LYNNFIELD — Residents voted to spend $17 million toward the end of 2020 to expand the two elementary schools to ease burgeoning enrollment; upgrade traffic patterns/parking and add a new playground/play space at the Summer Street School.
On Dec. 8, the final vote at a special election was 1316-648 (67 percent voted in favor). The project will cost taxpayers $205 on average for the next 20 years. The vote came on the heels of a Nov. 21 Special Town Meeting vote to approve the projects.
Other stories spanning the year:
— Four days after securing the licenses it needed to open an American pub-style restaurant on 160 Moulton Drive — site of the former Bali Hai restaurant — developers Matthew and David Palumbo switched gears, thanks to Land Court ruling that the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) had improperly denied their application for a special permit to build an apartment complex.
The decision opens the door for the brothers to proceed with a 23-unit complex on the 1.4 acre site.
— The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) issued a “Do Not Use Order” to a Lowell Street business for Boston Clear Water LLC. The order states that “Boston Clear Water, LLC, owns and operates Pocahontas Spring Water, a public water supply (PWS) with a place of business of business at 165 Lowell St.”
— Police Chief David J. Breen announced his retirement in October to an outpouring of accolades and gratitude for his decades of service.
— September saw the town hire its second new assessing manager in less than two years — Meredith Stone — and local athlete Matt Filipe signed a contract with the Boston Bruins.
— On Sept. 9, after cruising through the summer banking on hybrid learning, the district did a 180 and switched to remote only after the discovery of two cases among school-age kids in 12 days.
— It was an easy first-day opening, but the second day was a disaster as 17,000 hacks caused a near-total breakdown in internet connectivity.
— The School Committee in July picked Kristen Vogel of Swampscott to be the town’s new superintendent of schools, taking over for Jane Tremblay, who retired.
— The Meeting House, a town central gathering point, shut down for the year in June. Lynnfield High School held a drive-through graduation on June 5 for 153 graduates.
— June also saw a Black Lives Matter rally held on the Common with Lynnfield High juniors Maddie Mahan and Finn Mattingly, along with 2019 graduate David Blake at the center of the effort. Breen estimated that the number of peaceful protesters topped 600, much to the delight of the organizers.
— In April, St. John’s Prep and Boston College graduate Jake Burt signed with the New England Patriots. On a more somber note, COVID-19 cast a shadow over the town with four local deaths in less than a week, including Steven and Earl Richard, father and son who died five days apart in the last week of March.
— The losses came a month after the CARES Act provided a much-needed $31 million in relief to 306 Lynnfield-based businesses to shore up about 2,600jobs.
— The year began on positive notes with Linda Emerson hiring as town clerk and residents turning out in droves to support the second annual Think of Michael Trivia Night. The event raised more than $110,000 for addiction treatment efforts.
