Select Board pulls Cochituate Street bridge parking signs

In this report: Key decisions · Full report · Sources

What happened

The Natick Select Board voted 4-0 to deny Damian Greenwood's water and sewer abatement after a broken irrigation valve, and voted 4-0 to partly abate Ms. Comstock's bill, billing 59 excess units at the irrigation rate. The board voted 4-0 to remove no-parking signs from the Cochituate Street bridge after counsel said the town cannot regulate parking on that unaccepted road, and voted 3-1 to release the counsel memo. No dollar amount was set; Mr. Erickson will compute it.

Key decisions

• ● Cochituate Street bridge no-parking signs. Removed the no-parking signs the board ordered in June. Counsel said the town cannot enforce parking on the unaccepted stretch, and the board set next steps including counsel's view on a friendly taking by year-end and a neighborhood meeting by the end of January. (Vote 4-0). Read case details
• ● Water and sewer abatement appeal: Ms. Comstock. Approved a partial abatement by billing the 59 excess units at the irrigation rate, including a second ready-to-serve fee. The same method applies to the next bill, capped at the first abatement amount. No dollar figure was adopted at the meeting. (Vote 4-0). Read case details
• ● Water and sewer abatement appeal: Damian Greenwood, 31 Wellesley Road. Denied the abatement request after a broken irrigation valve. The denial is without prejudice if new information emerges. The board will revisit its irrigation abatement policy in December. (Vote 4-0). Read case details
• 📜 Redlined Town Administrator Review Policy and Evaluation Form. Approved the redlined policy, which moves the evaluation period from January 1 to January 31, removes instructions and uses gender-neutral language. (Vote 4-0). Read case details
• ● Release of counsel's legal memo on Cochituate Street. Waived attorney-client privilege and released counsel's memo, with one member voting no because counsel preferred it remain private. (Vote 3-1). Read case details
• ● Proclamation honoring Martin Kessel. Adopted the proclamation thanking Martin Kessel for his service. The chair announced it passed 5-0-0, though only four members appear to have been present. (Vote 5-0-0). Read case details
• ● Consent agenda. Passed the consent agenda, covering minutes, a one-day liquor license, a Council on Aging resignation and donations for the Honeywell Town Forest. (Vote 4-0). Read case details
• ● Entry into executive session. Voted to enter executive session. (Vote 4-0). Read case details
• ● Fall annual town meeting debrief. Continued the fall annual town meeting debrief to a future meeting. No vote was recorded. Read case details

Research this meeting with Townbrief AI: “What did the board decide about Ms. Comstock's water and sewer bill?” Ask this question

Full meeting report

The complete, section-by-section account of the meeting, 1,818 words, for members.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.