Medeiros Farm Committee Works to Resolve Dispute

The Medeiros Farm Committee worked to resolve their differences with town residents at their January 6 meeting.

At the May 2023 Town Meeting, $150,000 was appropriated from the Community Preservation Fund to hire a consultant to develop a master plan for the Medeiros Farm at Elm Street and Lincoln Street. A seven member committee was appointed to oversee the project. David Sullivan is the Chairman. Sullivan also serves as Chairman of the town’s Planning Board. The other members all represent other town committees.

The Medeiros Farm Recreation and Park Master Plan outlined four objectives: active recreation, passive recreation, historic preservation, and a Community Park.

Residents from Elm Street and Lincoln Street expressed their opposition to having soccer fields in their neighborhood. They cited traffic and safety concerns.

Two citizens’ petition articles were placed on the November Town Meeting warrant. One article was to rescind $825,000 in funding already appropriated for the project. The other was to rescind the appointment of the Medeiros Farm Committee itself. Both articles failed.

The committee had voted not to allow active recreation fields on Elm Street or Lincoln Street.

“We’re good with keeping the soccer fields off Lincoln and Elm,” said Ken Kazarian. “We have quality of life concerns. We never said we wanted to stop the project. We just wanted to see something done appropriate for the neighborhood.”

Earlier in the meeting, Doreen Taylor had questioned the validity of the committee.

“Each of your individual committees chose you to serve as their representatives. The appointing authority being the Board of Selectmen did not fulfill their job to legally appoint you. You have no authority to spend tax dollars on behalf of the town,” Taylor said.

Taylor filed an Open Meeting Law complaint last December against the Seekonk Select Board regarding discussions of the Medeiros Farm property.

In her December 5 filing with the Attorney General’s office, Taylor alleged that in 2021, Town Administrator Shawn Cadime and former Board of Selectmen chair Justin Sullivan held executive session meetings “relative to the purchase of property in the Town of Seekonk costing the taxpaying public $2 million in Community Preservation funding without holding definitive process discussions and taking Board participation votes in open session.”

Cadime said town legal counsel had offered their opinions about Taylor’s complaints and determined everything was “legal.”

“There’s just a lot of misinformation that’s being stated,” Cadime added. “To continue to say that there’s no legal requirement or legal ability to spend money is inaccurate.”

The committee voted to allow the chairman and vice chairman to meet privately with the Select Board chair, vice-chair, and Cadime to discuss the project.