THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2023 Page 5 ~ LETTER TO THE EDITOR ~ Why you will pay for Wakefield’s rink W hy does the Northeast Metro Tech vocational school (NEMT) want to blast acres of ledge and destroy a mature forest ecosystem to build their new school, costing over $320 million, when they have 30 acres of already developed land that could easily accommodate the new school building, parking and athletic fi elds? How is this plan related to Wakefi eld offi cials’ nearly decade-long attempt to get their own hockey rink, and to a collaboration between town offi - cials and NEMT to swap plans and use taxpayer money to destroy the forest? This is a tale of two parcels – one too risky and expensive for private developers to bid on, covered in forest and ledge, and another cleared and nearly ready to build. The hilltop site is estimated to cost $40 million for sitework which includes clearing 14 acres of forest and blasting for a building. Wakefi eld has collaborated with NEMT to get a hockey rink in the forested hilltop since at least 2014. RFPs (request for proposals) were requested by the Wakefi eld town manager and approved by the Town Council over the years. The developer was expected to pay them, the Town of Wakefi eld and the NEMT, fees as the lessors. “The (owners) are interested in developing the site to include two sheets of ice with spectator seating, locker rooms and snack bar areas. Parking is to be provided and a second means of egress onto Farm Street is required”. They received no bids. Why? What could it be except the expense, risk and inherent diffi culty of the project: the huge amount of ledge requiring blasting and clear cutting, and the possibility of consequences for abutters? In February 2016, a pre-feasibility study for a new school by the architectural fi rm Dore and Whittier rejected the forested hilltop location for a school as too diffi cult, expensive and with poor access. In August 2016, the Wakefi eld Town Administrator received approval from the town selectmen for a feasibility study for a rink on the forested hilltop and a road from Farm St. NEMT was accepted to the funding program for a new school by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (“MSBA”) in 2017. Eventually, NEMT was invited to the feasibility stage. All members of the School Committee formed the School Building Committee ephemeral streams, seeps, endangered species and species of greatest conservation need or concern. This plan for the school requires cutting down acres of trees, grubbing out the soil and blasting down 30-35 feet for a building platform. There will be a 30-35 ft high cliff along the 650 ft back side of the school with hazard fencing at the top. The road from the school down to Hemlock Road will be too steep for a sidewalk. Those who park in the student parking lot will need to climb 1100 feet of ramps and stairs to get to the lowest level entrance to the school. Just think about that daily access in all conditions for Gerry D’Ambrosio Attorney-at-Law Breakheart Reservation (SBC) which means they report back to themselves. The earliest minutes are Jan. 2019 with Stephen Maio, Town Administrator, attending. By May 2019 he was a member of the SBC, according to the minutes. PMA Associates was hired as the project manager around August 2019. In December 2019, the design fi rm DRA Associates was hired for a feasibility study. The SBC were told that the MSBA would not reimburse for a hockey rink, aquatic center or other facilities. But the hockey rink did not go away. The “Future Hockey Rink” continued to be discussed in SBC meetings and shown in presentations about the planned school. Early preferred options for the school were on the practice fi eld behind the school (a site called “C.1”) and the current football fi eld (“C.2”). By 2020, presentations to the School Building Committee show the school on one site option called C.3. That plan puts the school on the forested hilltop and the rink on the current football fi eld. With this plan the sites for the rink (in the forest) and the school (on current campus) were fl ipped. Although the MSBA made clear they would not pay for a hockey rink, the SBC and the MSBA proceeded with the plan to put the school on the rock outcrop forest. Submissions by PMA and DRA to the MSBA say the cleared site of the current football fi eld is being reserved for a future hockey rink. Most members of the SBC never walked the hilltop site before the vote to approve. This 29 acre forested hilltop, administered by NEMT, was once part of Breakheart Reservation. Many assumed it was protected. It abuts Wakefi eld article 97 land (public land that is supposed to be protected). It is an ecosystem with vernal pools, 5.0 Is Your Estate in Order? Do you have an update Will, Health Care Proxy or Power of Attorney? 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Why would the SBC want the taxpayers of 12 towns (Chelsea, Malden, Melrose, North Reading, Reading, Revere, Saugus, Stoneham, Wakefi eld, Winchester, Winthrop, and Woburn) to pay so much for site costs, PARCELS | SEE Page 15 assumes that interest remains on deposit until maturity. A withdrawal will reduce earnings. A penalty may Member FDIC | Member DIF All Deposits Are Insured In Full.
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