Year in Review Excerpt: A Look Back at 2019
By Jay Turner
Poll workers conduct a recount of the Board of Selectmen race in the April 2019 town election. Moira Sweetland photo
The following is an excerpt from the Canton Citizen’s 2019 year in review. Check out this week’s paper for a look back at some of the other notable stories from the past year, including local crime news, zoning changes, the passing of Don Rodman and much more. Highlights from the year in sports will appear in the January 9 edition of the Citizen.
Town rallies in support of pool project
With its combination of recreational potential, nostalgic value, and financial impact, no story captured more local attention in the first half of 2019 than the Bolivar town pool project. Spearheaded by the Playground & Recreation Commission with backing from a broad coalition of supporters, the $6.4 million renovation rode a wave of positive momentum into town meeting and eventually to the polls, where voters overwhelmingly approved a debt-exclusion override to finance the project, 1,501 to 406. Over the summer months, Recreation staffers managed to squeeze one more season out of the existing 45-year-old facility, and a cookout was held in late August to mark the “End of an Era.” Construction on the all-new aquatics center — featuring a new pool, bathhouse and splash pad — got underway in the fall with a grand opening pegged for the summer of 2020. Excluding the $340,000 spent on design costs and $200,000 contributed by the Community Preservation Committee, the remaining $5.9 million will be bonded over 20 years, costing the average taxpayer $30 per year.
BOS race goes down to the wire
In one of the closest races in Canton political history, first-time Board of Selectmen candidate Mike Loughran edged fellow newcomer Lisa Lopez by a single vote — 1,033 to 1,032 — in the April town election, touching off a rare recount to determine the official winner. The recount was scheduled for a Saturday at the Canton Senior Center and Loughran would go on to prevail by three votes, while Lopez, who was gracious in defeat, hailed the process as an important civics lesson and a powerful reminder that “every vote counts.” Fellow challenger Jim Quigley, meanwhile, also performed quite well in his first run for office, winning two of six precincts and 32 percent of the total vote. (Loughran and Lopez garnered 34.1 and 34.0 percent, respectively, and also carried two precincts each.)
Canton school officials scrap ‘academy’ plan
More than a year after approving a landmark grade reorganization plan as part of a broader roadmap for school building improvements, members of the Canton School Committee faced a difficult choice right out of the gate in 2019 as the plan’s own authors, Dore & Whittier, concluded that it was not entirely feasible. Specifically, the architectural firm recommended that the school abandon the idea of relocating eighth graders to a separate “academy” within the Rodman building, citing financial and logistical challenges. Committee members ultimately agreed and settled on a revised plan that would involve renovating the Rodman to house an expanded Early Childhood Center as well as the central offices. Fifth graders, meanwhile, are still slated to move to the Galvin Middle School as originally contemplated, although the move would be dependent on the completion of a major renovation of GMS, pegged at a cost of $112 million. The timing of the project, however, would appear to now be in limbo after the School Department, just weeks ago, learned that it had been rejected in its second request for reimbursement funding from the Mass. School Building Authority. School Business Administrator Barry Nectow said the schools could reapply again next year and may face better odds with the recent approval of the Student Opportunity Act, which comes with additional funding for the MSBA …
Check out this week’s print edition for more year in review coverage, including notable retirements and deaths. Not a subscriber? Click here to order your subscription today (also available in digital form).
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