Town Manager Tuesdays: A Passing, an Update and a Call for Advice

I was away last week for the Thanksgiving holiday visiting family, so am a bit late with this week's report.

On a personal note, our Thanksgiving get- together included the wonderful news that my older daughter and her boyfriend are engaged and will be getting married next summer. As a town manager I am supposed to provide advice. As a soon to be 'father of the bride' I need advice, so any help will be appreciated.

Now, for this week's report.

1.) Jere Frick – Last week, I mentioned how blessed Lexington is with its many talented and dedicated board and committee members. Some of you may have read about the passing of one Jere Frick, a long-time member of the Conservation Commission. Jere and was instrumental in many significant conservation efforts in Lexington. It was always a pleasure to talk with Jere. She never hesitated to take the time to share her wealth of knowledge about the history of Lexington, especially related to the old cart paths and brooks in town.  While she ‘retired’ from the Conservation Commission three years ago, we still looked to her for her advice and counsel. She will be missed.

2.) Business is Up – Anyone who lives or works in the Lexington Center area may have noticed the numerous times each day that the town’s ambulance responds to calls. I was curious if it was my imagination or is the ambulance busier than in the past, so I posed the question to Interim Fire Chief Keith Hoyle. Chief Hoyle reports that the Fire Department saw an 18.9 percent increase in EMS runs in fiscal 2011 compared to fiscal 2010. Lexington is well served by this paramedic service.

3.) Center Ball Fields Update – You may have noticed the work the Town is doing to , particularly in light of the recent rains.  The Town’s engineer/project manager who is overseeing this work recently provide us with this update on the project:

With the recent rain storms residents may be interested in what they are seeing out at the site.  The low point of the site where the catch basins are attached to the subsurface chambers, which then outlet to the Vine Brook Culvert, is located exactly where you are seeing ponding.  That area is hydroseeded and therefore there are silt sacks in the basins to keep sediment from the non-established hydroseed areas from entering the existing drainage system.  It is these silt sacks that are holding up the water from flowing quickly into the system and hence creating the ponding.  The water will move through the sacks, but at a slower rate because of their function to filter out the sediment in the water.

While the ponding looks concerning, the ponding is a function of trying to keep the drainage systems free of sediment from the non-established areas.  Once the hydroseed is established in these areas the silt sacks will be removed from the catch basins and water will be able to flow more freely through the catch basins into our drainage systems.  Also, in the area of the baseball infield dirt, the infield dirt is not yet installed so there is some ponding where that area is low while waiting for the infield mix to be installed which should happen next week.  Once the infield mix is installed, water from the infield will flow over to those low points as well. 

On a positive note, what the recent storms are showing us is that the site is behaving as the design intended.  Water is sheeting off the field surface to the sides of the field, flowing through the swales and to the low points where the catch basins are located.  When the field is back on-line and in use by the Town, this surface drainage will allow the fields to dry out faster after a rain storm and be ready for use while maintaining the good grass growth.