With Collaboration Comes Progress

It was a successful night for the Select Board and the Medeiros Farm Committee Wednesday night after the Committee and Board took votes to move the Medeiros Farm Project forward. While this project, since its inception, has caused questions, discontent, disagreement, and yes, turmoil at times, both groups kept the vision of all residents at the forefront. Ultimately, the end result will be a historical, recreational design plan for a venue that will satisfy and serve all residents of our town.

What I would like to impress upon is the word “satisfy”. It is no easy task to balance the desires of the people that drive a project and the outlook of the residents who have a different vision for the project itself. It is difficult to ignore town meeting results. Without a doubt, the votes in favor of this project at town meeting were overwhelmingly favorable. However, one main issue has been considering the results of the votes in favor of the project in comparison to the number of residents who were not in attendance but who may have a different vision. The difficulty lies in balancing a small number of votes of those in attendance to those who hesitate with moving the project forward. What I feel was misconstrued were the reasons behind the hesitation. Those who may have hesitated in moving forward with a very expensive design weren’t necessarily opposed to the project itself but rather had other reasons causing the hesitation. Some reasons communicated to individual Board members consisted of personal economic hardship, prioritizing the needs of other town projects or simply having a different vision of how the town should allocate its resources.

The greatest difficulty has been to bridge all of the voices in support of the project with those with hesitation, all while satisfying all of the residents, including those not in attendance at town meeting. So where does a Board begin? We look to the Town’s bylaws as a guide to help balance the voices, needs, and wants of all residents. While it is no easy task, it is not only possible but necessary and required. The Medeiros Farm Project proves just that. While those strongly in favor, perhaps made assumptions, that the Select Board held this project hostage, the Board was looking and working towards a solution that not only would be successful with the Town’s zoning bylaws but could also possibly save money. The joint meeting between the Medeiros Farm Committee and the Select Board on September 30th proved that with collaboration and vision, this project can in fact move forward with the greatest likelihood of passing the zoning requirements while keeping all residents satisfied.

While it was confusing, contentious, and uncomfortable at times, the end result will be a project design that will preserve the rich, historical nature of the Medeiros Farm itself but also satisfy and service residents of all ages in our town. I feel this project should be looked upon as an example of the importance of attending town meeting to let your voice and vote be heard. Nonetheless, the Committee and Board worked together for the sake of the residents. Collaboration is a beautiful thing.

Gary Sagar
Chairman, Select Board