The Springfield Select Board held a regular meeting on October 9, 2025, addressing a public hearing on a one-way traffic ordinance for Wall Street, naming a bridge in honor of Vietnam veterans, appointing a municipal project manager, discussing a significant cost overrun on the Riverside Culvert cleanup, and setting budget guidance for FY26-27. The board voted on several items and scheduled a public informational meeting for the water and wastewater bond.
Annually, and we we are putting some money toward sidewalk repairs and all, but sidewalks are very expensive, and you're nowhere near in a position to re repair all of our satellites, which I think you would well we're is that that's not a B anybody learned, you know. I I but go ahead. Yeah, I think we talked about that at our last meeting, and and and uh that section of Harkness Avenue has been closed for over here, has it not? Yes. And and and and I and I don't think that we we wanted to add it to the uh organisms trying to replay the tapes because we didn't know what the feature status of that road is going to be. It may well stay closed permanently. That was my assumption that it wasn't. And that's and that fairly closed via permanent. And and I think that's why we didn't bother to amend the ordinance for carpet because it may well stay remained closed. Um concerned by analogy, the similar thing will happen to Wall Street, that it would be closed. Why not? You've already determined that half of the traffic doesn't need to go through. Why not be uh equal on it and have neither one go through? Just barricade it at both ends. That certainly is a potential. However, the town manager and the public works department uh intends to repair the road and have at least one-way traffic there. But but it doesn't mean it precludes them from closing it permanently in the future if they determine that it's necessary. But that was not the request that we were asked to look at. Nor are we going to consider that and see we can take it under advisement. Uh determine whether the process is once we get into a regular session. We're gonna this will be brought up again, and we'll have the opportunity to either pass it as written or make a recommendation to postpone it another time and maybe do some more work with it. So you have that opportunity in open session followed to the public. I don't know if that answered all of your questions. Well, not all of them, but uh but I don't need to have a wall answer right now. Okay, thank you. So we'll go on to the next person, get you to it. My name is Susan Austin. Um resident owner of 41 Wall Street. I have a few questions. Um I assume uh some of them are about I have kind of mixed feelings about this. Um, I think less traffic on around the sharp corner would probably be good. Um, because a lot of people um go really fast around blind corners, apparently. Um, and having um yeah, there have been some close calls when I'm pulling into my driveway. Um and this might reduce some of them. On the other hand, it might also make people go faster because they don't they know there's nothing coming the other way. So that concerns me. I'm concerned about signage. How far you know, where's the signage going to be? What's what is it going to warn? Um also um I have a semi-circular driveway, and you know, things like big trucks figuring out they can't go through that way and turning around in my driveway might be kind of a problem. Just thought I'd voice those. All good points. We we we've been discussing those uh issues amongst when we have conversations amongst our saddle, not as a full board, but the vice chair has uh brought up some of these issues before, and we want to make sure that we get the appropriate signage, obviously. Well, in advance, I think as far as the speed, you know, that that's an enforcement issue, and doesn't matter what we do, people seem to do what they want to do. Maybe it's not a priority or so, but we won't get into that. See um we recognize that that could be turning around was one of my concerns. We're we're if somebody comes from Reed Street area uh to 41. Uh is there going to be adequate, appropriate spot for them to turn around or back drive. So chairman, sure. Yeah, uh so full disclosure.