The Bedford Citizen (https://www.thebedfordcitizen.org/author/thebedfordcitizen/)
The Bedford Public Schools received recognition for their 2020 Safe Routes to School efforts at the annual award ceremony on June 8th at the Massachusetts State House. Like many ceremonies in 2020, this was delivered during a live Zoom event.
A short but fierce storm battered Bedford shortly before 9 pm on Thursday, July 2.
Social media was full of reports of damaged deck furniture, limbs down, and even a porta-potty laid on its side at a construction zone.
The Job Lane House and Barn are owned by the Town of Bedford. The house and barn are closed, but the gardens are open for you to visit, at any time. Please wear your masks and respect social distancing.
The herb garden was established as the museum was getting ready to open many years ago. We have the first letter to the Historical Commission, that outlines the construction of the garden and the herbs that were used in the 18th Century. Great research went into this project.
For nearly 100 years, the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild (METG) has supported drama and musical theatre in schools across the Commonwealth. As Executive Director Dennis Canty said that 2020 was about to be a banner year, until Covid-19 struck.
Spring musicals were especially hard hit, some closing just hours before their opening performances, but since ‘the show must go on’ METG has arranged video celebrations in lieu of their annual in-person award presentations. Thanks to Katrina Faulstich at Bedford High School and Amy Budka at the John Glenn Middle School, here are METG’s 2020 MARQUEE STRONG videos.
At their June 24 meeting, the Select Board addressed Fawn Lake dredging which was scheduled to begin in early 2020. The dredging will remove vegetation and sediment that are encroaching on the lake threatening to destroy it.
With thanks, as always, to the Town of Bedford for producing an excellent map for the area around Sabourin Field, noting the available parking spaces, and the number of footsteps to the field.
Town offices and buildings will be closed on Friday, July 3, in observance of the 2020 July 4th holiday.
Trash and recycling collection will proceed normally on Monday, July 6.
Wondering about Annual Town Meeting? It’s scheduled for 9 am on Saturday, July 11, just 9 days from today. Select Board Chair Ed Pierce and Clerk Margot Fleischman have collaborated with Finance Committee Chair Ben Thomas to provide a video overview. It’s not short, but it’s important, and it is apt to hold your interest from start to finish.
Representative Ken Gordon (D-Bedford) joined his colleagues in the House yesterday to pass a bill aimed at eliminating racial inequities in maternal health.
The bill will create a special legislative commission to make recommendations that reduce or remove the kind of racial inequities that result in women of color dying of pregnancy-related causes at more than double the rate of white women. The commission will gather information and raise awareness of this systemic societal problem, in addition to reporting on barriers to equitable maternal care and best practices for remedying inequities.
Thursday’s report from the town includes the current case count along with information about Phase 3 Reopening to begin on Monday, July 6; housing resources during Covid-19; Town Meeting, scheduled for 9 am on Saturday, July 11; and suggestions for staying safe while celebrating the 4th of July.
Click this link in the actual story to read the town’s full update for Thursday, July 2, 2020
Mary Frances (McHale) Leavitt passed away on June 30, 2020. A resident of Bedford for several years, Mrs. Leavitt left teaching and joined the US Air Force on a whim shortly after she graduated from college, then later, when her children were nearly grown, she joined the 26th Yankee Division of the Army National Guard where she served for 23 years.
The Bedford Department of Public Works has started its annual program to treat catch basins to prevent West Nile Virus, a disease carried by the Culex (Q-lex) mosquito.
This mosquito mostly breeds in storm drains, but can also survive in any open container holding even a half-inch of water.
Listening to high school students’ stories. Advocating with lawn signs. Expanding housing opportunities. Supporting legislation. Opposing offensive school team names and mascots. Learning more about police efforts to avoid profiling. Collaborating with local resources.
These were some of the dozens of ideas presented in response to a call from the organization Bedford Embraces Diversity to define ways to keep issues of racial equality and justice prominent locally.
Roger Neil Wallace passed away on June 20, 2020. Mr. Wallace, a Bedford resident for nearly 20 years, was a member of the team that developed the communication system for the Apollo XI moonshot.
Scott Beaman passed away on June 25, 2020. Mr. Beaman, a 1980 graduate of Bedford High School and attended Northeastern University for Engineering. He was extremely musically talented, had a great sense of humor, a beautiful mind, and was a gentle man.
Every Town Meeting is called by the Select Board issuing a Warrant. That warrant is mailed to all households. The warrant informs voters where and when the meeting will be and “the subjects to be acted upon.” No action at Town Meeting is valid unless the voters are informed about what is to be acted upon.
The Warrant for Bedford’s Annual Town Meeting, originally scheduled for March 23, 2020, was issued by the Select Board in mid-February. That Warrant is what will be considered at the rescheduled Annual Town Meeting on July 11, 2020.
Since that Warrant was issued, a matter of urgency has arisen that requires the action of Town Meeting. Therefore, on Wednesday, June 10, 2020 the Select Board issued a Warrant for a Special Town Meeting to be held on July 11, 2020.
As we approach Annual Town Meeting, rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we know many of you have questions about reductions to the proposed Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) budget that was prepared and published in the warrant prior to the start of the public health crisis. We hope to answer many of those questions here and explain the reasons behind the reductions.
Why are we reducing the budget?
The COVID-19 crisis has had a profound impact on the economy. Locally, we anticipate substantial losses in state aid, hotel/motel/meals taxes, investment income, licenses and permits, and other revenue sources. Based on state and local projections, we expect to face a $2.2 million budget shortfall in FY21. We are likely to face similar shortfalls in the following two years. Of the $2.2 million, around $600,000 in reductions are proposed for Town departments, and roughly $1.3 million are proposed for the schools. The remaining funds will come from savings in our debt service and snow/ice removal budgets.
Click through to read the full article
At Monday’s June 29 meeting, the Finance Committee reviewed the projects included in the Capital Budget for FY21.
Their review comes as the latest update in the town’s push to defer projects from the Capital Budget which may be deemed less urgent in the economic wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
American Legion Post 221 will sponsor the annual July 4 public reading of the Declaration of Independence Saturday at 11 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park.
Jon O’Connor, post commander, emphasized that face covering and social distancing will be observed to deter the spread of the Covid-19 virus. “There’s plenty of room to spread out to appreciate our freedoms and independence,” he said, adding that he has cleared the event with the chiefs of police and fire.
Wednesday, July 1, the Joint Committee on Education has scheduled a hearing on the status of early education and care and is collecting written testimony until 5 pm on Tuesday, July 7.
Click this link to learn more about tomorrow’s hearing.
Written testimony may be submitted to Alice.Peisch@mahouse.gov and Jason.Lewis@masenate.gov with the subject line “EEC OVERSIGHT HEARING TESTIMONY”
I am urging all persons interested in child care and education to respond and request SARS-CoV-2 strategies for children in day care facilities and schools in the Commonwealth that include regular testing. It is obvious that the safest place for a child of any age is an environment in which regular testing is employed to identify contagious persons.
To all Bedford Voters: This is the second in a series of articles to provide information about Bedford’s Annual Town Meeting, scheduled for July 11, 2020, at 9 am. Click this link to read Part I
The Annual Town Meeting warrant was mailed to all houses in March 2020. If you cannot locate yours, you can see/download a copy on the Town Meeting website at https://www.bedfordma.gov/town-meeting
In a Thursday evening email to members of First Parish Unitarian Universalist on Bedford Common, senior minister the Rev. John Gibbons reported that the historic 1817 building had been defaced.
“Grafitti of “BLM” was recently spray-painted on the exterior of Bedford’s First Parish,” Gibbons wrote.
Frances Martines Pierce passed away on June 27, 2020. Mrs. Pierce was raised in Bedford; her family owned the Blue Ribbon Dairy. She loved her time spent working as a bookkeeper at the dairy and spending time with her family.
Monday’s bi-weekly update includes the current case count along with updates on crisis counseling, mental health and social services available to Bedford residents, as well as a DPH order regarding non-essential elective procedures.
Click this link in the actual article to read the Town’s full update for Monday, June 29, 2020
To all Bedford Voters: This is the first in a series of articles to provide information about Bedford’s Annual Town Meeting, scheduled for July 11, 2020, at 9 am.
On the surface, our Annual Town Meeting will look different. None of us ever imagined a Town Meeting with physical distancing, face coverings, and outside on a football field on a Saturday! Bedford is not alone.