The Clock Town Chronicles Ep 5 Oct 2024

001good afternoon or good morning if you're listening in the morning um this is Michael Herbert your town manager the host of Clock Town Chronicles this is episode five of The Clock Town Chronicles and today we have two special guests here we have Yolanda Greaves our current chair of the select board and economic development and community outreach director Beth Reynolds uh welcome you two it's nice to have you on the show thanks for having me thank you nice to be here yes um so today we are going to really do a 10-year retrospective of things that uh that we've done here in the town and and the way the town's changed over the last 10 years and then we'll focus a little bit at the end on some of the challenges that uh that we have

002coming up and we've got some biggies but um really this kind of this program emanated out of a discussion that we had with the select board retreat where you know recapping what we have done uh was part of that in terms of you know at what we're going to do moving forward um and then I think you know another part of of that again was okay what are the challenges that we're facing but you know when you put everything together that we've done over the last decade collectively as a community it really is an impressive list if just if you look at it from you know just an accomplishment or an achievement standpoint and I think that's going to be pretty self-evident as we go through this but what I think is really most important

003and one of the things that we're really trying to focus on and get in touch with is the why you know why are these things important why did we do them you know it's just so easy for us to get and we've almost developed a culture of just okay achievement get it done move on to the next thing but I think it's really really important to think about where we were like really put ourselves back to where we were 10 years ago what the town looked like what the town felt like and then compare that to where we are now and then that's going to help us gauge I think how we move forward and what are those things that we want to repeat not necessarily projects but do we want to continue this pace

004what are the things we want to look at maybe doing a little bit differently and so that's what today's program is all about but you know before we get into all of that Yolanda do you just want to give a little brief intro about about you and who you are sure I'm Yolanda Greaves I was just reelected in May to my fifth term on the ashin select board people may know my V voice and face through waa Around the Clock we're into our 11th season of that show I'm the current chair of the Ashland select board and through my role as a select board member I also represent Ashland at the Metro West Regional collaborative which is a regional organization I'm the chair of that I also represent at the state level at mapc and

005then I'm also currently on the board for weimo which is women elected Municipal officials so through through my 12 years sitting on the select board I've reached out and helped talk about regionalization and how we can work with other communities so that if we think we have a new idea we can check with other communities to say okay do we have to start from the beginning or are there other people who have done it and vice versa we've been able to take some of the things we've done here in Ashland certainly The Corner Spot uh that Beth helped get going other communities have looked to us and asked about that so good segue into Beth Beth how about you uh so I am Beth Reynolds I am the director of Economic Development um and community

006outreach I been here for eight years now I've been an Ashlin resident though for almost 20 which is nice to say um and I have enjoyed creating this position for the town of Ashland um when we had originally used the um consultant to design what you know to look at what was needed in town um I was happy to fill that position and sort of made it what Ashlin really needed filled the Gap with Communications really connected the residents to the business Community um and then it's just sort of evolved from there um so it's been fun bringing new events into town bridging that um Gap with the residents to bring them out to meet us to um connect with one another engage so it's been an adventure for sure um and um I'm looking

007forward to what's next hey everybody please turn if you're listening please turn off your cell pH phones um I will do that too Beth and Yolanda thank you yeah when I was thinking about this show I thought I was trying to think of who are the best people um to have as guests to be a part of this and you two came to mind uh for a number of different reasons but I think you both bring you know unique perspectives and uh historical perspectives both as you know Town officials but then also as residents and you know just getting into I think some of those things those projects right um obviously they're the big ones that that you think about so uh you know let's just start with the building projects the two main building

008projects I think when we get into this we'll realize there's more building projects than than just you know the two that I'm talking about which is the Mendes school and the public safety building so now I think again we know why they were necessary I think that case was uh was made uh for for many years and in the public safety building case for for decades but why do you think we were able to do those now again something that you know we've identified um for for many years as a need and something that needed to be done but what do you think was the critical mass that that got us to the point where we actually did it well it's interesting because you're saying we've done two building projects and I think back when

009I was on school committee and we actually in town had four projects going on so I think this time when we did those four projects and those that was in the late '90s 2000s we did Town Hall we did the library we did the community center and then we built the new high school which is now probably 15 or 17 years old and I think we were able to do these two projects together because we brought together various groups in the community we brought those people who had kids in the schools and we brought the seniors and we brought general public together to say look these are two projects that are necessary and even though at first we didn't want to do them both at the same time but funding hit and things happened that

010it said we need to keep moving these forward and even though we had to do the vote during Co it was either do the vote or with the mindes school potentially lose funding from the msba they weren't saying oh you can hold off with Co so I think the right groups of people and the right leadership was there to say okay both of these projects are necessary one is not more important than the other so we had to move them both forward at the same time yeah the funding was the trigger for sure I mean obviously how we didn't want to pass up an opportunity to have funding toz right exactly to have that project move forward um but I think that it's been I mean what I've just experienced over the last eight years

011is the community really coming together it every year it just seems to get a Little Bit Stronger um we're having a lot of new residents come into town um I mean just look at our home prices right those have skyrocketed so I feel like we have a really strong um engagement and I think that that's really what put those two projects forward because they knew the importance of both of them and I think it doesn't matter if they had Young School AED kids in the schools at that time the older generation right they they were right there supporting it exactly so I think it was important for everyone um for so many reasons and I think because people are more engaged and more just have a sense of togetherness I think they were more you

012know more inclined to say yes and vote for those projects through yeah I mean I thought what was most telling and I think something that we could all be proud of is the fact that it wasn't a close vote I mean even at the ballot I mean it was almost 90% favor for each of them and um it's a testament exactly commun and I think that's you know you had people who had kids in the schools and you know whose Focus was obviously the school also knew the importance of the public safety building and vice versa so um again and those projects are are built and you know we're still doing some stuff with Mendes but let's not also forget the opportunity that they left behind in their absence so I mean just what're doing

013with the fire station downtown and what it meant for DPW too I mean there's that's great right there's so many positives right we had some Fields up and back of mes but they weren't very good right so now we're going to wind up with two very solid fields for our youth sports and our school sports so right yeah they opened up opportunities I mean the excitement for people as to yeah the new business coming in to the fire station downtown is amazing yeah so you know that's probably a good segue to talk about some more specific Economic Development work or we we could go in a couple different directions we can talk about downtown we could talk about economic development but you know I think Economic Development I think one of the the Hallmarks and

014really kind of our philosophy has been you know how can we help uh create an environment both from a financial perspective with incentives and then also with increased communication and and be Your Role kind of you know being that liaison to you know get businesses to want to to come here and at the same time use those opportunities to fill some of these vacant and dilapidated spaces that detract from the community and you know Beth I think probably the the one that comes to mind the most is Mazy you know now which is going to be chase at the old Blockbuster building which just it just stood as a lone Testament to uh decline and Decay on 126 for many many years and now it's a completely revitalized space but to do that we used

015you know an economic development incentive program which was very very unique and why don't you talk a little bit about some of the businesses that we've helped in some of those spaces we've been able to revitalize that sure the um I I think that incentive program um that we put together has been one of the best gifts um that we could have done for the business Community um and these new businesses coming in so Mazi is a great example um the Blockbuster building was vacant for 10 years plus I think and longer but and they did they invested um a Millions a million dollars and um you know we were able to supply them with $40,000 in grant money and 45,000 I think in grant funding so um they were a great example of a

016of a wonderful business that came to town Chase um although they're not utilizing the incentive program will hopefully be wonderful Community partner as well um tomorrow's is another really good example the old papaginos that was in town it wasn't vacant as long yeah it was vac for while it was a couple years and tomorrow's is just I mean they are just booming with business they're doing such a great job um they've really have a quality product they did such a good job in there um and again they utilized the incentive program um and that was a good it was a attraction for them people are looking around when these businesses are looking around at other communities this sort of just giv gives ashy The Edge because it's not only just the the money that they

017feel it's also the welcoming um feel that they get from us they they are walking into a community that wants them here that will embrace them and that will support them D say dee is another one he um has created such a wonderful space at 200 hom RAV um and their business is really picking up now too which is wonderful to see so and I know we have we have a lot more coming up um I just had an Economic Development Advisory Group meeting today with three business business incentive applications um one for a child psychiatrist like how wonderful that the need is is out there and her application proves that um so we really are know if an aded so um it does give us that that little extra incentive to really make people

018feel welcome and what I really like is that one we're bringing these businesses in because for many years that's what we heard from the residents right we don't just want to be a bedroom community we want to have more businesses in town we want to have places that we can walk to or go to or support and we're seeing that happen right I mean 21 Main Street is the building and then Bagel table right right I think they came in before the incentive program potentially yes but they have then done different Partnerships with the with the town to Foster their business and help support downtown I mean it's a great space it also has some meeting and other things that are going on in that building as well as other buildings in downtown and throughout

019the community right yeah and for those people you know we're talking about the incentive program so so what is that that is so in 2013 Ashlin passed uh the local option meals tax which brought in some money into the town and you know one of the reasons we did that was specifically for economic development and at the time specifically for 126 which we'll get into but um subsequently uh we had a town meeting vote and we had to get a special legislative vote to um earmark those funds specifically for economic development and then after that we had to go to the legislature and town meeting to create this incentive program which like you said um gives grants to private businesses um and incentivizes them to come here so municipalities aren't allowed to give grants or

020money to private Enterprises we had to jump through hoops and people really really like it but you know you mentioned do de and the economic development incentive program has been used for for that and then also for Zeta fencing if I remember correctly Sub-Zero nitrogen ice cream well yeah that's but I'm thinking specifically about the so describe to me I mean those of you that you know both of you have been in town for a while so prior to you know 10 years ago what was the telecon building what when you thought of the telecon building what did you think of empty space what's really funny is back in the mid to late 80s my husband would do lighting installations for theater and apparently there was a theater in that building I mean by the

021time we came into town in 1990 I think it was gone or we don't know for sure what happened with it but it was it it had a gym it had some manufacturing it didn't look very good and there was not a lot of businesses in it or if they were they weren't publicized you didn't know what was in there right they weren't businesses that you went into visit on process was in there and they took up the largest amount of space that was a call center um so when they left that's when the opportunity came so whenever there's turnover there's there's opportunity and unfortunately you know we did have to lose on process but um but it did open up some wonderful space for clock toown pickle ball and um now that it's becoming

022a little Hub over there for greens yeah so I mean you think about where that space was yeah you think about that space 10 years ago and what what's happened over the last decade and let's uh let's give credit also to the ownership there Steve and and um I think a couple other partners were part of that I mean they really they really helped Revitalize that so it's like you said it's become kind of a new a new economic Center for Town absolutely um so yeah and I think you know there's so much more the economic development incentive program has helped you talked about Subzero um but then think about the other you know Bagel table was before that time but that's a great new business was Crossroads um did they take advantage of that

023cross that was a huge that was a huge win huge win for us have you visited them just a few times um but and they would be the first to say that's what really they were deciding between two places and that's what put them over Edge to choose Ashland um so it definitely definitely helps right and they've been a great business blush has been taken care of uh as taken advantage of the sign and facade Improvement um that I'd like to encourage Erica has use the sign and facade Improvement program there's been there's been quite a few so again you know thinking back over the years like you know before you know 2010 or or whatever what new businesses were coming into downtown I know I hear about the ones that we've lost like you

024know m Bulls I believe was one and the basket case I think was another Basket Case was there long but what businesses yeah what businesses came I think up until 10 years ago there wasn't there weren't new businesses coming into downtown there was maybe in the mill building there was some businesses coming in and out I don't I don't remember when uppercuts oh that was later yeah that was later that's been within that was longer than 10 years ago uppercuts no uppercuts came in probably 2018 I think no yeah really I thought they were there before then Ashy raiki and wellness they took over in the space in the Masons um building mhm um okay so before then was the red dress so red dress a new business Lis price and she came in I

025mean it was empty and she came in and it was a great store and it just didn't work out unfortunately different I don't exactly know what happened but that was a loss when she left I think the raiki store is a very nice store and that's great that they're there but um yeah people would like to go in and and shop and they like the experience of retail shops and yeah I mean right now we just have no availability um right in our downtown so I mean I think what's been great is watching some of these new businesses come in and seeing kind of the camaraderie that's been formed amongst them and um you know we looked at a bid you know business improvement district a few years ago and and it just it wasn't

026the right time for a number of different reasons and you know I'm not suggesting we start up that conversation now but I I think I think the engagement in the discussion about that project would be very very different but um you know we're talking about downtown businesses and let's just talk about what we've done you know in downtown period oh yeah um and uh you know obviously we've got you know these businesses coming in into some new spaces um 21 Main Street um 128 Main Street um now like you said Beth you know with the vacancy of the police and fire station you know looks like we're going to have the brewery coming in there signs there so they got to be coming yeah and so I think you know obviously the large downtown project

027that we were doing um is is something very special to me and there's you know definitely reasons for that um but you you know we hear about the town wanting or Town's people I should say wanting to create this vibrant walkable downtown right and you know that's one of the things that we were trying to accomplish with that and the other thing is that you know I always say you know for the private sector to invest money the public sector has to has to make those Investments too in the infrastructure and I know it's not complete yet but do you do have you seen kind of a shift in people respond bonding both residents and businesses to that project I think you see it a little bit I think where I think where I see

028it the most is when we have some of our events certainly Farmers Market brings people to downtown and then a lot of times they'll stay in the downtown and go to blush or go to the raiki store or walk over to Bagel table or something like that certainly when there's events at the corner spot right which has been huge for our downtown and for the just for the to what you've talked about earlier the camaraderie and bringing the community and the and the town's people together I don't know that we'll see the full recognition of downtown until the wires are gone until it's the completed downtown and people can come and just say wow what a difference because I think there's small noticeable differences with sidewalks and some of the trees but until the wires

029are gone and the poles are gone and can stand at one end of downtown and look toward the other and not have those polls I think that's going to be a real transformative time and people will really start appreciating it and then depending on what happens with some of the parcels that are being discussed yeah we'll determine who comes downtown and how much yeah what do you think Beth I mean when you're talking to business owners are they so we have I mean the business owners I I mean they love downtown I mean there's no doubt people love the changes that are coming I don't hear anybody really saying oh I done it right right but I do feel like we need we need to keep moving forward and we have to encourage these developments

030like on Homer a the mixed use property that um is hopefully coming soon because that will you know give us more commercial space but it will also bring people to downtown so they have to have a reason to come right now wouldn't it be nice if we actually had people that were already here and already supporting our businesses I think they would would definitely feel that um the business community at least would feel that yeah and I I think um the other thing that we need to think of when we think of downtown is I mean we're thinking of like Main Street and Front Street right and and the big project there and and I'll agree with you Yolanda I think when the polls come down I think that's going to be very very transformative

031I also think what's going to happen is it's going to highlight some of these private Parcels that are maybe not necessarily in the best shape mhm and they can utilize the sign and facade Improvement Grant well you know what what I've started to see is already especially along Front Street right so a lot of those owners of the duplexes and everything starting to see them making some Renovations and I think you'll start seeing that they're starting to see their Valu is rising exactly absolutely but beyond you know Maine and Front Street I think you know there are other parts of this whole Downtown Vision and one of the things that I think has been very very critical or you know to success has been the creation of the Riverwalk and especially that bridge and then

032the reinking and revitalization of milpond park right and that is certainly part of that downtown experience now that's what we wanted right and we got into a long discussion at the select board meeting when we got on this about kids fishing nowadays you know now you go into town and you see kids on their bikes with the fishing poles and stuff and it's for me it's very very heartwarming because it's what I used to do when I was a kid and for somebody like Joe who grew up here and Claudia who's lived here forever you know basically Claudia that's not a reference to your age if you're listening but yeah but she's a transplant exactly we we got we got to make that clear we got to make that clear but you know that's something

033that they saw many many years ago and that stopped happening for a variety of reasons and now you see that coming back so it's not just looking WS the future and and changing things making things completely different in some cases it's honoring and returning to some of our Roots if you will the other thing I think we have to think about and this is something Beth brought up in a discussion I forget where we've had a lot of them recently is that downtown is not just Main Street and Front Street right can we extend that downtown toward where the new Starbucks is and and that Route 135 area near Stone Park right can we can we make downtown feel be all the way over there because it's all really walkable you can park at Stone

034Park and go do something at CVS or at tomorrows and then walk into downtown for something and I think continuing the connections in regards to some of the sidewalks to get people to and from those areas are going to be critical to to Beth's vision of expanding what we think of as downtown yeah I think um I call that greater downtown there we goer downtown I knew there was a word I fig remember was that's just something I made up um but I do I think Stone Park is a gem and I feel like there's a lot of opportunity there um but there are other connections that we can make the real challenge would be to connect that to 126 but oh but we have a vision6 right the vision to connect to 126 and

035I'm sure we're going to be talking about this a little bit is the upper Charles Trail right I mean I Envision someone who lives on spy glass being able to go down 120 6 hop on the trail and take the wind their way into downtown and then go back be amazing right I mean it's can't wait we have some time before that'll happen but I think and for all the community all the neighborhoods in between the people who live off of Cedar Street who could hop on the trail and get to downtown or get to 126 at either end of 126 where they live the ability to walk or access and have a safe way to get into and out of downtown without having to get into their vehicle I me that's that's a true

036vision and I think one of the things so you think about all of those things that you just talked about and you think about the upper Charles Trail um the one section that we've been able to complete is trolley Brook Trail which is a way to get from munko Hill and and all the stuff that's happening there which we will get to to downtown and connect that to downtown but you're right Charley Brook is part of a larger upper Charles Trail network but what do you what are the lessons you think we learned from Charley Brook Trail that we could apply moving forward if you build it they will come I mean I know people who go and walk that section of charliie Brook Trail or who use that to get to the train station

037so even though we don't have it all done I think doing what doing that shows that we have have a commitment and we are interested in creating the rest of the trail because if you just leave it at that yes it's being used but it's not going to fulfill the full vision of what it could mean to finish that trail for Ashland right I walk that trail every day um I love it it's my lunch break and I it is a nice it's just a very nice peaceful walk I see kids fishing in the summer um during that time but I also see other um workers in town um which is great that's what we want we want businesses in town that stay here have lunch go grab a sandwich at the bagel table walk

038down the road um but I see people walking the trail during that and they're co-workers it's very apparent um every day and they're coming from 60 Pleasant streets so it's it's not like it's right around the corner but it it does lend to a really nice kind of getaway in the middle of the day and anytime really but um it it is a reason to come downtown again you have to give them a reason to come downtown right and so that leads to munko Hill which has drastically changed over the last 10 years um and so you think back really it the start of that work so for people who don't know um munko Hill is if if you're going towards Hopkinson on 135 and you take a ride at the Dunkin Donuts used to

039be the NBTA aess road now it's known as Memorial Drive and there's a story behind that but and it goes to the train station right it's about a mile long road but there was nothing there for for decades and Zoning was passed to basically allow a thousand units of housing to be built there in different configurations and the first part of that was the Cirrus development which was almost 400 units on 26 or 29 Acres uh and there was a lot of that was a very controversial project even though been zoned and passed it received a permit received another permit um but as part of that development and gosh we could spend a whole hour on that alone and the Lessons Learned but uh part of that is we also got a grant and it

040was a big project was to redo the MBTA access road right because it didn't it wasn't up to any kind of Standards it wasn't really a street it didn't have any utilities in it it was an and that was it yeah there was no gas no uh water sewer and so that was put in place as part of that development but then it was also key to um some of the other things that are happening there um and really the trigger to that you know after you do the the road was the town purchasing the property which was a very complicated transaction basically the rest of the rail Transit District we worked on that for two years uh and it was extremely complex um and so we bought what was known as lot three which

041if you go down the access road you look at to the right that's generally lot three um and by purchasing that that triggered the donation of land to the YMCA and then as part of that deal we also worked out something on lot two which was the left which was scheduled for 254 condo units instead created or allowed for 180 uh units of senior affordable housing done as a friendly 4 y um but and so we got all of that open space which allowed us to build Charley Brook Trail right so it was a and we spent I think $4.4 million on it Ned I think it was like four after you look at what's coming back to us but yeah we don't have to get into all that but it goes to show some

042of the open space that we purchased to maintain it as open space as well in the last 10 years which is what another part of our discussion that we might not get to today podcast I feel defitely get that because I think it's important to talk about but how much open space have we purchased in the last 10 years oh I can tell you exactly but um you know the YMCA that redoing that road and having those utilities there and and having the land donated um that was the key and Yanda remember we went to the board meeting I do was actually outside so I had a uh so I'm on the board of the Hoppington Center for the Arts full disclosure and we were standing outside this past Sunday we had a meeting there

043we had our board retreat because of the partnership between the Metro West Y and the hopkington Center for the Arts and I was standing out there and I was speaking with some residents from hopkington and we were talking about the new YMCA coming in to Ashland I said to them yeah I can remember coming to this building for a w Metro West YMCA board meeting fortunately there were some friendly faces and help helping sell the location of the new YMCA in Ashland versus hopkington and the work that Michael and Steve Mitchell and I did with our conversations with the Y staff Peter Rick and some of the board members helped them decide and then of course the kicker was the gift the donation of the land by the owner Bob Gainer to then bring the

044Metro West y the new po family Metro West y it was to Ashland it was Beth were you on the board at it was like it was like a secret kind of kind of thing that why was having I remember like we went first and then hopkington was making a pitch too for a piece of property I think hopkington went first no I think they came in after us I do but it was one of those things you know when you nail the presentation oh yeah you know like you just like we walked away from that thinking yeah we we we did a good job they made a good choice so and so yeah Co put a you know a crimp in everybody's plans including the YMCA but um they're moving forward now they're moving

045forward and we're going to have them at a select board meeting we're looking at having them a select board meeting in October either the first or second one they presented to their uh YMCA board because again full disclosure I'm on the Metro YMCA board as well and we had some presentations on some new designs and I think they they they have now settled on on what the design is going to look like and what's really cool is they're looking to utilize the space in a way working with the grades that are on the property and just really using and integrating into the Charing brick Trail and some other things so that's wonderful yeah yeah the the site plan looks awesome just the way it's I love it when Architects and and engineers and designers are

046able to incorporate the the building right the built environment into the natural environment and and that was critical to the Menda School so yeah I just I just love that stuffff and to the public safety building too absolutely yeah so you know we talked a little bit about this this property purchase and I think you know let's again we could spend a whole hour on that but we're not going to because what we did spend is over $10 million to preserve over 300 acres and so I was you know I go back in what little spare time I have and this is what I do for fun y I go to the Vault and I look at Oldtown meeting warrants and what was going on back back then and so I could so prior to

047waren Woods which was 2010 I could find one property purchase which I believe was Oak Street uh which we're still paying for but do you recalls yeah yeah do you recall any other like big property purchases that were done I mean I've been in town since 1990 I can't think of anything big that was purchased I mean I I know with like the sibson property andson property I forget when that was though I want to say like 07 okay or 08 or something maybe I wasn't paying atten but was the town back then in a good Financial space to we'll get we'll get to that later I was going to say I don't know that that was really happening because I don't remember being we didn't have a reserve fund I mean until we use

048CPA funds well I I have to say that as a community we jumped right on CPC the minute it was available we said yes we said yes to the full 3% so we it took a couple tries right uh I'm I'm almost positive cuz I think I remember sitting at one town meeting and voting it in and it passed and the idea was if we did the full 3% at that point not many other communities in the state were doing it so for a while we were getting a full match whatever we pulled in for CPC funds we were then getting that fully matched I mean and that's what allowed us to buy by Warren Woods probably the Simpson property yeah those are all CPA F those kind of things those are all CPA funds

049so I think that the community made a good decision on that but in regards to large purchases I don't know that anything was added to the town Forest except for the Oak Street parel yeah yeah I was looking um I I couldn't find anything in Old warrant but um it's something that we've really prioritized over the last 10 years you know people will focus on the development and they'll very much Overlook a lot of the open space uh preservation techniques and and and Acquisitions that we've made and it's not just Acquisitions we've used things like deed restrictions you know we've tried to be creative but the first one was um in 2016 was the Girl Scout property which was 20 acres um which was under under threat of being developed by by Howard faford under

050a 40b process and so um so we have that um you know we talked about the rail transit district and how much we were able to preserve that's over 150 acres if you look at all of that um and then uh you know obviously we've added to the town Forest which um full disclosure I'm going to take your line I but it and it it it's um I think those purchases are great so and just because there might be people who I've said I've me I've met people who go where's the Town Forest Winter Street it is a beautiful place to hike and walk we have so much to thank Our Town Forest committee the stewards of that space do such a great job and they take such pride in that but yeah go to

051Winter Street and there's two parking lots and go check out some of the trails yeah there's a parking lot also on Oak Street um which they the town Force committee has has redone and then also on saleman road and Oregon Ro but um we've added the Nicolo property which was uh over 35 acres and then some property off of Lincoln Road um which was almost 10 acres um and uh I we still have a local business owner slev developer who's still I think a little bit upset with me about the Nicko property because he really wanted to develop he wanted that and developed it yeah um Mike Mike I won't say your full name but anyway uh so so that's obviously ly was was very very very instrumental um and then I think about you

052know some of the smaller things you know the the Warren Conference Center um and part of that and so we got 20 acres as part of the lanterns development Warren Conference Center itself you know the town played a role in preserving that and you know making sure Framingham State got it but you know Tri Street um which is an often Overlook small section it's only a few few Acres but um and for that side of town they really didn't have much open space um but then you you I threw Cadillac paint in there which is three acres and that's a whole story in and of itself and uh you know just talk about how long we've wanted to do that and then kind of putting in place the mechanisms and and the actions that we

053needed to take to start converting that to a park you know cleaning tearing the buildings down cleaning up the soil you know it was a lot of money spent on that I don't think I included that well and a lot of a fair amount of that was also grants to do Cadillac paint to you know take the buildings down we had some brownfields grants and some other grants and some money from the state brownfields um representative Lewis I think that was one of his first Mark first ear marks I think it he been such a good supporter of that Park yeah and continues to be uh and the big one that kind of flies under The Radars is we were able to negotiate with the to drop a 3 something, lean that they had on

054a property for previous cleanup efforts um and so I I do think again just preserving some of these properties um not just with Acquisitions but with deed restrictions and I'll go back to Tri street because not only did we purchase Tri Street we had a deed restriction on an abing property owner right uh who agreed to do that and then the Valentine property right same kind of thing exactly with an abutting property owner which protected uh 16 Acres there um and so as we're talking about Tri Street and Cadillac paint and the 126 side of town why don't we talk a little bit about 126 sure man I'm really able to segue this is pretty all off the cuff I told you it was going to work out fantastic um well done it's all connected

055um it is it is and uh just uh you know both of you are involved in this project have been involved in this project just what do you think it means uh to not and not just like oh it's good for economic development and everything what do you think it means for the town to be able to do something that you know was identified in early comprehensive plans like in the early 80s is something that we wanted to do what do you think it means for the town to finally be able to kind of move those forward I think it shows the town that we are considering the whole town cuz one of the things we still hear sometimes is oh well you forget about the r 126 side you don't care about those communities

056or those developments or those neighborhoods that live over there and the as you said this project has been working in the works for a long time I mean I think I was on the board for six months when we started talking about potentially doing the meal sales tax to help pay for the design remember going to meetings many many meetings about it but I think it shows the town that we think everyone is important and that it's it's part of Ashland right even though for a lot of people either coming from Framingham or Holliston they just go through that section but I think this project is going to show that it can all be connected and it can all be I mean it is all important but I think it can show that we can

057make these connections between all these different parts of town yeah I also think that it again it's going to be I know it's taking a long time downtown it's taking a long time but and we can only do so much as with what we've got right with the capacity that we have however I do feel like 126 is going to give people again a reason to go there with all of these improvements Cadillac paint is going to be the Arboretum the ashin AR burum a great thing for people to have a reason to go to 126 and then hopefully with all of these improvements once the traffic and the construction is over that it's just going to attract more and more businesses that people are asking for so they want to go shopping they want

058to have their services in town and I feel like if we've build the infrastructure for that then it will naturally come to ashy if you build it they will come I guess I guess you can say that yeah I I agree I agree I and our part isn't necessarily of saying oh I want this business here and this business there but our business is really trying to build that infrastructure to make them want to choose Ashlin to make them have a home here so that's I think potential on Route 126 for new businesses and for expanded business I mean the idea I mean I think about Dairy Queen and everyone was so upset when Dairy Queen left Route 12 you know 135 and oh you go there but for the business moving to 126 has

059allowed them to stay open year round they have their drive-thru the the traffic that you see going through there they're open until 10:00 so if you really want ice cream at 9:30 you know where you can go kind of thing so to your point Beth I think the idea that that business has shown that by moving there they have been able to change their business model and be more successful and I think there's a couple of other opportunities of space that will allow other businesses to do the same kind of thing yeah and I think it's been great working with the state I you know I'm glad that they prioritized it yeah yeah we have to give them a little a few nudges a few nudges to keep it as a priority yeah and I

060and I will say it's a good uh place to interject here uh just how important Senate President spoka um and representative Lewis but certainly Karen who's been here for as a resident for decades and a local elected official I mean she uh she's had her hand in a lot of these a lot of what we've been talking about well she was there right with us when we were working to get the project on the tip to begin with right and then when we had to push to keep it in its place rather than being pushed out another year or two I mean it could have been another 2 years before this project had been started and so she helped us keep it there and keep it as a priority to the state and to the

061federal government that the funds came through absolutely so um we're going to shift a little bit I mean we've been talking about like the physical natural environment you know Community Development stuff and there's so many other things that we could talk about um just non-sexy stuff like you know West Union sewer transmission lines and the infrastructure that we know has to get maintained and done but we don't and then other stuff like sustainability projects we've done a lot of that stuff um and some of the the smaller Renovations and you know I'm not even sure we're going to get to some of the historical preservation actions we've taken like with the Valentine property and the in the Warren barn but I want to shift a little bit and talk about kind of the people behind

062some of this stuff and so we've got great um obviously uh elected and appointed committees and volunteers um and then we've also got you know really I I was about to say a new team at Town Hall but we've been around the best team you mean it is the best team but we're um but but we've been together for a while and we've got uh we've got you know we've been through a lot um and so Beth just from your perspective just talk a little bit about the team in general and we can talk a little bit about some specifics we have such a wonderful team um I mean I think everybody works really well together um most of the time it's well I think you know it's a true Testament to leadership I think

063it it's shown everywhere and I think it the leadership in town engages our employees um and it helps us all want to work together and I think that's exactly what we do I think we work very well together I think we've started talking more to one another the communication is is there um and it's a strong unit and we really have the same goal we want to make Ashlin better we're always looking at ways to improve we're always making um working for ways to make residents want to come to Ashland um and be happy living here um so I think we have the best team I really do I think we're very lucky yeah we are we are very very fortunate um and I think you know one of the things that it's been very

064very important to me it was important to Tony you know the previous Town manager who had hired me um and it's important to the select board I know is um just kind of professionalizing the the staff and the environment and some of like just the operations and so now we have things like the um a capital Improvement plan and the capital improvement process and a way of scoring that and you know basically a professional approach to Capital we've got actually money that we can allocate towards uh Capital um and then we've got you know the financial policies which you know if you asked me kind of what is what is the backbone of all of the stuff that we're talking about it's really been the financial policies definitely and Yolanda you know this is a

065good opportunity I think to talk about um just how the relationship with you know the select board and town manager and finance committee and school committee and superintendent has has evolved over your tenure oh my gosh so it it it I think about that and so I got elected to the school committee in 2002 at the same time as when we tried for the first vote for the high school and some of the anonymity between just tension between school committee and select board at the time and even Town management at the time and that started slowly changing one of the one of the things that I had pushed for was conversation between the select board and school committee and that started a little bit uh when we had John petran as our Town manager um

066you know and as things changed and different people sat in different positions you saw that transition happen you saw the understanding it wasn't just one or two people it was more people going okay we're we're not these separate entities we're not a school and town it's all of us are the town and these are just different departments and I think with Tony coming on board I mean different members sitting on the select board different members sitting on school committee different superintendent all those things that have changed it's been evolving and the conversation and the communication between the different departments has improved and I think as you said with the financial policy being put in place we we were able to have that conversation as these three two elected one appointed committee that help run and

067think about the financial health of our community and our schools and that has helped us move forward I think that's that conversation and those working together was also what allowed us to do the school building project and the public safety building at the same time because we work working to support each other rather than say our one project is more important than the other right so it it has been a process and but that's always what you have it's always a process when when you have new when there's someone else sitting even one new person in a committee as we're seeing you know Makita has joined and and it's just a different energy than when Rob was sitting there or when we had Claudia step on the select board after Steve had been sitting there

068and I think those changes little changes and again even for you with your staff a number of your people have been sitting there but you've had someone like Catherine come in after you created the HR position how many years ago so it's always I think as a community we have to understand that we're always going to grow we're always going to make some changes and as we were sitting we had a select board and planning board meeting just a get together agenda kind of thing one of the things we all said was we're all trying to make Ashlin better we all live here we all many of us have raised families here some of them are some of us our families have come back and we're all doing this and even many of our employees

069are Ashlin residents so all of our goal is to make sure we have a community that we love and make sure we have a community that we want our family to come back to that's great yeah and but I'm G to I'm not going to push back on that but every everybody says that I you go back to 2000 everybody was saying that but it wasn't the same in 2000 it was not I mean and I can say that because I was do what do you think so everybody's saying that so what do you think is the actual change I told you I was going to make you think I I I think some of it is the people supporting these this the residents not the residents the people who are the voters I think

070have made the change right I mean when I was sitting on school committee my focus was the schools which is what as a school Committee Member that's what you do as a select board member it's the whole town and I think it used to think that as a select board member it was the town and not the schools and I think now both organizations realize that you have we have to support each other right so I think there's been a shift in thinking right that we we have to work together I also think that Co really brought this community together even closer mean the way people supported each other with different programs yeah through I mean Co was very hard for a lot of people but the way this community pulled together to support its

071businesses and its residents was unbel I consistency and Longevity do have something to play to with this as well like I mean just the schools I mean Mike Kyra's been there Jim Adams they've been there for a while so we've been all working together for a it takes a while you're you're not gonna yeah you know it's really it's really interesting and I think like the financial policies and everybody kind of focuses on the the content but I always tell people you know when other towns are looking to copy them or something the key is not necessarily the the detail the key was those signatures at the bottom and having everybody agree to them when there's not an emergency going on and cooler heads are prevailing and that really kind of dictates when when you

072know stuff does hit the fan and when we did those we were in a good place financially well we were right we were we were we were on the upswing we were so that those policies I think those policies those policies are the were the key to us being in the financial stuff and I think some of the other things that we did administratively like go over to the Group Health Group Insurance Commission that was huge some of the sustainability projects and everything becoming a green Community we brought grants in that helped us do things that were important to our community yeah so the sustain sustainability is the fact that we have a sustainability manager right um and I think just about some of the services that we've added you know obviously the Human Services

073aspect um you know so we have like a human services and and prevention department um but we've also you know looked at to enhance our services at the community like at the senior center and even with Recreation and things and and I think that's been really important because we talk a lot about the the infrastructure the the Community Development type of stuff but then there's also the people aspects of it and I think key to that and Beth you've been really instrumental in in these areas is like the events and then also the communications piece and I think those have really been critical in in helping you know generate that sense of community so um what what was happening in the town before you got on board in terms of I can tell you like

074Communications we had we had the directions right and we would do an article each each mon we had the directions and that was where people received their information I mean I guess the other thing to think about is and I know we're running short on time is the idea that technology has also transformed what we do and how we do things not only in Ashland but across the state and across the country and across the world right some of the the apps that you can use to track things or to do things online bill pay right the fact that I don't have to take my check and bring it to town hall or put a stamp on it and mail it in that I can just do that all online that I can go online

075to the website and find out what's going on that I can get these emails I mean I remember when my girls were little sometimes they'd come home with a stack of flyers in their backpacks because that was how things were communicated out so I think the communication I mean the newsletter that gets sent out every time I talk to someone they're like yep I read that the the town manager's email it's great to hear what's going on and when people haven't been reading it you you point them to that you point them to your newsletter the economic de development newsletter all these ways of communicating out has transformed how we connect with our Comm with the community I mean we're doing a podcast let's face it years ago we have said that good point I

076think when I first got here we had a Facebook um we had a Facebook page but it was a personal page you had to be a friend you had to add me as a friend um so that was the first thing we changed um to have a business page and then we've added Instagram we have LinkedIn um and it's really we tried things they haven't worked um but some things have stuck that email newsletter is still the direct email is still the best way to reach people it's aming we have a great partnership with local Town pages so that's kind of stepped up um so they get a lot of our information as well I think the communications for the town is um is really in a good place I think the engagement is there

077people are receiving it we're getting a lot of feedback um we're always open to more feedback um now we're doing the Clock Town Chronicles um so I I do feel like we have to always keep up on that um and we're evolving as the town evolves um we are as well with communication but we've come a long way and as technology evolves right I mean part of it we didn't have some of this technology you didn't have social media 10 15 years ago right so the fact that we are embracing this and using it and utilizing it to reach our public I think is is key it's a good good opportunity to to put in a plug for wacka you know who's they always do do great to have them here um but yeah I

078mean Beth you've looked at some other Town's social media Pages like their Facebook pages and like ours is active very active compared to a lot of others sometimes sometimes that's not a great thing it depends take the good with the bad depends on the post you know it depends on how I think it connects residents to one another I think it connects residents to us I mean that was always the intent right we always wanted them to feel like we're not the government isn't the big bad ugly thing like we're here to support them we're here to help and I feel like if we can communicate that to people then we're doing our job well um but I also think that it connects our staff I mean going back to the staff I think they

079feel oh I saw that going on in town that's great and they're actually coming to our events as well um so that's great too right ni and I think um so this is going to be a good opportunity to segue I think into um some of the challenges in the future and I'm going I'm going to start it from kind of a off-the-wall angle but um talk about the events right and I think you know prior to 10 years ago we had Ashlin day um and then and do we have any other I so there was ashin day there and a lot of these were run by the Ashland Day committee there was the Ashland day there was the Halloween event right you'd meet it you start I mean I remember when you meet at

080pway and then you'd walk around and then you'd wind up at the MZ they had the Ashlin lighting it wasn't as big it wasn't as evolved as certainly what it has evolved into but there were those little things that were there uh Stone Park concerts have been going on for quite a while they used to do movie Nights I remember grabbing my girls andaz having our dinner and and sitting there at Stone Park and watching a movie yeah that's right under in the Pavilion The Pavilion it's Park and I remember that yeah so I think it was before your time and then at some point just they weren't getting us enough enough people and and certainly Co killed all all those kinds of things CU people weren't comfortable coming together and I mean people are

081still a little hesitant about certain things so and and so now we have like Fall Fest we have cultur culture Fest we have all kinds of fests we a lot of festing Holiday Stroll dragonly street fair but so Beth I want to ask you do you think you know moving forward as as we look forward um because these events are very again I don't think other communities do as many but they're very very staff intensive and um do you think we need to look at expanding the number of events moving forward do you think we need to look at rethinking some of the events maybe combining them I don't know what's your thoughts about that um well I think that we have the capacity we have um so we can only do what we can

082do uh obviously it would be great to have more volunteers maybe helping out with events um but I think we've got a really good solid base for events I feel like we should always be kind of looking at other opportunities what you know maybe what seasons we're missing or what ones that are really that have a really great turnout and do we want to build on that or do we want to do it again another time during the year um I kind of feel like the Holiday Stroll was so successful that's where dragonfly Street Fair is kind of emerged and now we have a lot more vendors selling products supporting those local homebased businesses is is part of you know what I really love to do um so I feel like we should always be

083looking at opportunity but I feel like we have a great base um of events for this town and this community this size um and it's certainly more than what I've seen in other so I'm proud that things have certainly evolved right I think about when the corner when The Corner Spot first started the pop-up businesses right there there would be a business in there for a week or two yeah and they tried that you tried that for a couple years and again Co sort of you know put a Nix on that and that hasn't really come back but I think those businesses have found other ways to still promote their businesses and be in Ashland and connect with Ashland residents I still have hope that that that popup will still come back there we need

084people downtown we just need people living downtown that's true we need people who that's what's going to support that um but there's yeah you know my favorite the one you talk about evolving was is Halloween the trick or treade in town hall in town hall yeah so I mean that started literally like Halloween fell on a Wednesday night one night and I was like you know what let's let's go I'm going to go get some candy and you know if the staff want to dress up or something and now it's like oh yeah it's pretty cool and now the businesses around are like starting to do are participating yeah yeah last year it was so awesome because you know you had a lot of the streetscape work done and I mean the downtown was just

085packed you saw that flashing pedestrian light going all the time I'm sure the people driving hated it love that I think that that's a testament to again our our staff and our leadership where we just listen to the residents like we we listen to them we hear them we see what they want and we make it happen is that's kind of what I feel like we do that's my opinion so when we were talking about events you referred to capacity and I'm kind of looking at you know some of these challenges that I had written down and really they all well not all but a lot of them come down to financial resources and capacity and so this year we had a $1.2 million deficit um and uh you know S&P which is the bond

086rating company and which is a real like objective um evaluator of our finances they reaffirmed our AAA rating recently but they did make mention of it and actually one of the reasons they still gave us the AAA was that longevity and that experienced you know leadership that we have but um but that's an issue uh because I think you know a couple of other things I had on this list was you know increased Community expectations of local government and large increase you know we've had large increase and water and sewer and trash um and hiring and Staffing challenges you know a lot of it comes down to financial piece um and I don't know Yolanda where what what do you think so I was I was meeting with our comprensive planning consultant today and we

087were talking about some specific things and some larger themes and so we boiled it down to this aspect to wants versus needs versus taxes and it's that's kind of I think the decision that needs to be made it's interesting you you bring up the comprehensive plan because I think the comprehensive plan is going to help us get input from the community or at least that's our hope right that we get enough input from the community that they're going to they're going to give us some guidance that says we like what you're doing and we want you to continue and we're willing to pay for it or through the comprehensive plan they're going to say you know what we don't need some of these things and we want you to do you know maybe it's we

088want you to do less because we're not willing to pay for it and you and I have had this discussion many times right that we can put things out there but at some point the community is going to have to decide do they want to continue with some of these great things that we're doing because they are they do cost money right I mean we have a lot of fun at the corner spot but I bet if we looked at what your budget is and what you're spending there yeah yes some of the businesses come in are making money but for a town we are making this expenditure to bring our community together and that is something that as we look at our finances the decision will have to be okay we want to continue

089this but this is what we need in regards to the finances to be able to do that and I think those are some going to be some hard tough discussions with the residents of Ashland do you like what we're doing and if you do we may need to ask you for more money to do it it's it's pretty basic to me yeah I mean Beth you get kind of a ringside seat uh just kind of what the staff's currently doing and the pressures that they're under but you're also a resident too so you know you know what that tax impact is sure absolutely yeah what's your perspective on it I think we really have to decide what we want and if we want to keep moving forward and we want nicer things then that's I

090mean that's just the way it is I want to redo my kitchen I'm going to have to pay for that so it's I guess it does come down to that wants needs and taxes um but I think they all kind of go hand in hand they do I mean it's an equation I guess you know and they're all interrelated and um you know I think it's going to be an important discussion and I think you know I I will say nothing's been determined yet but I I don't think we're going to go in a direction for an override for FY 26 I mean just I don't I don't think we're at a place where I think we need to have some of those tougher discussions I I I really do I think uh we need

091to we need to get the public engaged and of course that goes back to other comments of how do we get the public engaged right it's it's something that was brought up in our discussion with the planning board right how do we get more Community to say yes or no to what they want and what they're willing to support I feel like if we do this look back and then we look at what we're currently doing and once we wrap up those current projects then we're really looking at like okay then what's next and that's our OPP to say are we going to step it up and pull through to what we really want and put the money where you know where we want it to go um or I think that will be the

092deciding factor I think yeah because I think you know we can all agree that you know the pace that we're currently on and we've been on with the resources that we have is unsustainable um and you know again I think we're just going to have to it's going to be a community conversation I think um it's a tough one because it it's about dollars and cents but it's also about values and it's also about what's important to us and um you know people have always asked me like you know and I don't say this a lot maybe I shouldn't say it right now I will anyway I kind put it out there but you know people you know what what's your goal right what what do what am I looking to accomplish here is it

093you know was it to build a public safety build or anything no I mean all that stuff is great and I think it's part of it but um I think I explained this on Friday um when we had kind of our staff meeting which is you know the goal is to help everybody understand that if you want to achieve or you want to get to a certain level and you want to do certain things like you have to pay a price that's just a universal law like cause and effect I think it's one of those things where um it's like you have you need a purse right here this is a very simp basic you need a purse Michael pH understand let's put it this way you need a car okay you need a car

094and like I have a dream car yeah what's your dream car Yanda it's some kind of convertible oh okay okay if I've always wanted a convertible but is it I have to then go okay I want a convertible but is that practical for me and then can I afford that or do I stick with you know I have my 8-year-old Toyota Highlander that still drives as well that I probably won't replace for a couple of years because financially that's where I'm at that I need to do that and I think as a community that's part of our discussion right is we can have that dream community that we want but we then have to decide one are we going to pay for that and two can we pay for that and three do we want

095to pay for that you know I and that might be a very basic way of putting it but I mean I I think that's really what our community conversation has to be what what to your point what do we want our community to be do we want to pay for that but then the other part is can we afford to pay that and can our residents afford to pay that and I think so and there's another level of question that we need to ask to that which is what's important to you MH you know so when you talk about your we'll use your convertible analogy what's important to you it's not that important to me right so right now I mean it might be in the future I mean it's something I've thought about it's

096you know I thought about driving a convertible at some point but it hasn't been important enough to me to either save the money or borrow the money to do that so so having a convertible is not what you want it's a feeling that you want the wind blowing exactly exactly yeah for sure um if that's the feeling that I want how do I really get to that right there could be other ways you could ride my Jeep with the top down so which is friends convertible exactly you know there's there's several different ways to skin a cat having getting to the consensus of what everyone wants that's the hard well I think it's not what everybody wants but it's what's important you know and there's going to be different but is there going to be

097able to to triangulate that into something that is that is consensus so the other part of what my answer is is you know understanding that you know there's a price that has to be paid doesn't always have to be with money but there is a price there's a sacrif price and then the second thing which is just as important is Ashland is worth that investment and I think I think we have the team in place that can find ways to take care of those that are most vulnerable from a financial perspective I I I don't know it's a it's a it's a long conversation uh and a community conversation but um and so we will take this out to the community but uh unfortunately we have to end our part of the conversation right here

098so um I think this has been great we gosh we we only covered a half of what we had intended but that's usually the way things go I think we were able to hit the high high marks um and prioritize some important things um Yolanda and Beth I'm going to ask you just uh just to close up what what do you think is the important most important thing we have to think of moving forward that we're going to have challenges that our finances are going to go up and down and we need to move forward as a community and get as much input and involvement from as many people as possible to make sure that it's the Ashland that it's not going to be everybody but that the majority of people want to continue living

099in yeah and what about you be yeah I think Ashland is a great place to live it's a great place to work it's a great place to to play I mean really to to hike and to swim and I mean there's so many great things and I feel like as long as we are keeping the conversation open and we're engaging people I do feel like we are going to get there eventually we just sort of have to keep plugging along and um I think as long as everyone is patient and um respectful then I think that we will certainly get there for sure I I mean I think it's already a great place to live and willing to put their ideas and comments forward and have the discussion yeah yeah for sure yeah well I

100mean I told you this was going to be painless maybe even a little bit of fun I hope you enjoyed it it was been great having you on well you know what anytime we get to talk about Ashland in our community yeah you picked a good to to help you with that one for sure that could have could have been part of the calculation but uh again thank you both for being here and and uh spending uh so much time I'm not going to tell you how much time we spent until afterwards but okay um this has been awesome uh just thank you Paul and waa uh and Barbara thank you all for U for putting this together and and helping us um produce these uh for our listeners out there if you've made it

101with us this far um thank you for listening uh this is episode five of clocktown Chronicles uh you can find this on YouTube on the under wacka um and it's also available on Spotify and apple music I believe and uh if you have any comments or you have any suggestions about what you'd like to hearse uh just write to me uh M Herbert Aslin mass.com and uh we'll see if we can accommodate that but uh this has been a great show thank you both for being here and thank you all for listening thanks awesome all right have a good day everyone [Music]