May 9, 2025
• Larger budgetary items prompted more passionate discussion at Town Meeting’s second session.

Following its standard proceedings on Monday, Town Meeting found solid consensus on all 10 articles discussed Wednesday, approving around $36 million for projects and designs.

East Militia Heights Housing

With $2.84 million from the Community Preservation Act, Town Meeting invested in 86 affordable housing units at the Charles River Center, a nonprofit that serves people with disabilities. Total construction will cost $50 million, and the center has already invested $6.2 million.

Thirty-eight of those units will be reserved for that community, and another 43 will be open to the general public making at or below 30-80% of the area median income. The remaining five units will go to CRC staff.

CRC President and CEO Anne-Marie Bajwa spoke of the unmet need the housing would address and its additional plan to “promote community integration.”

“For Needham, it’s not just a housing solution, it’s a lifeline to those families who wake up every day for fear about the future of loved ones and they can no longer take care of them,” Bajwa said.

The Finance Committee opposed the funding allocation because it uses up a significant portion of CPC funds — $2.8 million of $4.4 million — and has yet to achieve zoning approvals. The committee recommended deferring the grant in favor of a loan, which could help the town recoup about $1.8 million in 20 years.

In Vice Chair John Connolly’s words, the expenditure “is not in the financial best interest of the entire town.”

Some residents objected to that outlook. Town Meeting member Amanda Berman, who said she works in affordable housing, considers the allocation an important tool in supporting Needham residents in need. She opposed the idea of loaning the money.

“The CPC is not a bank. We should not be looking to make money off of community-related investments, particularly when it comes to affordable housing,” Berman said. “We are in a dire housing crisis.”

Holly Clarke, also a Town Meeting member, disagreed with that assessment.

“I don’t think we’re acting as a bank,” Clarke said. “What we’re doing is embarking on investments that we did not do in the past.”

Clarke inquired about referring the article back, but CPA items cannot be amended or deferred, Moderator Michael Fee said.

Other speakers looked past the financial cost and toward the potential impact. Resident Matthew Fisch spoke highly of the CRC, which his son attends, and Town Meeting member Rob Dangel called the project a “worthy cause” and one that can “help those that cannot help themselves.”

Longtime Town Meeting member Lois Sockol said the vote is one that can simply “make someone’s life so much better.”

“I’ve voted on so many things, it’s hard for me to count, but I can tell you that when I vote yes on this, I will feel proud,” Sockol said. “When I vote yes on this, my heart will be lifted.”

After significant discussion, the article passed on a voice vote.

Needham Free Public Library Renovation

In a similar theme of community spaces and unmet needs, the town approved funding a nearly $2.4 million renovation at the Needham Free Public Library. With a two-thirds vote, the library will create a young adult space to better suit local students.

Introducing the article, Select Board Chair Heidi Frail called the library “a third place — somewhere to be out safely that’s not school or work or home.” However, teenagers can be noisy, and creating a separate space for younger patrons would appease all library goers, petitioners argued.

Rob Petit, a library trustee, said 70-100 teenagers visit the library after school, but the current teen room can only accommodate about 12 people at a time.

“This renovation will provide a dedicated space for teens to study, read, create, meet with their peers and take advantage of all of our library’s many resources,” Petit said.

Needham parents voiced support for the project and the benefit of a curated, free community space.

The article received limited pushback, with Town Meeting member Adam Cole arguing the funding is “a want and not a need.”

“It aims to address a narrow window of crowding and noise in the after school hours from between about 2:45 and 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday during the school year,” he said. “It is certainly a need during some of those periods, especially during the final exam periods… That said, this expansion is going to take up a significant amount of the second floor and will be devoid of teenagers for a significant amount of the time during the day and during the school year.”

In response to a question about priority funding, Frail said that “everything that comes before you at Town Meeting is here because it is a priority.” The bid for the project also came in under budget, Petit said, adding it should be ready in less than a year.

Cogswell Expansion

In its biggest budget allocation this spring, Town Meeting signed off on $19.6 million for improvements to the Department of Public Works’ Jack Cogswell building. In the first of four construction phases, the town will expand Cogswell, which will house maintenance bays and provide wash facilities.

The Select Board and Finance Committee supported the appropriation, which comes from borrowing. The total cost for construction sits at $106 million, Connolly said.

Town Meeting member Joe Matthews addressed the potential sticker shock, citing upcoming renovations within Needham Public Schools.

“We shouldn’t let that one albatross of Pollard and Mitchell just hang overhead and prevent us from adding these quality of life things,” he said, “which you may not view as a necessity, but someone else in town does.”

The town could save upwards of $1 million through energy rebates, Select Board member Marianne Cooley said. Addressing concerns of traffic, Cooley said the matter will likely be a discussion at the Planning Board when the project requires permitting.

“This is something that I think has been needed for a long time,” Cooley said. “It is an important and critical first step that can hold the DPW for a while and at least keep people in working conditions that should be appropriate, that they should have to work in.”

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