Sustainable Wellesley action meeting, Jan. 26th

January 21, 2020 by admin Leave a Comment

Sustainable Wellesley will hold an action meeting on Sunday, Jan. 26, 4pm – 5:30pm at the Wellesley Congregational Church (Village Church), 2 Central Street. The church is accessible.

There are many ways Wellesley residents of all ages can make a difference and feel like they are “doing something.” Learn about the many campaigns, projects, and opportunities there are for you to participate in, or bring your own ideas for making a difference, both here in our community and as we work for environmental justice throughout the Commonwealth. No experience necessary; just come with you variety of talents, enthusiasm and knowledge.

Some of the discussion points on the agenda:

Climate issues such as the record-breaking January temperatures, Australia’s fires, and more
Health issues
Ways Wellesley can achieve its greenhouse gas emissions-reduction goals

Wellesley topiary: A seahorse, of course?

January 17, 2020 by Bob Brown 2 Comments

Some say it’s obvious that the topiary in front of One Hollis St., at the intersection of Linden Street in Wellesley, is a seahorse.

topiary linden st wellesley

But that topiary is also different things to others, as we recently learned when posing a question on our Facebook page about it: “Here we are in 2020, still asking: What is this Linden St topiary supposed to be?”

My gut has told me it’s a seahorse. Why a seahorse in the middle of Wellesley? Why not.

But I’ve also wondered if it might be a cat.

Linden St topiari

Others who responded to the photo shown above suggested it might be an elephant spinning. Or more specifically, Babar the Elephant’s head.

“It was a seahorse – now it’s a badly groomed show poodle,” wrote one Swellesley regular.

#Wellesley #topiary what is it? pic.twitter.com/lQzRkLIavO

— swellesley (@swellesley) January 16, 2020

A guy straddling an elephant and wearing boxing gloves, chimed in another. A Twitter follower asserted: “Lobstah of course.”

We reached out to the property manager of One Hollis St.. to see if they might have any particulars on the ornamental shrubbery and what it’s future might hold. We haven’t heard back, but will update this post if we do.

While less ambitious than the postcard-worthy topiary on Hunnewell property abutting Lake Waban, the Hollis Street landmark has a wider audience given its proximity to the Wellesley Square train station and Linden Square shopping center.

As for what the Hollis Street topiary is supposed to be, one reader offers this viewpoint: “Anything one imagines.”

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More: Wellesley’s Outdoor Art Gallery

Wellesley challenged to forego single-use plastic bottles in January

January 13, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

While January is already more than a third of the way over, there’s still time for you to take the Zero Waste Wellesley Challenge this month and reduce your use of household single-use plastics by 50% in response to the world-wide plastic waste crisis.

Wellesley’s Valerie Gates is spearheading the effort, with support from other sustainability supporters in town, to identify an item each month to target. This will entail urging residents to stop buying the single-use items, such as dish sponges and body soap bottles, and then crowdsourcing greener replacements that local retailers such as Roche Bros. and Whole Foods will be encouraged to carry.

“We hope that by creating a successful local initiative, it will gain attention and be adopted by other Massachusetts towns and eventually go nationwide in the coming years,” Gates says.

An episode of the Netflix “Broken” documentary series on plastic recycling inspired Gates to take action.

“I was also aware that China was no longer taking our plastics (good for them) and realized that we needed to stop this at the source—just stop purchasing the plastic in the first place,” says Gates, who is among those who have spoken up at recent Wellesley Board of Selectmen meetings in favor of declaring a climate emergency.

Gates doesn’t have a good way to quantify the reduction of single-use items in Wellesley, so you’ll just need to play by the honor system and do your part.

On a personal note, we’re not huge single-use plastic users, but one frustration is that certain members of the Swellesley family to remain unnamed have been known to treat re-usable water bottles as if they are single use…

Down goes the Hunnewell school white oak tree

January 11, 2020 by Bob Brown 3 Comments

With its fate sealed at a Wellesley School Committee meeting earlier in the week, the estimated 200-plus-year-old white oak at Hunnewell Elementary School property was chopped down by the Department of Public Works on Saturday. The crew started the job at 7am and expected to be working past noon.

When I arrived a DPW worker in a cherry picker was carving up limbs on the 30-foot-high-ish tree. “We’ve already taken care of the hard part,” said one employee, keeping me behind the cones and tape.

A report commissioned by the Wellesley Natural Resources Commission recently deemed the oak a “high risk tree,” unsafe for its location. The tree’s future had already been in question as a result of plans to re-do the Hunnewell Elementary School itself, but now the tree’s part in that equation is no longer a factor.

While the tree has been used in the past as part of science lessons, perhaps it will now find its way into history classes. Hunnewell Principal Ellen Quirk wrote to the school community the day before the tree went down that “We are hoping that we will be able to save some large cross sections and limbs of the tree, so that they can be milled and crafted into several items that will memorialize and celebrate the life of this majestic tree. Many people have wonderful suggestions for the use of the wood and we will be sure to capture all of the ideas before making final decisions. [Art teacher] Peter Knapp attended the meeting this morning, and is considering some art projects for the students, too.”

Support Swellesley: I spent about an hour on Saturday morning running out to snap photos, then posting this here and on social media (then swung by Sunday for the “after” photos). If this sort of local journalism is valuable to you, please consider contributing to The Swellesley Report.

Hunnewell school white oak

hunnewell oak tree — Section of trunk that will be preserved for educational use and hopefully an artifact for the new school, according to the town.

Here are the “after” photos:

hunnewell white oak

The before picture:

How to dispose of your Christmas tree in Wellesley, Massachusetts

January 8, 2020 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Here’s an epiphany for you: there’s absolutely no disposing of Christmas trees and other holiday greenery in parks and conservation areas in Wellesley. It might seem like tossing nature into nature, but it’s actually illegal and bad for the environment. It’s also aesthetically displeasing. You know it’s going to take that tree about ten years to break down into the soil, right?

How to say good-bye, fine firs

Take your Christmas tree to the Wellesley Recycling and Disposal Facility (RDF). At this time of year they have a seriously depressing-looking pile of former holiday glory, dried out and ready to be ground to bits like so many stale gingerbread men.

RDF hours: M – W, 7am – noon; Th – Sat, 7am – 3:45; closed Sundays

Bringing Christmas trees and greenery to the RDF is the right way to dispose of them. This pile at the dump will eventually be ground into wood chips. From there, it will be used around town at playgrounds and for landscaping.

If you can’t make it over to the RDF, hire industrious Wellesley High School student Jack Kenney to bring your tree there for you. Contact him at 617-777-4150 or by email at [email protected] Rates: $15 if the tree is waiting for him outdoors; $25 if you’d like him to come inside and get it.

The trees on the other side of the fence

We admit that we’re a little jealous of the Joneses. In the adjacent town of Natick, residents need only heave-ho their tree curbside, head off to work, and by the time they get back home the greenery will have disappeared. No, it’s not elfin magic. That’s just how Natick’s Department of Public Works rolls. No, we haven’t pulled a sneaky and left our tree in front of a Natick house.

Natick Christmas tree — We absolutely, positively did not toss our tree in front of this Natick house.

At our house we observe a highly personalized Christmas tree ceremony each year. First, we take the tree away from the only field it’s ever known, and we set it up in in our heated house. Next, we lavish the tree with ornate trappings. After a few weeks we declare that we “need our living room back.” We then take back all of our ornate trappings and evict the tree from our home. Months later, we set the Christmas tree on fire. A merry tradition, indeed.

Wellesley spring burn, 2017 — The eagerly awaited Christmas tree pyre, Spring 2017. Duncan Brown and Luke Collins, WHS class of 2019, took care of business. This backyard burn was entirely on the up-and-up, done with the blessing of the Wellesley Fire Department.

Wellesley Green Collaborative event: Building our way to a more sustainable future

January 6, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

This free event, hosted by the Wellesley Green Collaborative at Wellesley Free Library on Jan. 21 (9am) will focus on new approaches to building design, construction, renovation and operation that can cut energy use and greenhouse gas emissions and make for healthier living.

A 2018 Greenhouse Gas Inventory by Wellesley’s Sustainable Energy Committee shows that 53% of the town’s carbon emissions are due to energy use in buildings even though the community has reduced building-related emissions approximately 23% since 2007. The town has pledged to adhere to net-zero design and green building standards going forward for municipal buildings and renovations.

Proctor building — Proctor Academy Dining Commons is an example of a net-zero ready building, the first of its kind in New England. Photo credit: Proctor Academy.

Speakers will discuss plans for net zero energy-ready Hunnewell School and Town Hall Annex construction, as well as opportunities for sustainable residential development.

Scheduled speakers include:

William Maclay, founding principal at Maclay Architects. He’s working on the Hunnewell and Town Hall Annex designs.
Stephanie Horowitz, managing director at Zero Energy Design.
Fred Bunger, vice chair of the Wellesley Sustainable Energy Committee, and Marybeth Martello, Sustainable Energy Director.

Contractors and suppliers will also be on hand, and there will be information available about energy efficiency rebates.

More: Wellesley Park development boasts of going fully electrified

Wellesley bike repair station is ready for your worst

January 5, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The bicycle repair station that we mentioned over the summer was in the works outside the Wellesley Police Department has now been installed and is ready for action.

The Rte. 16 station features tools and an air pump, and could serve as a gathering spot for repair classes.

The police and Sustainable Wellesley joined forces to raise funds for the station in an effort to support more cycling (and fewer cars) on local streets.

bike repair station at wellesley police station

More: Rare Wellesley sight: Cycling in T-shirts on Morses Pond

Beloved Hunnewell School White Oak tree gets “high risk” safety grade

January 2, 2020 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Hunnewell Elementary School’s venerable 200+ year-old White Oak tree that stands sentry outside the front entrance of the 28 Cameron Street school in Wellesley Square has been deemed a “high risk tree” in a report commissioned by the Natural Resources Commission. The report is embedded at the bottom of this post.

Update 1/7/20: The School Committee has given the Department of Public Works the go-ahead to cut down the tree.

The dire news has led Principal Ellen Quirk to make the front entrance of the school off limits, which includes the entire courtyard area, so that students, faculty and staff, and visitors will not have to pass near the tree to enter the building. Quirk has alerted families on alternative ways to access the school.

Visitors to the school should enter through the original 1938 entrance. The door will be locked for security reasons, and a monitor will be there to assist visitors.

The over 30-foot tall tree serves many purposes from providing shade to teaching tool to wildlife home. With the report from arborists Carl and Dan Cathcart from Plant Healthcare Consultants, it seems likely that the deciduous landmark may not survive to celebrate its tricentennial. The full report will be available shortly, and we will update this post accordingly.

Risk/benefit analysis

NRC Director Brandon Schmitt said, “A high-risk tree implies that there are structural or other issues with the tree that make it more likely to fail, either in-part or completely, PLUS a clearly defined target — in this case the school building itself and the students, parents teachers and staff who occupy it. It’s really a measure of the probability of failure combined with the consequences of that failure.”

Schmitt noted that although White Oaks have an average life span of 300 years, their longevity depends on location and care.

For example, out in an open meadow subject to minimal people-pressures, a White Oak can thrive. The White Oak at Hunnewell however, has been subject to many people-pressures such as a limited root growth zone, and soil compaction from foot traffic as well as the 1995 construction of the school wing.

Town Landscape Planner Cricket Vlass said the Cathcarts performed an International Society of Arboriculture Level III Tree Risk Assessment, which includes a visual assessment and measurements from a Resistograph, a high-resolution needle drill resistance measurement device.

“They determine the tree to be at High Risk due to a 3’ vertical trunk crack on the west side, which has formed within the past six months, with several crack beginning to form on the east, slow compartmentalization of old pruning cuts, cavities in the limbs, included bark at branch unions, stress cracks in several major limbs and a lean toward the building without the supporting buttress roots. All of these factors, along with the school as a target, have led the assessors to deem the tree to be High Risk, ” Vlass said.

As part of the School Committee (SC) meeting on Tuesday, January 7, 6:30pm - 9pm in the Juliani Room at Town Hall, the SC will discuss the arborists’ report on the tree and the appropriate next steps.

Although the NRC was involved in commissioning the report, any decision on the tree’s fate will ultimately be up to the SC because the tree is located on school property and is not considered a public shade tree. Neither the NRC, the Park and Tree Division, nor the Planning Board are decision-making agencies regarding the potential removal of trees on school property.

The potential destruction of the Hunnewell White Oak has been a hot-button topic since 2018. At that time during a joint meeting at Town Hall of the School Building Committee and the Board of Selectmen, stakeholders including concerned Hunnewell School neighbors and parents voiced their opposition to a Hunnewell School construction project that would lead to the destruction of the tree.

Download (PDF, Unknown)

Study suggests moving bath house at Morses Pond in Wellesley

December 31, 2019 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

At a public meeting on Dec. 16 at the Warren Recreation Building, engineering and environmental services firm Weston & Sampson (W & S) put forward ideas about potential changes at Morses Pond (MOPO). W & S was hired by the Wellesley Recreation Department last year to put together an $80k feasibility and design study for the 5-acre town-owned MOPO area. The study is partly funded by Community Preservation funds.

Morses Pond Beach, Winter 2019 — Morses Pond beach and bath house, Winter 2019

Approximately 30 people in all attended the meeting — residents numbered about 20; and Weston & Sampson representatives, Town employees, and a couple media types made up the rest.

W & S representatives put forward a power point presentation that covered early ideas and concepts, followed by a request for feedback about likes, dislikes, what they might be missing.

Based on resident comments from meeting, and from an earlier meeting that took place last summer, Weston & Sampson will complete the feasibility study by late Fall 2020.

The bath house

A major recommendation was to tear down the bathhouse because according to W & S rep Tim Sheehan, “The existing bath house has lived its life and it’s probably time for that life to be over.” In the firm’s vision, the bath house would be reoriented to the opposite side of the beach, toward the end of the service road. The reason for the flip of the bath house to the other side of the beach area is to stop blocking the views with equipment and buildings, thereby opening up sight lines across the beach area.

Morses Pond area, Winter 2019 — This photo is taken from the service road area, facing west, to look at the bath house situated on the opposite side of the MOPO beach. The S & W proposal calls for the bath house to be relocated on the side of the beach where the dumpsters currently are situated.

A new bath house would be kept simple; constructed as a zero net energy building; and include improved staff and storage areas. The bath house would actually be two buildings, with a total square footage increase of about 200 square feet over the existing bath house. The structures would be low lying to blend in with the landscape and would be powered by electricity. There would be patio areas with seating and shade. One resident asked if the shaded part might with some minor tweaks be substantially increased, which would be a benefit to visitors seeking relief from the late afternoon sun that beats down on the MOPO beach.

Morses Pond, bath house drawing — This drawing by S & W shows a shaded area with tables, the office area, and the bath house.

One resident voiced concerns about the close proximity of the proposed bath house to the MBTA commuter rail tracks and asked if there might be some fencing installed to keep the area safer.

Although the grade is extremely steep and it would take a very determined kid to get up to the tracks, the point was taken that moving the bath house to the MBTA tracks side of the pond does bring children and families closer to fast-moving vehicles.

Plans call for enhanced accessibility across the recreation site, which is being looked at from an Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) perspective.

Ice House Pond

Back at the August 2019 meeting, recreational options for Ice House Pond came up. One resident asked the Town and S & W to consider how difficult it would be for caregivers to keep an eye out on kids at both Ice House Pond and Morses Pond should Ice House Pond are be made as attractive to kids as the MOPO area.

At the December meeting, S & W reps came back with an Ice House Pond plan that would include a boardwalk with viewing platforms around Ice House Pond that would allow residents to walk the perimeter of the pond, fish from the boardwalk, and observe nature. Invasive species such as bittersweet would be removed from the area.

Also discussed was possibly lowering the culvert between the two ponds to increase flow between the two bodies of water. As it stands now, Ice House Pond’s water level in the summer months gets very low, and the pond becomes choked with plant life.

One resident expressed concerns about a boardwalk: “A boardwalk to me isn’t compatible with a natural place.”

What about parking?

One resident asked if parking could be relocated closer to the beach area. That one got a hard no. In fact, the parking would be slightly farther away from the pond.

During the August 2019 meeting, DPW Water & Sewer Superintendent Bill Shaughnessy pointed out that the current parking area is on the edge of a Zone 1 wellhead protection area. To provide some buffer between the lot and the protection area, the parking lot would be moved further east. This would mean a slightly further walk to the pond, an idea that disappointed some audience members who were actually hoping for a shorter walk to the pond.

Morses Pond parking lot, Winter 2019. The parking lot currently is sited on the edge of a Zone 1 wellhead protection area.

Beach volleyball would remain at MOPO. A playground would also stay but would be relocated to take it out of the sightline of the beach. One resident voiced concerns that the playground would be moved too far away from the water. He pointed out that as it stood now, his younger kids could be on the play equipment while his older one was in the water and he could still effectively monitor all three. He wondered if moving the playground would make it too far from the water and too difficult to watch the kids as they did different activities.

Morses Pond, playground, Winter 2019. Some value the close proximity of the playground to the shoreline, citing the ability to keep an eye on one kid who wants to play in the pond and one who wants to climb on the structure.

There’s still a long way to go before any decisions are finalized. There will be additional public meetings, and capital funding must would have to be ok’d by Town Meeting. The project, which does not yet have a cost estimate, could be three or four years away from becoming a reality.

Morses Pond, Turner Rd. entrance — The subject of encouraging users to think of MOPO as a year-round recreational area came up a the meeting. What that could mean for the Turner Rd. gate is uncertain. More to come on that, as neighbors, safety officials, and others weigh in.

Here’s how to reach W & S reps.

Here’s how to reach Wellesley Rec. Director Matt Chin: 781-235-2370 or [email protected]

Back in August 2019, W & S came to town for a public engagement and listening session.