Candidate Night Focuses on MarketStreet, Town Finances

The Lynnfield Business Coalition held its annual candidates forum Thursday night at the Lynnfield High School auditorium, with this year's election primarily focused on the town's two contested selectmen's races.

Selectman Bob MacKendrick is running for re-election against challenger Tom Terranova for a three-year term.

In the race to finish the one year remaining on the late Al Merritt's term, Tom Kennedy and Phil Crawford are running.

The forum features a mix of questions from audience members and moderators. The MarketStreet Lynnfield development figured into many of the questions and responses, especially the recent debate in town over adding a cinema to it.

MacKendrick reported that "I do not see a strong groundswell of support for the 2/3 needed to do (the cinema)." Terranova told his rival that "I feel this is a shame on you Mr. MacKendrick - this issue should not be before the selectmen." Terranova later said that the cinema proposal may not even be permitted without environmental studies and other action by the state.

"If they do come back I would expect them to have a much smaller version and I imagine it would be a high end type cinema," said Crawford later in the forum.

"I haven't seen anything that I'd vote yes for," said Kennedy in regard to the cinema, going on to point out on a couple of occasions that since MarketStreet is a reality that will open soon, "we're going to need to work together as a community." Still, he also said that "We'll hold National Development to the fire if there are problems." For his part, Terranova said that any unexpected costs should be passed on to MarketStreet, to "redirect this liability to those who are creating the liability."

Another MarketStreet question later in the evening raised the prospect of more crime and demand for police services. Terranova noted that even with full-time private security on the site, Lynnfield Police will still be needed for arrests and other situations that arise. He also warned that traffic at the new development will not be just confined to Walnut Street and Salem Street. "If we think it's going to be just those two streets, we're going to have a very rude awakening," he said.

Kennedy expressed his support for having a community police officer using a bicycle at MarketStreet during the warmer months, and Crawford said that a police bicycle is indeed to be included in the town budget.

There was also some difference on what effect MarketStreet will have on property values. MacKendrick said that major developments like this one often produce a slight increase in property values - except for immediate abutters. He added that some realtors in town have apparently been getting calls from people interested in moving to Lynnfield because of MarketStreet, and that the residential tax burden will likely ease as the commercial base grows.

Crawford emphasized the long-term nature of the project and said that property values often go down during construction, only to rebound afterward. Still, like Kennedy he also said the town should hold the developer accountable if MarketStreet becomes problematic.

Forum Not Just About MarketStreet

It wasn't all about MarketStreet though. Candidates were largely on the same page in pointing out that in the coming years, Lynnfield voters will likely be asked to consider any number of new projects, such as a new public safety building, a library upgrade, and senior center improvements.

"All of these projects are going to come to a head in the next couple of years," predicted Crawford, who is vice chair of the finance committee, adding that the library project alone has the potential to exceed $10 million.

Tom Kennedy cited a 56% increase in town taxes in recent years while also emphasizing that as a father of two children in the school system, he wants to make sure the school system has what it needs. He also noted that in a town of more than 11,000 people, only a few dozen had come out to this year's candidates night. Kennedy cited the number of workers in town earning more than $100,000 last year, suggesting that DPW and police overtime could be one area to seek savings.

Crawford said he believes the DPW is actually under-funded considering the total work it does in town, adding that for some emergency medical calls, a larger than needed number of fire department personnel may arrive. Still, the candidate noted that schools make up the largest share of the budget. "The transparency at the schools is the biggest problem," said Crawford, going on to say "we do have to say no to some things."

Later in the forum, Crawford suggested that the town could consider the regionalization of some services as a way to save money, with ideas ranging from salt and sand purchases to inspectors and other professionals. He also pointed out that town officials already spend a combined thousands of hours each year going over the town budgets, "and we scrutinize them as much as we can."

MacKendrick advised more focus on building up the town's financial reserves as a long-term strategy, adding that "it's not healthy to have a small commercial tax base." He cited a 5-acre piece of land near the Fat Cactus on Route 1 that could become a future commercial development, as well as a piece of land near the Holiday Inn in Peabody and the Route 1 and 128 junction.

Regarding MarketStreet, Terranova warned that he believes that MarketStreet will end up being more costly to the town than expected. "I'm not so sure that adding two police officers is adequate... my business mind tells me we can expect trouble," he said, also recommending adjustments to the commercial tax rate to ease the burden on residents.