City Council Newsletter for Spring 2021
Welcome to my City Council newsletter for Spring 2021. Feel free to forward this to anyone else who might be interested and you can subscribe by visiting here: https://www.steineredtech.com/newsletter/
It is hard to believe that we are into Spring and it has been a full year-plus since the pandemic began. There is some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of covid 19. People are getting vaccinated and warmer weather has people outside in the fresh air and serious hospitalizations are decreasing in Massachusetts. However, we are not through this thing yet! It is essential that everyone continue to wear masks, wash hands frequently, and maintain distancing. A few more months and hopefully we will be past covid 19 though the impacts of this pandemic will live on.
Updates:
1. Budget season is nearly upon us
What could have been an extremely tough fiscal year for the City has been better than most expected. This is the case for several reasons. First, our local economy has been very resilient to the economic consequences of the pandemic. Much credit needs to be given to our local business owners for their creativity over the past year. Second, the state has continued to provide needed aid to cities and towns despite lower revenues. Third, federal support has been plentiful in terms of the Cares Act, the recently signed American Rescue Plan. and other covid relief measures. Finally, the city had made a number of strategic reductions in past years that helped.
However, we do have a major issue with our water and sewer enterprise funds. Like many cities, we segregate water and sewer revenue to pay for the upkeep of our system. For many years, this has worked well and there was no issue. However, things began to change in 2007 when the state required Framingham to address our water and sewer infrastructure, which had not kept up with the rapid development of the town for decades after World War II. In addition, over the past 5 or so years, consumption of resources has decreased as businesses and residents have become more efficient. Less consumption means less revenue for the city. Coupled with the massive backlog of infrastructure work, the City of Framingham should have raised rates to maintain the integrity of the financial structure of the funds. Instead, we chewed away at reserves and subsidized water and sewer with funds from our regular budget. Now, our enterprise funds produce much less revenue than is needed to keep them whole. This has to be addressed now.
2. Things to look for in our municipal budget
It is just important to look at how we are spending our taxpayers’ funds and not just the bottom line amount. This is especially true in this atypical budget season. The city will be receiving around $28 million from the federal American Rescue Plan. This is a historic one-time infusion of cash and it is critical that it be spent wisely. One area that we should invest in is our school buildings. Many of our schools are desperate for roof repairs/replacements, an expensive project that is annually underfunded, as well as other major projects. The federal stimulus is a chance to get back on track with this backlog.
In addition, a budget is a moral document and should reflect our values as a city. Investments need to be made in sustainability and protecting our environment, in promoting equity among all our residents, and in maintaining direct high-quality services to residents.
3. Nobscot Plaza
It is exciting to see continued progress on the Nobscot Plaza and the Water/Edgell/Edmands intersection – though the traffic problems have just begun and that is not so exciting.
Work will continue on the intersection area for a total of two years. This summer the project will require detours through the brand new CVS parking lot and in some cases will push traffic up Edmands and into neighborhoods. I have asked Framingham police and DPW to address traffic issues in the Livoli/McAdams area of our district, which are sure to get worse as more work is done on the intersection.
If you didn’t get to see the historic chapel move down Edgell Road, here is a brief video for you to check out:
4. The Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and the Belknap Pool Club
Also, it is good to hear there is light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. We are finally having discussions about the next steps in extending the Bruce Freeman trail into Framingham. This walking and bike path would run from Route 20 through Nobscot and all the way to Framingham Centre. Done correctly, it would serve as a valuable alternative to our congested North/South corridors through district 3 including Edgell Road.
I recently co-signed a letter with our state delegation – Senate President Spilka and our representatives Maria Robinson, Jack Lewis, and Carmine Gentile – asking for Congresswoman Katherine Clark to advocate for Bruce Freeman Rail Trail funding in her Community Project requests. An infusion of federal funds to help pay for the Framingham portion of the trail would be a huge help. Please reach out to Congresswoman Clark’s office to add your voice to this request.
Visit https://katherineclark.house.gov/index.cfm/email-me or call her Metrowest office at (508) 319-9757.
The City Council voted unanimously to take our Right of First Refusal on the purchase of the Belknap Pool Club. This now goes to the Mayor to develop an appropriation request for the property. My hope is that we can finalize this purchase soon and begin to discuss how to use this beautiful piece of real estate in District 3. One component that makes a great deal of sense to me would be a walking trail that could connect with the abutting aqueduct, which is already well-used by hikers and dog walkers.
5. Framingham is forming a Community Preservation Act Committee and the City Council is responsible for appointing 4 members. Framingham adopted the CPA last year, which will allow us to pool city funds with partial state matching funds to preserve open space, improve amenities, and protect historical structures in our City. The CPA Committee has a very important responsibility in evaluating applications for CPA funds and making recommendations to the City Council.
The deadline to apply is April 16th and you can go here to apply. www.framinghamma.gov/jobs
Thanks for reading my update. Feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns. Stay safe everyone!
–Adam
asteiner@framinghamma.gov