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The Norwood RecordPage 4Norwood man firesat Police officersduring wild chaseJefanJefff SullivSullivanStaff ReporterNorwood Police report theywill be filing a litany of chargesagainst a Norwood resident after he allegedly led them on achase on Route 1A on Mondaynight.Police will be chargingSteven Brant, 31, of Norwood,with multiple charges as the investigation continues. As of thedate of publication, no specificcharges have been made public.The chase, according to audio from the dispatcher, startedon Hoyle Street on Monday,Nov. 19 around 11 p.m., andcontinued down Route1A. Several officers responded to thecall and, luckily, the traffic wasvery light with few cars in frontof the vehicle. According to police, during the chase the suspect was going about 60 to 75miles per hour.The chase ended when thesuspect vehicle – a gray ChevyTrailblazer – struck a utilitypole.After the crash, Norwoodofficers reported multipleshots fired from the vehicle.According to the audio, a passenger had to be extricatedfrom the Trailblazer afterNorwood and Walpole officers verified no injuries tothemselves. According toNorwood Police, the suspectgrazed his own head duringthe altercation, but no officers deemed it necessary toreturn fire. Because of thisand injuries the suspect reportedly sustained duringthe crash, he had to be transported to Norwood Hospital.AccordingtotheNorwood Police Logs, theWestwood Police K9 Unitwas called in to investigate,and Norwood Fire, WalpoleFire, the Massachusetts StatePolice Accident Reconstruction Team, the MassachusettsState Police Crime Scene Services Team all responded forsupport.Norwood TTreeree Lighting thisNorwweekendeekendNorwood will be hosting its Holiday Extravaganza on Sunday, Nov. 25starting at 1:30 p.m. and going to 4:30 p.m. A host of children's activities, from horse-drawn hayrides, local music choirs, arts and crafts,readings of Christmas stories as well as the parade from Guild Squareto the Town Common. Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus will close out theevening with the lighting of the Christmas Tree and Town CommonHoliday Lights.FILE PHOTOREMINDERAll-night parking ban in place betweenparkingbetwtweenmidnight ttoo 6 a.m. CarCarss are subjectto a 20.00 ffineine fforor each violationviolation.Norwood Record661 Washington St,Suite 202Norwood, MA 02062Tel: (781) 769-1725 / Fax (781) 501-5611The Norwood Record and its advertisers assume no financial responsibility for errors in advertisements printed herein, but will reprint, without 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.No18Novvember 22, 20201Letters to the EditorTOWN MEETINGREFLECTIONSTo the Editor:I have been a town meetingmember for many years. I takemy role seriously and try to stayinformed on the issues. Duringthe past few years, in my estimation, our town leadership hastaken Norwood down somevery disappointing paths. Mygravest concerns are that taxpaying citizens’ voices are disrespected, and that our smidgeof remaining suburban character is eroding away as the Boardof Selectmen morph us into the‘city in the suburbs’.Despite being breathlesslydensely populated, our townleaders made poor quality efforts to comply with the decades-old chapter 40B law andregulations – resulting in hundreds of unwanted apartments.It truly was not rocket scienceto craft affordable housing thatwould have met with the 1.5%rule, if Norwood had plannedit out over several years. Apartments certainly have their placein the housing stock, butNorwood already has so manyapartments and house rentals.Hundreds of new apartmentsjust increases the populationdensity and further strains alltown and school services - thatis the problem. Building or purchasing modest homes anddeed-restricting them wouldhave been a great addition tothe town’s affordable housingmix. Also, with less than 12square miles of land, Norwoodscreams for open space andnatural beauty.Because of the type of leadership we have, last year inNov. 2017, Town Meeting wasconvinced to buy the 13 million Forbes Mansion 27-arceparcel of land from the developer so that we “could controlit”. It was touted as the way tosolve the 40B problem up there.We all know that after it waspurchased, the Avalon 40Bapartments project got to moveforward. So, purchasing theForbes land was not really going to save us from buildingmore apartments; it just allowed the old Plimpton Pressproperty to turn into apartmentsinstead. I did not vote to pur-Tell ‘emwhat youthink with aLetter ToThe EditorPLEASE WRITE TO:THE NORWOOD RECORD661 WASHINGTON ST,SUITE 202NORWOOD, MA 02062TEL: (617) 361-8400FAX: (617) 361-1933EMAIL:NEWS@NORWOODRECORD.COMPlease include your name,address & telephone number.Unsigned letters will not bepublished.chase the land (although I wishI could have supported it) because I felt the whole processwas just so wrong and manipulative. I viewed it as a ‘bait andswitch’ vote. Also, I knew itwould cost the town money totake care of it. As a reminder,the former 40B developer of theForbes Hill property had agreedto keep many acres as openspace, agreed to incorporate themansion into the housing development plans, and lowered thenumber of apartments from initially 300 down to 260. AfterSO MANY MEETINGS, theZoning Board of Appeals hadvoted/agreed to the project.After all that, we suddenly hadan article pushed on TownMeeting to purchase the landfrom the developer. It reallywas amazing.Fast forward to this year.The Town puts a Forbes HillTask Force together. Theyspend much of their busy-worktime crafting questions for asurvey. They conduct the survey and 688 respondents answered. 70% of the people saidthey wanted to save all or someof the land; and 46% wanted tokeep the mansion. This information, in my estimation, waspurposefully left out of theTown Meeting members’ packets in their informational yellow pages. At the very least, Iwas unsure about voting to sellthis land without further inputfrom the citizens of Norwood.But the Board of Selectmendidn’t want to hear from you.They have an agenda. As Istated at the recent Nov. 8thTown Meeting, there were threetown-wide election opportunities (April, Sept. primary, andmid-term Nov.) since the townpurchased this land last year.The Town could have garneredmuch data from many thousands of voters by adding nonbinding information-gatheringquestions to the ballot. This information would have helpedTown Meeting members makea truly informed decision. Thiswould have been a most transparent, democratic and inclusive process. I think that beforea beautiful 13 million 27- acreparcel of land with a historicmansion on it gets decimated bythe newly-approved Forbes HillZoning Overlay District - thatit respectfully deserved the serious attention/votes of thetown-wide citizenry. Maybe theoutcome would have been different; maybe it wouldn’t. Butwe will never know. So sad. Insummary, if citizens in thisTown want their voices to beheard, you need to let your leaders know that you want to be apart of the process. Democracyis NOT a spectator sport! Ev-ery town has issues; how we respond to the issues can vary. Ido acknowledge the good workof many people in this Town;and I thank you. Happy Thanksgiving!Toni EoscoDistrict 5 Town MeetingMemberENOUGH OFTHIS NONSENSETo the Editor:I started to read the specialtown meeting vote on the DavisMarcus property that was extorted from us for 13,000,000in the Norwood Record when Ihad to put it in trash becausemy blood pressure went up sofast. I called my friend TomMaloney, who was watching aten year old basketball game,(not his kid, just for leisure). Hewas very upset that I had thetemerity to call him and ask,“why would you do this”. Hebasically hung up on me likeGreta Garbo. “I want to bealone”.Several things come tomind:1) If my father and his contemporaries were around, theywould flip out at the course ofevents in this Town. This whole40B saga has been an unadulterated mess. Let’s be clear, BillPlasko owns all of this becausethe four other members of hisboard do whatever he weavesand says. Avalon Bay nevershould have happened atPlimpton Press. I’ll say it again.This should be a mutual fundand/or bank processing area.Boston is the 5th largest investment management center in theworld and as Mike Murphy, oneof the “nasty” residents onPlimpton Ave pointed out, theyhave run out of room inWellington, Medford and NorthQuincy and need to expand.The Plimpton Press area wasperfect because the stop thereis in the middle of a busy linebetween Forge Park/Franklinand South Station in Boston.The Town would have receivedmillions in yearly tax revenue,as opposed to the net drain of40B apartments now beingbuilt. Plus, there would havebeen the added benefit of theworkers using downtown,which looks like skid row attimes. Did anyone on the Boardof Selectmen, Economic Development Committee, or Planning Board ever have the moxieto call the Fidelities, StateStreet Global Advisors,Putnams, MFS, et al? Somecompany would have movedthere in a heartbeat.2) Plasko loses Round 1 atPlimpton, so he comes backLetterLettttererssContinued on page 10

The Norwood RecordNo18Novvember 22, 20201Page 5The Budget Balancing Committe met on Monday and, once again, discussed the possibility of a loomingoperational budget override for the Town.PHOTO BY SUSAN KRYCZKABBC discusses structuraldeficit and override strategiesSusan KraKryyczkczkaStaff ReporterThe Norwood Budget Balancing Committee (BBC) metMonday night, Nov.19 to outline the topics to be presentedat the public information meeting scheduled for Thursday,Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m. atNorwood High School, 245Nichols Street.General Manager TonyMazzucco, and SelectmenChair Thomas F. Maloneywere not in attendance.The BBC meeting focusedon updates to the budget thatmight be included in the Nov.29 public meeting and any additional input from BBC members on how to best inform andengage the public about the FY2020 budget and structuraldeficit.“We all know there is adeficit both on the general government side as well as theschool side, as I recall,” Committee Chair Alan Slater noted.Slater asked Director of Finance Thomas McQuaid aboutthe sale of the Forbes Hillproperty. McQuaid said thatthe budget will remain thesame, as it is assumed it willtake the rest of the year to sellthe property. He said the estimate of the budget deficit overall is pinned at 8,700,00which includes snow, ice, androad work budgets and the additional funding the schoolsneed.Slater indicated that, “Bythe time we meet for the public meeting on the 29th, hopefully we’ll have a better number by then.” It is expected thatby January, the Selectmen willhave a final number to put ona ballot for any override.BudgeBudgettContinued on page 76 23 6 0ª6 )25 025( 7 1 -867 33/, 1&(6 64" .BEF 3FDMJOFST%/ &. )5,' %&"-4 0/(0*/( 4503&8*%& 8"4)*/(50/ 453&&5 /03800% ." 1)0/& '"9 XXX TIPQTBNTBQQMJBODF DPN

The Norwood RecordPage 6 0/-: Rink continued from page 1 .H\ )RE RU :DWFK UBY%DWWHU\ ,QVWDOODWLRQ&YQJSFT 0XVW SUHVHQW FRXSRQ LQ VWRUH QRW YDOLG IRU RQOLQH SXUFKDVHV 1R FDVK YDOXH 6HH VWRUH IRU FRPSOHWH GHWDLOV "TL GPS B '3&& .JOVUF BS #BUUFSZ 5FTU XXX JOUFSTUBUFCBUUFSJFT DPN/3 66/( )5(( 6 233,1* &255,% *,)7 & 5'6 PDNH WKH 3HUIHFW *LIW IRU IDPLO\ IULHQGV DQG FRZRUNHUV %/ &. )5,' 63(&, / 2IIHU *RRG 1RYHPEHU 21/ LQ &RUULE *LIW &DUGV DQG UHFHLYH D %X\ &RUULE *LIW &DUG )5((0HUU\ &KULVWPDV &HQWUH 6W :HVW 5R[EXU\ 0 ZZZ FRUULESXE FRPand we’ve really been left behind by other facilities, whichare all now multi-sheet facilities,” he said. “Our goal inbuilding this is to get back infront of this sport, and our ultimate goal is to seek designation by the U.S. Olympic Committee to be an official Olympic Training Facility.”Zeghibe said Norwood is aprime location for this given itsclose proximity to major highways, the City of Boston andis relatively affordable in relation to the city. The buildingis slated for three sheets of ice,one of which will be able tohost hockey events. Zeghibesaid the seating for each sheetis 2,500 and 1,500 for the figure skating rinks and 400 forthe hockey rink. He added thatlike other rinks, the capacityfor the hockey rink is actuallylarger than 400, as patrons willbe able to stand around therink.Zeghibe said they have alsospoken with the NorwoodHigh School (NHS) and theNorwood Youth Hockey(NYH) organizations and willbe dedicating ice time for themwhen complete. The Boardasked if they would be rentingice time to other towns, andZeghibe said though it is possible, the current layout of theschedule makes it unlikely, aslearn to skate programs, NHS,and NYH take up most of thatrink’s ice time.Tetra Tech representativeSean Reardon also pointed outthat the ice required for figureskating and hockey differsslightly in temperature andhardness, so while learn toskate and other activities couldcoexist, official games wouldhave to take place at each respective rink.The Town and the SkatingClub of Boston have alreadymade an Abbreviated Notice ofResource Area Determination(ANRAD) detailing where allthe wetlands are. They will bemeeting with the ConservationCommission on Dec. 5 to review the drainage and wetlanddelineations. Reardon pointedout that the 36-acre site willonly have three acres taken upby the facility and parking, andthe rest of the former golfcourse will revert to its natural vegetative state.The parking lot will includeabout 400 spaces, whichZeghibe said would be adequate for its day-to-dayevents. He said there will betwo to three large events peryear and they will be workingwith the public MBTA lots toprovide a shuttle service forpatrons to accommodate theheavy influx. He said the largest events will have about2,500 patrons and participants, and they do not expectto use the 4,400-seat capacityof the total facility.Reardon and Zeghibe saidNo18Novvember 22, 20201while they don’t have it intheir plan right now, they areworking to include solar panels on the roof of the buildingand then sell the electricity directly to the Norwood LightDepartment, and then buyback electricity from the department.Resident and Trails Subcommittee member JosephGreeley said he’s in favor ofthe proposal and that he feelsthe additional greenspace thatwould be available to residents is a great boon. He saidthe facility could help to increase Norwood’s profile aswell.“I certainly think this is anopportunity, not only forNorwood, but from a regionalstandpoint as well,” he said.“My own personal opinion isthat we’re glad you evenknocked on our door.”Selectman Bill Plasko alsosaid he’s in support of the proposal. The Board of Selectmenhas been going back and forthwith the Skating Club for severalyears on different proposals.“The Skating Club is a veryprestigious organization andwould be a feather in our cap tohave it located in our community,” he said.The design team also saidthey have considered the issueof snow on the roof and believethe roof of the facility will beable to handle New Englandwinters, and will allow a gooddeal of the snow to fall off thebuilding.New NLB customers:Discover what FAST is!1 MONTHFREE!ST Free Installation**!No Contract! No Activation Fee!BASIC CABLE TVWITH100 Mbps HIGH SPEED INTERNET59 PER MO.99.Call or visit our website today to order!www.norwoodlight.com t 781-948-1120*Best Internet in Norwood according to broadbandnow.com survey!** 99 Installation charge applies if service is disconnected within the first 90 days!We are -“The Local Guys”Free month of service is valid to new or former NLB RESIDENTIAL customers, in good standing, who havenot had any NLB service in last 90 days. Free month is on Package price only, and does not include optionalequipment charges or taxes. Broadband service is not available to all addresses in Norwood. Internetspeeds vary and are not guaranteed. Offer ends 11/30/18.

No18Novvember 22, 20201Budget continued from page 5Slater asked if there had beenany findings on ways to reducethe budget, noting thatMazzucco was not in attendance and might have additional information. SelectmanWilliam Plasko said that therewas nothing new to report andthat a projected number couldeven go higher because previous issues had not been addressed. Plasko reiterated thatthe current numbers were,however, pretty solid.Schools SuperintendentDavid Thompson asked if thegovernment’s figures includethe school’s snow and ice removal or if they are separatebudgets. It was agreed that thiswas an area to examine as theremight be some overlap forovertime for school staff toremove snow from schoolproperty.A discussion took placeover explaining the overrideoptions at the Nov. 29 meeting.Slater recommended presenting the three alternatives.“Let’s start out with three options. You have to talk about a“no action’ alternative whichessentially means no override.You would have to explainwhat that exactly means. Thesecond one would be to simply fill in the deficit for FY20for the town side and theschool side, whatever thatnumber is. The third option isto include not only the FY 20deficit but the additionalitems that we talkedabout the 8.7 million.” Heasked for thoughts on thethree options.BBC and School Committee Member Maura Smith responded, “I personally thinkthat to take no action is irresponsible.” She felt that therewas a consensus that no actionwas not realistic and that thesecond option, just paying thedeficit off was also unrealistic. “If we ask for just enoughto solve the problem for oneyear, we aren’t solving theproblem.”A motion was presented toreject the no option alternative. A discussion took placeon how to explain the effectsof the no option alternative ifchosen by the voters. It wasimportant that voters understood why the BBC did notrecommend this.BBC and School Committee Chair Myev Bodenhoferagreed with Smith, “We needto consider the implications ofthere being no action.”McQuaid said that if no action was to be taken, peopleneed to know what would becut, like road work.Finance CommissionMember David Hajjar agreedsaying, “In my opinion therewill definitely be questions onthe 29th about what happensif we say no you are doingyourself a disservice not to address it. On the 29th you haveto present what those optionsare to those present ”The members agreed thaton the 29th there would be anexplanation of what happensif there is no action. The members took a vote to no longerconsider no action as a viablealternative. The motionpassed unanimously.Just fixing the FY 20 deficit was also considered undesirable but also has to be explained to voters. “If we solvethe FY20, what’s the result?”asked Slater. Plasko said, “Ithink these three are enoughfor that night, to show no action, one year, or the committee could do long range.” Adiscussion continued abouthow to publicize the meetingon Nov. 29 to ensure a goodturnout. All agreed it was important to encourage citizenparticipation in discussing theissues that can affect the townfor the next five years or more.'(/,9(5 72 /2& / 5( ȍ Ȏ͕͕͕ ǡ ͕͔͚ ǡ ͕͛͜Ǧ͚͖͛Ǧ͕͕͚͛ Ǥ ͕͔͚Ǥ The Norwood RecordPage 7 PJO VT GPS POF PG PVS VQDPNJOH '3&& TFNJOBST PO QMBOOJOH ZPVSGVOFSBM BSSBOHFNFOUT JO BEWBODF :PVS MJGF 4BUVSEBZ :PVS MFHBDZ 1MBO UP NBLF JU SJHIU %FDFNCFS Q N (JMMPPMZ 'VOFSBM )PNF 8BMQPMF 4U /PSXPPE3FRVFTU ZPVS'3&&1FSTPOBM1MBOOJOH(VJEF1MFBTF 3471 #Z Dz VSTEBZ%FDFNCFS t %JTDPWFS TJNQMF TUFQT UP QMBOOJOH ZPVS ë OBM BSSBOHFNFOUT t #SJOH QFBDF PG NJOE UP ZPVSTFMG BOE ZPVS GBNJMZ t 0QQPSUVOJUZ UP SFDFJWF B '3&& 1FSTPOBM 1MBOOJOH (VJEF t 3FGSFTINFOUT DPOWFSTBUJPO BOE IFMQGVM BEWJDF 4FBUJOH JT MJNJUFE BMM OPX UP SFTFSWF ZPVS TQBDF (JMMPPMZ 'VOFSBM )PNF 8BMQPMF 4USFFU t /PSXPPE " 'BNJMZ 4FSWJDF "ï MJBUF PG "''4 4FSWJDF PSQ *OUhM 8JOUFS 4U 'BMM 3JWFS ." t Share the Warmth ofthe Season with OurHoliday Sharing Tree.Take a mitten tag from our Sharing Tree.Help bring some holiday cheer to a local child.Beginning November 19th, just take a “mitten tag,”3EASONAL 3NOW (ELPlisting age and gift ideas for area children, from./27// to us by December 8th. Refreshments, holiday3EEKING A PART TIME PERSON TO ASSIST IN THE SNOWREMOVAL PROCESS FOR A LARGE PRIVATE HOUSINGCOMPLEX IN .ORWOOD 4HIS ON CALL POSITIONREQUIRES A PHYSICALLY lT INDIVIDUAL THAT ISRELIABLE AND ABLE TO SHOVEL APPLY ICE MELT ANDOPERATE A SNOW BLOWER 4HE POSITION PAYS TO PER HOUR

chasing modest homes and deed-restricting them would have been a great addition to the town’s affordable housing mix. Also, with less than 12 square miles of land, Norwood screams for open space and natural beauty. Because of the type of lead-ership we have, last year in Nov. 2017, Town