With FinCom's Support, Rail Trail Headed To Special Town Meeting

A release from the Friends of the Lynnfield Rail Trail:

Lynnfield, MA – On August 19, 2019, Lynnfield’s Finance Committee voted 8 to 2 in favor of endorsing a Special Town Meeting Warrant Article to spend $348,000 to complete Lynnfield’s share of the final design costs for the Wakefield Lynnfield Rail Trail.

Lynnfield’s Board of Selectmen must set the date of the Special Town Meeting between 14 and 45 days from the August 20th filing of the Citizens’ Petition for this Article, in accordance with Lynnfield’s Charter. The Friends of Lynnfield Rail Trail (FLRT) understands from Selectman Crawford that the most likely date is Thursday, September 26th, at 7 PM at the Lynnfield Middle School.

Voters can pass the Warrant Article by a simple majority vote. Moving forward with Wakefield on the final design and permitting will result in the Rail Trail being “construction ready.” At that point, the MassDOT can put the construction out to bid and proceed with spending the $10.3+ million currently allocated by the MassDOT for the construction of the Rail Trail.

Lynnfield’s FinCom reached the 8-2 vote after two multi-hour FinCom meetings focused on this Warrant Article. Hours of public comment and questions were entertained from dozens of residents at both meetings. FinCom confirmed that the Town has two accounts with ample funds to cover the final design costs. No funds would need to be borrowed and no taxes would need to be raised for the final design costs.