Government

An update on Legacy Farms was given by developer Roy MacDowell during the November 18 Planning Board meeting, including an update on the proposed hockey rink. A request for proposal (RFP) for the Legacy Farms athletic field called for by Town Manager Norman Khumalo and Town Counsel Ray Miyares has been sent out to potential developers. The intent is to have a hockey rink developed at Legacy Farms, but the land can be used for other athletic-specific uses.

According to a press release today from the Town Manager''s Office, the Police Chief Search Committee has made significant progress in its work to find the next Chief of Police for the Town of Hopkinton.

At the Director's Meeting of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) held this morning in Boston, Hopkinton received an invitation into the MSBA's eligibility period.

“I’m delighted that the Board has voted the Center Elementary School into the Eligibility Period,” said State Treasurer Steven Grossman, Chairman of the MSBA. “We look forward to working collaboratively with Hopkinton officials to develop the best solution to meet the town’s educational needs in a fiscally responsible manner.”

The Massachusetts Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that will restore the value of the minimum wage in Massachusetts by increasing the minimum wage to $11 by 2016 and tying future increases to the Consumer Price Index for the Northeast region. The bill also increases wages for tipped workers to 50 percent of the minimum wage.

According to news reports from several media sites, the town of Milford has voted down the proposal for a casino. The Milford Daily News is reporting unofficial results that show of the 9,846 voters who cast ballots, or 55 percent of all registered voters, 6,361 votes were cast against the casino and 3,480 in favor. There were five blanks.

Other links:

Construction at the intersection of School and West Main Streets is ongoing and will continue through next week.

The work along the northerly and southerly legs of School Street will require traffic to be limited to one lane of traffic and may require a limited detour along Dicarlo Road on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, November 20 and 21.

Minor delays are to be expected so please seek alternate routes. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.

Thank you
John K. Westerling
Director of Public Works

Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) John Polanowicz today announced 33 contracts have been awarded to community-based organizations to help seniors and people with disabilities live independently in their homes and communities with local support services.

A component of the Affordable Care Act, the program is an initiative of the federal Money Follows the Person (MFP) Rebalancing Demonstration Grant aimed to help states reduce their reliance on institutional long-term care and expand options for elders and people with disabilities to receive care in their community.

The Hopkinton School Committee has begun its process of developing a new 5-year Strategic Plan to guide the work of the district. The School Committee is seeking input from across the community to use as the foundation for targeted goals and outcomes. To gather information from the community, Dr. MacLeod will facilitate the two remaining Focus Groups with parents and community members. A community wide survey will also be conducted during the month of November. We encourage you to attend so that your voice can be heard.

Focus Group meeting dates are listed below:

Hopkinton's Board of Selectmen meet this Tuesday, November 19 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Room 215 at Town Hall. Included in the agenda is a discussion related to the growing beaver population in Massachusetts and more specifically in Hopkinton.

INCIDENT 2013-10731

On Friday November 15, 2013 at approximately 12:20 A.M., Hopkinton Police received a report of residential breaking and entering in progress off of Lumber St. As officers were responding to this location, a call was received from an alarm company reporting an intruder alarm at a business on West Main Street.