Disc Golf Study Scores, Pollard Zoning Passes at Town Meeting

May 8, 2026
• A warrant article calling for a $50,000 disc golf feasibility study narrowly passed in a hand count vote. The seven other articles passed on voice votes.

Town Meeting passed eight more articles on its warrant docket Wednesday night, including the Pollard Middle School rezoning, $1.785 million for Center at the Heights improvements and funding for a feasibility study that would determine potential disc golf course locations.

Pollard rezoning: passed

Fears of the financial magnitude of a Pollard rebuild did not deter members from approving the required rezoning of the parcel on Harris Avenue.

The zoning for the site, situated in the Single Residence B district, would apply just to the middle school, but does not fall under spot zoning because “it’s related to a municipal purpose,” Planning Board Vice Chair Justin McCullen said.

Estimates put the rebuild at $336 million, with about $60 million of that theoretically coming from a grant through the Massachusetts School Building Authority. Parking under the proposed plan would double from 130 to 260 spots, with about 20% to accommodate visitors. One parking space would equal about three seats in the planned 750-seat auditorium.

Finance Committee Chair John Connelly warned residents on Monday of the significant tax burden the project would place on residents, though the committee supported the rezoning. The zoning passed on a voice vote.

A vote on the Pollard rebuild funding itself will likely come this fall at a Special Town Meeting.

Disc golf feasibility study: passed 113-104

The $50,000 disc golf funding, out of the Community Preservation Committee, came down to just nine votes.

The committee contested the study “addresses an unmet community recreation need,” member Marshall Davis said. While the Needham Disc Golf organization conducted its own study — identifying the Town Forest and Ridge Hill as top options — Park and Recreation aimed to do a “more comprehensive” one, Davis said.

The disc golf course at Olin College is privately owned with limited public use, prompting the Park and Recreation Commission to pursue a potential town course, as other surrounding communities are doing, commission Chair Chris Gerstel said. The study will look at site usage, impacts on abutters and wildlife, parking availability and what a preliminary course design would look like.

All in, the course itself would cost about $300,000, a number Town Meeting member John Crimmings criticized.

“But tossing a Frisbee at a bunch of golf flags I don’t think is worth $350,000,” Crimmings said.  “We play it all the time on our street, and we use the telephone poles.”

The Finance Committee voted not to support the article, noting it lacked details into costs and was not one of Park and Rec’s listed priorities. Select Board member Bill Dermody previously voiced skepticism of the study during a recent Select Board meeting but ultimately supported the plan along with his colleagues.

Andrea Longo Carter, a member of Town Meeting member and the School Committee, said the study appeared more as “a nice-to-have, not a need-to-have.”

“This is not something I feel like I can support, given all the other needs in the town,” she said.

Bob Baker, president of Needham Disc Golf, encouraged support for the funding. Despite another member’s comments, Baker noted a nine-hole course would require nine acres and an 18-course would be about 18 acres. The town has been in talks about disc golf for two years.

The article also received vocal support from member Margaret Abruzese, who spoke of the sport’s financial accessibility and appeal to all ages.

“This article is for the benefit of all of Needham,” Abruzese said, “not just those people who currently identify as disc golf players.”

Other courses in neighboring towns could service Needham residents, argued Town Meeting member Eric Sockol.

“If you’re a skier, you have to go certain places. If you are into horses, you might go to a stable in Dover,” Sockol said. “You can’t always have the facility in your town if the size and demographics don’t work in the town.”

After a voice vote was too close to call, a hand count came to a 113 to 104 vote in favor.

Center at the Heights improvements: passed

After a nearly $400,000 design fund appropriation for projects at the CATH last year, Town Meeting supported the construction of said projects: creating a handicapped-accessible area at a rear entrance, expanding the fitness room and upgrading the kitchen to a commercial one.

The construction at the senior center costs $1.785 million, which will be funded from free cash.

Other articles: all passed

Also concerning seniors, amendments to the A-2 Apartment Zoning District passed to enable North Hill to create 45 more residences at its independent living facilities.

Town Meeting approved $1.44 million for the first phase of the Eliot Elementary School playground, funded from CPA funds. Last spring, Town Meeting approved about $70,000 for the design phase. Construction would be completed in late August or early September. The renovation includes pour-in-place rubber to replace the engineered wood fiber, which would reduce required maintenance, come into ADA compliance and last 10-15 years before resurfacing.

An amendment to accessory dwelling units (ADUs) passed without much discussion. Since 2020, Needham has built 16 ADUs.

An $804,000 roof replacement at Seabeds, a Needham Housing Authority property, received support. Though the roofs are halfway through their useful life, a replacement is required to install solar panels, which would reduce costs and support project financing. Down the line, the town will consider funding a modernization of the 46 units located at Seabeds, which comes at a total cost of $20.6 million. The town itself has appropriated $3.2 million, and the NHA has secured other funding via loans, grants and rebates.

In its final vote Wednesday, Town Meeting passed an article to upgrade the HVAC system at Needham High School, totalling $2,128,500 via borrowing and free cash.

There are six voting articles to go in the Annual Town Meeting — including votes on citizens’ petitions and the proposed town seal redesign — but before that, members will take up 12 articles in the Special Town Meeting that begins Monday at 7:30 p.m.