Select Board Divided Over Medeiros Farm project

The Seekonk Select Board remains sharply divided over the troubled Medeiros Farm project, which has been beset by controversy.

On Wednesday, in a 3 to 2 vote, the board rejected a bid award for designer services to CHA Consulting for $549,450.

Members Christopher Zorra and Michael Healy were in favor, with Chair Gary Sagar, Elizabeth Elmasian, and Robert Archambault in opposition.

The board also voted not to place active recreational fields on Elm Street. Zorra and Healy were in opposition, with Sagar, Elmasian, and Archambault in favor.

The board voted to conduct a traffic study before proceeding with any expenditures for the project. Zorra and Healy were opposed, with Sagar, Elmasian, and Archambault in favor.

“I don’t want to see another project in Seekonk end up as a DPW (voters rejected $40 million for a new building),” Archambault said. “Spending a ton of money and then finding out later we should have done a little bit more. We shouldn’t have been in such a rush.”

The Town acquired the property for $2 million. At the May 2023 Town Meeting, the Town voted to appropriate $150,000 from the Community Preservation Fund Undesignated Reserve to hire and direct a consultant to develop a master plan for the Medeiros Farm project at Elm Street and Lincoln Street. A seven member committee was appointed to oversee the project.

The Medeiros Farm Recreation and Park Master Plan outlines 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.

“You should really forget about the fields on Elm and Lincoln,” Sagar told the committee. “Because if you go forward with that, I think some neighbors are going to take you to court.”

“I’m fully supporting what the people voted for,” Healy said. “I’m not going to vote against the will of the people. I think the Town Administrator and the (Medeiros Farm) committee has done a phenomenal job meeting with the neighbors and discussing their concerns. If we have to limit some of the scope of it to make everything fit for everybody, I’m all for that. Let’s get the project done. That was the intent of the Medeiros family.”

“I’m trying to proceed with caution,” Elmasian noted. “I’m not saying I want this project to stop. I’m not against this project. I am in agreement with spending money responsibly. I feel a traffic study can be done with what’s been done so far.”

“I’ve never opposed the Medeiros Farm project,” Archambault added. “I’ve tried to improve it. I tried to be rational with it. Ask that some adjustments be made to it. I’ve been a supporter of the project. I’m sorry if people feel otherwise. I want to be smart about this.”

“We are getting people back to the table in terms of what this project looks like,” Town Administrator Shawn Cadime explained. “We’ve heard the residents in terms of Elm Street. I’m on the record saying that we shouldn’t have any recreational fields on Elm Street. I’m in the minority. We can get a project that I think is beneficial to everybody in town.”