Shaw Street Infrastructure Upgrades Approved While Winslow and Shattuck Buildings Repurposed for Town Services

The Board of Selectmen enacted a series of municipal infrastructure and real estate management decisions during last night’s executive session. In a unanimous vote, selectmen approved a formal request to seek a $16,000 budget transfer from the Finance Commission to construct a critical water main connection linking Shaw Street and Cross Street. The public works move was prompted after Shaw Street resident Anthony Fruci outlined persistent, severe rusty water problems to the board. Selectmen had previously deleted the plumbing infrastructure item from their 1974–1975 general water construction budget but reversed course to address the neighborhood water quality grievance.

In a related engineering move, the board directed Town Manager John P. Mogan to have the municipal engineering department conduct an intensive three-month drainage study on Austin Street. The neighborhood flooding issue was brought to the board’s attention by Austin Street resident Charles Daly. John P. Mogan noted that a permanent engineering solution to replace the inadequate stormwater pipes stretching from the local railroad tracks down into South Norwood could ultimately cost the town as much as $100,000.

The board also approved a comprehensive series of recommendations submitted by the town manager to secure municipal operational space inside the vacant Winslow School and Shattuck School buildings, which were recently phased out of active educational use. Under the approved plan, the town will forward proposals to the school committee to convert the empty school facilities into centralized civic headquarters and storage hubs. Targeted municipal uses for the phased-out classrooms include housing for the visiting nurses, the town youth coordinator, a local cable television center, the federally funded ancillary manpower training board, general government storage, and the Conservation Commission. The buildings are also slated to host the personnel advisory board, secure ballot box storage, and a townwide data processing center.

In separate conservation business, Selectman Chairman Joseph W. Wall temporarily relinquished his gavel to move that the town postpone the formal acceptance of a parcel of land along Purgatory Brook off Margaret Street, which was offered as a gift to the municipality by owner Ruth C. Nemeth. Selectman Joseph F. Curran advised that the town should only accept the land offer if it is integrated into a broader, structured regional area plan with clearly defined public rights-of-way, access, and egress points. The board subsequently advised conservation officials Bettina S. Cottrell and Thomas Clifford to study the parcel’s boundaries further. Finally, on a motion introduced by Selectman Charles L. Rich, the board voted unanimously to completely eliminate “Omaha Orange” as the official color for all municipal vehicles. Town Manager John P. Mogan explained that painting town cars and trucks that specific shade cost as much as $400 more than conventional colors, and noted the bright vehicles brought significantly less money when traded in because dealers had to completely repaint them for resale to the public.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger