireFireFireContinued on page 8

but thankfully the need hasstarted to calm down.

“We were basically helpinganyone in the community whoneeded help, whether it washelping them fill out a foodstamp application, help themfile unemployment claims, andif they were younger and com-promised we would get themtheir groceries, do their shop-ping for them, do prescrip-tion pick up, just about any-thing,” she said, adding theyalso provided rides for veter-ans.

“Veterans Taxi, whichtakes taxi transfer coupons,basically left Town, and lefta lot of 55 and older disabledpersons with these taxi trans-fer coupons and no way touse them. A lot of those ser-vices have quieted down be-cause people are back out inthe community again. Weserved everyone in the com-munity during the crisis, butwe’re basically now back toour role serving seniors in thecommunity here.

For more information onprogramming and to stay up todate with events, go tofacebook.com/Norwood-Se-nior-CenterCouncil-on-Aging-246101522547468/?ref=py_c

Letter ToThe Editor

Please write to:Norwood Record

661 Washington St,Suite 202

Norwood, MA 02062 Tel: (617) 361-8400Fax: (617) 361-1933

e-mail us [email protected]

Tell ‘emwhat you

think with aPlease include your name,

address & telephone number.Unsigned letters will not be

published.

To advertise, call TheNorwood Record at (781) 769-1725


Miracle PrayerDear Heart of Jesus, in the pastI have asked You for manyfavours. This time, I ask youthis very special one (mentionfavour). Take it, dear Heart ofJesus, and place it within Yourown broken heart where YourFather sees it. Then, in Hismerciful eyes, it will becomeYour favour, not mine. Amen.Say for three days, promisepublication and favour will begranted.

—P.D.

The Norwood Recreation Department cut the ribbon on the Community Preservation Act-funded Bond StreetPlayground Renovation approved at Town Meeting last year. The new playground features rubberized groundand several new play structures for residents to enjoy - at least at a good social distance for now.

COURTESY PHOTO

Middle School continued from page 5

with community information.We’ll be distributing informa-tion all through this process,whether that’s on the website oron other media. The goal is tomake sure that this process is asinclusive and transparent as pos-sible.”

Currently, Jarvis said they aretentatively looking at a construc-

tion start of 2023.For the next step, selecting

the designer/architect, theMSBA will be assuming mostof the responsibility on that.The process uses a 16-memberselection panel, with 13 mem-bers appointed by the MSBAand three members appointedby the Norwood Public Schools

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin(Never known to fail!)

Oh, most beautiful flower of Mt.Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor ofHeaven, Blessed Mother of the Sonof God, Immaculate Virgin, assist mein this necessity. Oh Star of the Sea,help me and show me herein you aremy mother. Oh Holy Mary, Motherof God, Queen of Heaven and Earth,I humbly beseech thee from thebottom of my heart to succor me inmy necessity (make request). Thereare none that can withstand yourpower. Oh Mary, conceived withoutsin, pray for us who have recourse tothee (three times). Holy Mary, I placethis cause in your hands (threetimes). Say this prayer for threeconsecutive days and then you mustpublish and it will be granted to you.

—S.G.H.

District. All candidates will bepre-qualified by the MSBA, andwill go through a hearing processto select finalists and finally se-lect the winning candidate. Thefinal hearing is tentatively sched-uled for November of this year,and will see a design kickoffmeeting with the MSB a shorttime thereafter.

Rec. Department cuts ribbonon Bond Street Playground


Walpole Firefighters IAFF Local 2464 for the help to theNorwood department during the fire.

“We would also like to thank Special Signal Fire Asso-ciation / Providence Canteen who provided Rehab in the formof cool towels and drinks to exhausted firefighters,” he said.

No cause has been determined for the fire, but O’Malleysaid Norwood Fire Investigators are currently investigatingwhat caused the blaze.

Fire continued from page 6

DeathsCAVIASCA

Frank D. Sr. Age 88, a long-time resident of Norwood,passed away on July 25, 2020.Born November 22, 1931 inCambridge, he was the belovedson of David Caviasca, Sr. andJean (Calandrella) Caviasca.Frank was raised in Somervilleand graduated from SomervilleHigh School. He then went onto attend Northeastern Univer-sity and graduated with a de-gree in Mechanical Engineer-ing and Drafting. Frank proudlyserved in the United StatesArmy during the Korean War.Frank was employed by theStone and Webster EngineeringCorporation as Senior Drafts-man for many years until heretired. He was very focused onhealth, wellness and physicalfitness. Frank had a love formusic, he played guitar and of-ten listened to the likes of PerryComo, Frank Sinatra, Elvis andBing Crosby to mention a few.Frank was very artistic andliked to draw. Frank loved vis-iting the beach and the ocean.

In his younger years, he wouldspend time with all of his fam-ily and cousins on a two-weekvisit in the summer to WhiteHorse Beach in Manomet. Hecherished being with his fam-ily. He was also an avid fan ofthe New England Patriots andthe Boston Red Sox.Frank issurvived by his loving children,Gina M. Rico and her husbandRichard of Middleboro, FrankD. Caviasca, Jr. and his wifeLisa of Taunton; and his adoredgrandchild, James E. Caviascaand many nieces, nephews,cousins, and friends. Frank waspredeceased by his belovedwife, Velia (Vertullo) Caviasca,who passed in May of 2016;also by his twin brothers,Daniel and David Caviasca, Jr.and by his sister, JosephineCaviasca. Services will be heldprivately at Gillooly FuneralHome in Norwood, with Burialto follow at Highland Cemeteryin Norwood. In lieu of flowers,memorial contributions may bemade in his honor to the De-mentia Society of America,

dementiasociety.org/donateGilloolyfuneralhome.com

DiCICCO

Mary C. (Bilotta) ofAttleboro, formerly of Norwood,passed away on July 27, 2020 atthe age of 97. Beloved wife ofVito M. DiCicco. Devotedmother of Stephen B. DiCicco

and his wife, Jean, of Mansfieldand Paul J. DiCicco and his wife,Mary J., of N. Attleboro. Sisterof Victoria Bevivino of Peabody,Anna Murphy of Norwood,Frank Bilotta of San Diego andthe late Bruno Bilotta and Tho-mas Bilotta. Cherished grand-mother of five grandchildren and10 great-grandchildren. Marywas a longtime employee forFurlong’s Candy Store inNorwood on Rt. 1 for over 31years. A funeral mass was heldon Wednesday, July 29, 2020, 11a.m., at St. Catherine of SienaChurch Norwood. Burial atHighland Cemetery Norwood.(781) 762-0482. www.kraw-kornackfuneralhome.com

GALLAGHERJustina M. (Burns) of

Norwood passed away on July30, 2020 at the age of 93. Be-loved wife of the late JamesGallagher. Devoted mother ofWilliam J. Gallagher and his latewife Barbara of VA, Joseph F.Gallagher and his wife Jayme ofTX, Gregory D. Gallagher andhis wife Lori of Plymouth, DebraA. Pentowski and her husbandTimothy of Norwood and TwinsMary Gallagher and HelenGallagher both of Norwood. Sis-ter of Barbara Powers and herhusband Edward of TX and thelate Elizabeth Donnellan and herlate husband Bill. Cherishedgrandmother of Lindsay, Nicho-las, Caitlin and the late Shaun.Daughter of the late William J.and Mildred (Pike) Burns. Allservices will be private. Arrange-ments by the Kraw-Kornack Fu-neral Home Norwood, MA. Inlieu of flowers donations may bemade in her name to the DisabledAmerican Veterans Assoc. StateHouse, Room 546 Boston, MA02133 or to the Wounded War-rior Project, P.O. Box 758516,Topeka, Kansas 66675-8516.Kraw-Kornack Funeral Home781-762-0482 www.kraw-kornackfuneralhome.com

HENRYRena Ann (Michaud) of

Norwood passed away on July30, 2020 at the age of 84. Be-loved wife of the late RichardAllan Henry. Devoted mother ofMary Jo Delsignore and her hus-band Michael of Wrentham,Brian R. Henry and his wifeTraci of GA, Mark J. Henry andhis wife Rhonda of TX andKaren Henry of FL. Sister of the

late Dennis and RolandMichaud. Cherished grand-mother of Michael, Michelle,Veronica, Zackery and Brinnah.Great grandmother of Brooklynand Maddison. Daughter of thelate Roland F. and Mary V.(Cornelia) Michaud. Rena was aformer manager for TheDebonairs Drum and BugleCorps of Norwood. She was alongtime driver for Sansone andConnolly Bus Companies andworked the Norwood Polls formany years. Rena also enjoyedtraveling to St. Martin. All ser-vices will be private. Arrange-ments by the Kraw-Kornack Fu-neral Home Norwood, MA. Inlieu of flowers donations may bemade to the Amyloidosis Foun-dation 7151 N. Main St. suite #2Clarkston, MI 48346.

NEWMANDr. James, of Norwood, for-

merly of Sharon, died peacefullyJuly 28, 2020, at the age of 97.He was the son of the late Ben-jamin and Ida (Frankel)Newman, and brother to the lateEvelyn, all of Roxbury. Jameswas the devoted husband of 27years to the late Marilyn(Davidson) Newman. Cherishedfather of Nancy Beatty ofFramingham, Jon and his wife,Kristina, of Franklin, and Andyand his wife, Terry, of Reading.Beloved grandfather of Jack,Sydney, Julia, Matthew andAnna. Loyal friend to manythroughout his long life. Jameswas a veteran of WWII havingserved in the 97th Division Ser-vice Co, 303rd Infantry of theU.S. Army. He was awarded theBronze Star and Purple Heartafter being wounded in actionduring the allied forces march toGermany in April 1945. Raisedin Roxbury, James graduatedfrom Boston Latin in June 1940and studied at the MassachusettsCollege of Optometry until en-listing in the U.S. Army in De-cember 1942. After the war,James completed his degree inOptometry and practiced in theEaston and Brockton areas untilhis retirement in the early 2000’s.James will be interred at SharonMemorial Park following a pri-vate graveside service. Due toCOVID-19, a celebration ofJames’ life will be held at a fu-ture date for family and friends.Schlossberg Chapel on the Hill“Family Owned”SchlossbergChapel.com

The Board of Registrars wishes to inform the residents of the Town of Norwood that a specialregistration session has been set for the September 1, 2020 State Primary Election.

A special registration session will be held at the Municipal Building, Memorial Hall, 1st Floor onSaturday, August 22, 2020 from 2:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M and 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

This is the FINAL REGISTRATION SESSION prior to the State Primary Election.A mail-in registration form is now available at Norwood Morrill Memorial Library and the Norwood

Post Office.You may also register to vote on-line at sec.state.ma.usQualifications to register to vote are that the applicants must be 18 years old on or before election

day and must either be born in the United States or be a Naturalized Citizen.

Special VSpecial VSpecial VSpecial VSpecial Vooooottttter Rer Rer Rer Rer Registrationegistrationegistrationegistrationegistration

EARLEARLEARLEARLEARLY VY VY VY VY VOOOOOTING HOURSTING HOURSTING HOURSTING HOURSTING HOURSThe Town Clerk’s office wishes to inform the residents of the Town of Norwood that EARLY

VOTING for the State Primary Election to be held on September 1, 2020 will be taking place inNorwood the week of August 22, 2020 through August 28, 2020. The Town Clerk’s Office will beholding special hours during this week to be able to serve the residents of Norwood.

The only ENTRANCE for Early Voting will be the MEMORIAL HALL FRONT DOOR EN-TRANCE (corner of Washington Street and Nahatan Street),1ST FLOOR Norwood Town Hall, 566Washington Street, Norwood.

The Schedule is as follows:Saturday, August 22, 2020 – 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM Sunday, August 23, 2020 – 8:00 AM to 12:00 PMMonday,August 24, 2020 – Friday, August 28, 2020 from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PMThese Early Voting Hours will be posted on the Town of Norwood Website as well:

www.norwoodma.gov under the Town Clerk’s Section of the Website.EARLY VOTING INFORMATION TV

What drives the internet?

CONTENTRead the Norwood Record online at

www.norwoodrecord.com


Library EventsUNDERSTANDING YOURIRA, 401(k) AND OTHERRETIREMENT SAVINGSPLANS

Michael Graff, a financialeducator and speaker with SOFA(Society for Financial Awareness& Education), will present a vir-tual seminar, “UnderstandingYour IRA, 401(k), and OtherRetirement Savings Plans” onMonday, August 10 at 7:00 p.m.While retirement savings plansoffer many tax and savings ad-vantages, they also come with anumber of restrictions and con-fusing rules. In this hour-longpresentation Michael Graff willtalk about Traditional and RothIRAs, including employer planssuch as 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLEIRA, and SEP-IRA. In addition,he will review age restrictions,contribution and distributionrules, rollover options, and theRoth conversion. Information onasset protection parameters ofsome of these retirement savingsplans will also be covered.

Registration is required. Tosign up and receive an email re-minder with program access in-formation, please visit our eventspage at norwoodlibrary.org/morrillcalendar. You will receivean email with the Zoom link theday before the presentation andanother one shortly beforehand.

ZOOM INTO FITNESS IIIPopular fitness instructor

Eileen Smith will wrap up thesummer with another session of

fun, full-body exercise classes onMondays and Wednesdays fromAug. 17 through Sept. 2 from12:15-1:00 pm. Eileen will leadyou in an overall workout set toenergizing music that includescardio, stretching, and strength-ening while you stand, sit in asturdy, straight-back chair, or doa combination of both. In anycase, please have a chair avail-able for a relaxing cool-downand a restorative meditation.Classes are open to those of allfitness levels, and rubber-soledshoes or sneakers are recom-mended. Registration is requiredfor each class. To sign up andreceive an email reminder, pleasevisit our events page atn o r w o o d l i b r a r y . o r g /morrilcalendar. An email withthe Zoom link will be sent outthe day before the class and againshortly before it begins.

INVESTMENTSTRATEGIES IN THISTIME OF STOCK MARKETUNCERTAINTY

Join financial educator andspeaker Michael Graff for an-other virtual seminar, “Invest-ment Strategies in this Time ofStock Market Uncertainty,” onMonday, August 17 at 7:00 pm.After one of the longest bullmarkets in history, the stock mar-ket experienced a serious correc-tion earlier this year. Caused byCOVID-19, it has mostly recov-ered due to the governmentstimulus. Michael Graff will talk

about what’s next for the mar-kets and what you can do to ef-fectively manage your invest-ments going forward. This hour-long presentation will also re-view stock market history andterminology and explain how tobetter understand your variousinvestment options.

Registration is required. Tosign up and receive an email re-minder with program access in-formation, visit our onlineevents page atn o r w o o d l i b r a r y . o r g /morrillcalendar. You will re-ceive an email with the Zoomlink the day before the presen-tation and other one shortly be-forehand.

LIBRARY OFFERINGPHONE CALL HELP

Librarians at the Morrill Me-morial Library are now offeringphone call help to our patrons.While the chat feature on ourwebsite, norwoodlibrary.org,provides a good way to ask usquestions 24/7, in some casesyou may rather talk on the phonefor help. To reach us by phone,please call our Reference lineand leave a message: 781-769-0200 x110. Please leave yourname, phone number, preferredcall back time, and a brief mes-sage about what you’d like helpwith and a librarian will returnyour call. We are checking thisvoicemail several times daily, soplease reach out with any ques-tions.


Police LogsMonday, July 271135 Initiated - Warrant Service

*Arrest(S)Made Location/Ad-dress: Cottage St One maleplaced under arrest. Arrest:Bankowski, Steven Address: 24Cottage St Apt. #6 Norwood, MaAge: 32 Charges: Warrant ArrestWarrant Arrest Warrant Arrest

1518 Phone - Assist Citizen Spo-ken To Location/Address: Wash-ington St Dispute over adumpster payment resolved.

1654 Phone - Well Being Chk Ser-vices Rendered Location/Ad-dress: Park St Friend can’t raisethe resident and his truck is there.Landlord gained access and heis not home. Note left to call PD.

1808 Phone - Citizens ComplaintSpoken To Location/Address:Monroe St Vehicles parked in thedriveway, officer located familyof the car’s owner and they willbe moved.

2114 911 - Report Of Fire Fire DeptNotified/Responded Location/Address: Washington St Callerreports that he can smell smokecoming from the inside of theapartment complex. NFD, N679,and N667 notified and re-sponded.

Tuesday, July 280028 Initiated - Well Being Chk

Services Rendered Location/Ad-dress: Balch School Acct# 1379d- Washington St N663 to checkon male subject walking aroundthe grounds talking to himself.N679 sent. N663 reports all set,did not see cell phone in his hand.

0557 Phone - Report Of Fire Ser-vices Rendered Location/Ad-dress: Avon Rd Transformerblew in the area causing smallelectrical fire in yard. Power outin the area.

0624 Phone - Assist Citizen *Re-port Filed Location/Address:Winter St Caller reports hermother suffers from dementiaand took MA PC 175K thismorning, unknown direction oftravel. BOLO to cars and SouthDistrict.

1027 Phone - Well Being Chk Ser-vices Rendered Location/Ad-dress: Pleasant St Norwood Se-nior Center requests a wellnesscheck on an elderly male. N679spoke to all parties, no issues.

1357 Initiated - Report Of Fire *Re-port Filed Location/Address:Nahatan St N667 comes across

chairs on a porch on fire.Units close Nahatan fromMonroe to Pleasant for du-ration of incident. Units ro-tate through traffic/crowdcontrol.

1428 Phone - Assist Citizen *Re-port Filed Location/Address:Walpole St Party seeking adviceon a family member with mentalhealth issues.

1431 Phone - Well Being Chk Ser-vices Rendered Location/Ad-dress: Nahatan St Request checkof resident, not answering forMeals on Wheels, phone etc.NFD believes they transportedhim yesterday but they are deal-ing with a structure fire and can-not check name on report. Main-tenance notified. N679 repotrs noone inside apartment. HESSCOnotified.

1532 Phone - Animal ComplaintNACO/WACO notified Loca-tion/Address: Fairview Rd Re-port hawk stuck in flue.

1600 Phone - Missing Person Ser-vices Rendered Location/Ad-dress: Overlook Dr Caller reportsthat she cannot locate her 8 yodaughter. Party was later found.

1735 Phone - Assist Citizen CouldNot Locate Location/Address:Davis Ave N669 flagged downby female looking for her dog.Unable to locate.

1736 Phone - Well Being Chk *Re-port Filed Location/Address:Winter St Caller reports daugh-ter left the house and is con-cerned about her well being. Riv-erside notified and responded forevaluation.

1926 Initiated - Susp Activity Spo-ken To Location/Address:Norwood Pk S N677 flaggeddown by cleaning lady, reportspeople behind the building hang-ing out and leaving trash. Offic-ers spoke with them, they allcheck out and moved along.

2114 Phone - Susp Activity Spo-ken To Location/Address: Cot-ter Farm Rd Caller reports RI PCMY536 parked outside. Opera-tor knocked on her door, believesit to be a Dominos delivery driverbut did not order from them. Of-ficers spoke with him, he has aflat tire and his brother is com-ing to assist. Caller advised.

Wednesday, July 290059 Phone - Well Being Chk Spo-

ken To Location/Address:

Walpole St Caller reports talkingto his friend who has ADD onthe phone then hearing a thump.She did not answer upon callback.N677,N669 ,NFD re-sponded. Officers were able tospeak with Mom who was up on3rd floor with daughter. All isfine.

0813 Phone - Parking Violation NoViolation Location/Address:Adams St Report neighbor parksmultiple cars on street and not intheir driveway and this causes ablind spot for resident pulling outof her driveway. N667 reports noparking violation at this time andno signs prohibiting parkingwhere the cars park, advised.

0847 Phone - Warrant Of Appre-hension *Arrest(S)Made Loca-tion/Address: Cottage St N664places subject under arrest andtransports directly to DedhamDistrict Court S/M 35693 0916,E/M 35697, Cleared court time0950 Hrs. N.A.C.O. took a dogfor safe keeping.

0902 Walk-In - Hit And Run *Re-port Filed Location/Address:Saunders Rd Party reports a pasthit and run.

0938 Phone - Susp Vehicle Spo-ken To Location/Address:Coakley Middle School ( Acct#1378d) - Washington St Reportstaff reported to director thatMA PC 3PJ161 is in lot, possi-bly same vehicle that was seenyesterday at Cleveland takingpictures of children. No call topolice yesterday. N663 reportsthis vehicle belongs to a personwhom is walking at the track.See Call#: 20-15515 0938 Hrs.

0938 Phone - Susp Vehicle Spo-ken To Location/Address:Cleveland School (Acct#1381d) - George Willet PkwyAlso see Call#: 20-15513 0938Hrs. N663 spoke to caller andreports that this is not the samevehicle. Caller advised to havestaff call police when incidentis occurring.

1659 Phone - Trespassing *ReportFiled Location/Address: PlanetSelf Storage - Morse St Callerreports three juveniles brokeinto the back building. One fledupon arrival and was located onthe train tracks. While on thetracks N670 reports tree downblocking train, CSX notified.

1748 Walk-In - Fraud Spoken ToLocation/Address: Topline Con-struction - Washington St Partyadvised.

1854 Phone - Well Being ChkGone On Arrival Location/Ad-dress: Edgewater Dr Caller re-questing check on male partyasleep in his car. N662 checkedthe area with negative results.

2040 Walk-In - Civil Dispute Spo-ken To Location/Address: Ex-tra Space Storage - WashingtonSt Dispute between a party andmovers. Advised.

2209 Phone - Susp Person Spo-ken To Location/Address:Stonebridge Apts - Dean StCaller reports female partywalking through parking lot ap-pears to be looking in cars. Of-ficers spoke with her, she checksout and moved along.

Thursday, July 300203 Initiated - Motor Vehicle

Stop *Arrest(S)Made Location/Address: Bos-Prov Hwy +Sumner St RI.Reg# HV631. As

a result of stop,1 male underarrest for OUI. Negoshianstowed vehicle. Refer To Ar-rest: 20-172-AR Arrest:Concree-Clark, David J Ad-

dress: 252 Fisher StWoonsocket, Ri Age: 22Charges: Oui-Liquor Or .08%License Suspended, Op MvWith Speeding In ConstructionZone

0619 911 - Susp Activity *ReportFiled Location/Address: VernonSt caller reports someone cameinto her room while she wasasleep. N667 & N669 re-sponded.

0911 Phone - Assist Citizen Ser-vices Rendered Location/Ad-dress: Hill St S.P. 9-1-1 Centertransfers cell phone call with 2people arguing in background,female stating get out of myhouse. 9-1-1 map, tracking thecall, puts them in a car inNorwood. Units eventually lo-cate in parking lot of Mobil 971Bos-Prov Hwy. N664 reportsmother and son talking aboutheading out on vacation and thatis why she stated he must get outof the house.

0958 Initiated - Warrant Service*Report Filed Location/Ad-dress: 63 - Nahatan St As a re-sult of a pedestrian stop, partywas properly Id’d as not beingthe person with a warrant.

1128 Phone - Civil Dispute CivilMatter Location/Address: DanO’brien Kia - Bos-Prov HwyReport dealership will not re-fund her money.

1135 Walk-In - Unwanted PartyCivil Matter Location/Address:Cottage St Landlord reportsdaughter’s boyfriend is still inapartment of daughter and shewould like him out. MC8 re-ports he has lived there for 5years, she was advised shewould need to start the evictionprocess.

1646 Walk-In - Larceny *ReportFiled Location/Address:Buckminster Dr Laptop stolen.

1647 Phone - Animal ComplaintNACO/WACO notified Loca-tion/Address: Washington StFox with a limp noticed onsomeone’s property. N670 stoodby and saw that animal enter thewoods.

1952 Phone - Noise ComplaintSpoken To Location/Address:Casey St Music to be turneddown.

Friday, July 310158 Phone - Noise Complaint

Spoken To Location/Address:Grant Ave - Adams St Caller re-ports 2 teens on bikes goingfrom Adams to Grant Ave. be-ing loud. N679,N667 re-sponded. Teens located and ad-vised to head home.

0736 Phone - Malicious Damage*Report Filed Location/Ad-dress: Kaufman Co - WalkhillRd Manager reports vandalismto one of their trucks. N666 re-sponded.

0753 911 - Susp Activity UnderInvestigation Location/Address:Norwood True Value - Washing-ton St Manager would like tospeak with officer in regards toan abandoned forklift in backalley, unknown owner. N670,N665 responded.

1458 Initiated - Well Being ChkServices Rendered Location/Address: Fulton St Mom of theresident concerned about herdaughter.NFD responds. River-side Community Servies re-sponded and assisted in evalua-tion.

1509 Phone - Assist Fire Dept FireDept Notified/Responded Loca-tion/Address: Oldham School(Acct# 1382d) - Prospect StSmoke reported in the woods.NFD handles a stump that wasburning.

1628 Phone - Citizens ComplaintSpoken To Location/Address:School St Concern about cen-sus taker in the area and checksout along with wearing a mask.

1905 Phone - Kids Gathering Spo-ken To Location/Address:Nahatan St Caller reports kidsplaying loud music. N666 spoketo those individuals and theyhave been sent on their way.

Saturday August 10209 Initiated - Motor Vehicle

Stop *Arrest(S)Made Location/Address: Cap World Inc - Bos-Prov Hwy (MA. REG#3EC364) N669,N670 responds.As a result, N670 transportedmale party back to station un-der arrest for OUI for N667.Negoshian’s towed vehicle. Re-fer To Arrest: 20-175-AR Ar-rest: Samargedlis, Peter J Ad-dress: 124 Saint Marys St Apt.#5 Boston, Ma Age: 42Charges: Oui-Liquor Or .08%Marked Lanes Violation Speed-ing

0304 911 - Noise Complaint Ser-vices Rendered Location/Ad-dress: Norwest Dr Caller reportsbanging going on in townhousenext door. N679, N664 re-sponded. Officers knocked ondoor, no one answered. Offic-ers stood by, nothing heard andno one approached them.

0736 911 - Assaults *Complaint/Summons Location/Address:Home Market Foods Inc - Mor-gan Dr Caller states anotheremployee struck him in the face.N666, N669 responded.

1016 911 - Unwanted Party Spo-ken To Location/Address:Broadway Person with a smallchild on foot in the drive throughlane refuses to step out. Offic-ers advised her, moved along.

1105 Phone - Assist Citizen Spo-ken To Location/Address:Bullard St + Vernon St Severalpieces of furniture on the side-walk. N664 reports no disposalstickers affixed. Message leftwith owner to remove thoseitems.

1414 Phone - Well Being ChkSpoken To Location/Address:Jacobs Rd Resident splashedanti-freeze in his face as heopened it. His girlfriend thencanceled the ambulance. Of-ficer responded and confirmsthe refusal.

1618 Phone - Animal ComplaintNACO/WACO notified Loca-tion/Address: Everett Ave Batin the house. NACO notified.

1759 Phone - Susp Activity *Re-port Filed Location/Address:School St Medications missingfrom the home.

1950 Phone - Assist Citizen CivilMatter Location/Address:Hoyle St Caller reports he isnot going to leave the apart-ment he was evicted from.Landlord was notified and re-sponded. N670 spoke to bothparties and they were advised.The calling party has left theapartment.

2355 Phone - Noise ComplaintSpoken To Location/Address:Winslow Ave Caller reportsneighbors being loud. Officersresponded and spoke withgroup. Advised to quiet downfor the night.


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The Conservation Commission decided not to fine the Jain Center for illegal dumping wood chips and treedebris at Ellis Pond. The majority of ConCom members said they believing it to be an honest mistake.

COURTESY PHOTO

ConCom reviews illegaldumping, pond water

treatmentsJefJefJefJefJeff Sullivf Sullivf Sullivf Sullivf SullivanananananStaff Reporter

The Norwood ConservationCommission met last week onJuly 29 virtually and discussedillegal dumping around EllisPond.

Conservation SecretaryRamanda Morgan headed upmost of the meeting, filling in asConservation Agent until theEnvironmental Planner full-timeposition is filled.

“We do have an agent whowill be starting soon, but not soonenough,” Morgan said. “It’s beenan adventure doing some fieldwork, but it is what it is.”

Morgan gave an update onwork being done at the Jain Cen-ter at 556 Nichols St. She saidthe owners had contracted outsome landscaping work – cuttingdown and doing a lot of tree workin the front and back of the prop-erty. She said they had beendumping tree debris onto Townproperty and wetlands.

“Basically, onto Town prop-erty all the way out to the water’sedge on Ellis Pond. They createdthree feet of depth of wood chipsand logs, creating a pathway outinto the water,” she said. “Thepond is a little low right now, soI think they thought they were

going up to the edge. However,when the water does rise backup, those wood chips are goingto go floating away.”

Morgan said it amounted toillegal dumping on Town prop-erty and have been told to stop.She said the Jain Center is com-plying and is willing to work withthe Town to remedy the situation.

“They were just given somereally bad advice from their land-scaper who was eager to do a lotof the cutting back of tree trunksinto the wetland area. Unfortu-nately, they dragged it onto prop-erty that wasn’t theirs,” she said.

Morgan said they will becoming before the commissionon Aug. 19 to discuss theirremediation plan and the enforce-ment order. Morgan said theycould issue a fine of up to $300 aday until it’s resolved.

“That seems really steep forsomebody who’s willing to workwith us, but it’s up to you guys,”she said.

“I personally have no inter-est in issuing a fine that seems tobe for very nice people whoseems to have no idea,” Bambersaid. “Their landscaper shouldhave known and told them.”

Chair Stephen Washburn saidhe was blown away by the levelof impact from the tree debris.

“My takeaway is they seemed

entirely ignorant of what oc-curred, that doesn’t mean they’renot liable for what occurred,” hesaid. “I feel the same way as Pe-ter. I’m not interested in arbi-trarily fining or unnecessarily fin-ing someone; they seem ad-equately motivated to resolve theissue and correct what they’vedone.”

The ConCom voted unani-mously to have the owners of theJain Center come in Aug. 19 at7:45 p.m. and explain theirremediation plan.

Morgan also updated theCommission on treatment pro-posals for Ellis Pond and theHawes Pool Pond to take care ofwater chestnut infestations. Shesaid Solitude is the current pickfor treating the ponds.

“Obviously hand-pulling anddredging is not an option rightnow still,” she said. “While we

have seen a lot of improvement,as you clear back some of thewater chestnuts, the ones that arelying dormant – they can lie dor-mant for up to 10 years – are get-ting a lot of sun and they’re grow-ing back. We want to keep thetreatments going and get it un-der control.”

She said the treatments arestarting this week.

“They’re going to alert usevery time they’re going to be outthere so the agent can go out thereto meet them,” she said.

Member Peter Bamber addedthey will post all appropriatesigns around the ponds. TheCommission voted unanimouslyto sign the contract to start thework.

Morgan also discussed ScoutAdam Gorine’s Eagle ScoutProject at Pezwick Park. Gorineproposed a general cleanup of the

park and reroute a path for na-ture walking in the area. Morgansaid, however, that the NeponsetRiver Watershed Association(NRWA) project to take away thedam at the Mill Pond/ Trap HoleBrook would reroute a lot ofwater into his project area. Shesaid she, Gorine, and represen-tatives from the NRWA and thestate went out to look at the areato help Gorine adjust his projectaccordingly.

“We put our heads togethercollectively to figure out how wecan make this go forward for himwithout impacting what theNRWA wanted to do,” she said.

Morgan said Gorine will in-stall picnic tables and benches atthe staging area for the NWRAproject after the project is com-plete. ConCom members agreedto help, along with the NorwoodTrails Advisory Committee.

norwood recordfree · fitzgerald said he would see what he can do about pre-senting that. he also...

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