Hearing on golf course

Town officials have scheduled a public hearing next month to give residents a chance to weigh in on the terms of a lease for a golf course on 58 acres of public land off Green Street. The land is now the site of the private Needham Golf Club, whose 10-year lease is up in April 2009, and selectmen have voted unanimously to continue to use the property as a golf course. Critics of the arrangement have said a private club should not be able to restrict residents from using town-owned land. Supporters say the club provides the town with open space, raises property values, and contributes to a high quality of life for the residents. The public hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11 at the Broadmeadow Elementary School. - Laura M. Colarusso

FLU-SHOT CLINICS - Any resident over age 65, and any resident over 18 who has a chronic illness, can receive a free flu vaccine from the Health Department. The department has scheduled flu clinics for next Thursday and Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. to noon, in the Government Center's auditorium, 119 School St. Residents should bring proof that they live in Waltham, such as a driver's license or utility bill. The vaccine contains a substance made from eggs, so should not be taken by anyone allergic to eggs or egg products. For more information, call the Health Department at 781-314-3305. - Stephanie V. Siek

TWO NEW PLANNERS - There are two additions to the town's Planning Department. Gregory Watson, director of planning and community development, said Danielle Fillis and Joseph Merkel joined the department late last month and will both serve as senior planners. Fillis has a bachelor's degree from Roanoke College in Salem, Va., , and earned a master's in urban planning from Tufts University in 2005. Prior to coming to Watertown, she served as a planner in Nashua and Somerville. Merkel graduated in 2004 from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. Since then, he has served as a senior planner for Somerville, working on the redevelopment of Union Square, a plan to extend the MBTA Green Line, and on other development projects and open space issues around Assembly Square and Davis Square. Watson said with three planners now on board, the department is better suited to handle the town's growing workload of planning and zoning demands. - Christina Pazzanese

RECOUNT SOUGHT BY CANDIDATES - Just minutes before last Friday's filing deadline, Councilors at Large Marilyn Petitto Devaney and John Donohue submitted paperwork asking for a recount of the Nov. 6 election. As it stands now, just a five-vote margin separates Donohue, with 1,821 votes, from Devaney, who garnered 1,816 votes, placing her fifth in a race for four at-large council seats. Both are asking for all votes to be recounted, as opposed to votes only in a specific precinct, said John Flynn, the town clerk. Flynn said the town's Board of Election Commissioners would decide this week whether to allow the recount. Though Flynn didn't know when the recount might occur, the earliest date it could be held is Tuesday, he said. If Devaney - who faces felony assault charges next month for an alleged confrontation at a Waltham beauty supply store - does not prevail, her 26-year run on the council would come to an end, a stunning reversal of fortune for the longtime politician who has been the highest vote-getter in the last several town elections. - Christina Pazzanese

RACING DEADLINE FOR DISTRICT - The first key deadline is approaching for a proposed neighborhood conservation district in the town's Denton Road area. Janet Giele, a spokeswoman for the effort to establish the Denton Road Neighborhood Association, said the group is still working to get 80 percent of the neighborhood's residents to sign the petition necessary to establish the district, which would be the town's first. The concept, approved by Town Meeting last spring, allows residents in a particular neighborhood to set guidelines for the exteriors of the houses and landscapes in the district. The aim is to "preserve the distinctive characteristics" of neighborhoods in Wellesley, and was prompted after several homes in town were demolished and replaced with what many felt are unusually large houses out of character for their surroundings. The guidelines can have implications for residents wishing to demolish, alter, or construct homes in a district. Giele said one problem facing organizers is that some residents think that the "large house review" policy approved at Special Town Meeting earlier this month supplants the need for a neighborhood conservation district. Not so, said Giele, pointing out that a project involving a moderately sized house might warrant examination for other reasons, such as how many trees are removed. If a neighborhood conservation district is in place, she said, a special panel of neighbors and outside experts could review such other considerations. Giele says her group is trying hard to get the necessary signatures and submit their application to the Wellesley Historical Commission by Dec. 4, in hopes of having it ready for a vote by Town Meeting in March. - Lisa Keen

VOTE ADDS TO LIBRARY'S STAFF - The Ashland Public Library will hire a part-time staff member after residents last week voted to spend $15,000 to fund the position. The appropriation, taken from the town's free-cash account, was approved at the request of library trustees during Special Town Meeting on Nov. 14. Trustees said the library is severely understaffed, to the point that one absent staff member can mean the children's room has to be closed. But selectmen and Town Manager John Petrin said every town department is suffering now. Even with the $15,000 appropriation, the library is $17,841 short of the state-mandated funding level. Resident Ken Rush proposed giving the library the full amount, but his motion was voted down. The shortfall will require the library to obtain a waiver from the state Board of Library Commissioners, or Ashland's library patrons will lose their interlibrary privileges. Officials said they aren't too worried, since Petrin was told by a library commissioner that the town probably would receive a waiver. Phil Jack, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said the town could call another Special Town Meeting if the waiver does not come through. - Alexandra Perloe

MONEY APPROVED FOR CONTRACTS - Voters at Special Town Meeting also approved funding from the town's free-cash account for three contracts with town unions. The votes appropriated $131,000 for the police union, $12,000 for the Department of Public Works union, and $82,000 for the firefighters union. The contracts have been negotiated since the Town Meeting in May, with the most recent pact, settling the firefighters contract, agreed upon this month. - Alexandra Perloe

FUND FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING - The largest expenditure taken out of the town's Community Preservation Act fund by Special Town Meeting last week was $500,000 to start the Ashland Affordable Housing Trust Fund. But residents also approved four smaller funding requests. First, they voted to spend $35,000 to hire a consultant to conduct a hydrogeology study of the town's water supply. This will help the town establish a Water Supply Protection Zone. Residents also approved spending $85,000 for consulting, engineering, environmental assessment, topography, mapping, and legal services for the 33-acre Weston Nurseries parcel of land the town bought in May, and, after some debate, $90,000 to build a pavilion at the Ashland Community Center. Last, residents voted to spend $25,000 to study the feasibility of acquiring the Valentine property at 133 West Union St. The town's CPA fund contained $1.9 million before the votes. - Alexandra Perloe

A VOW TO RECYCLE - Selectmen last week adopted a resolution to support the "Mass Recycles Paper!" campaign. Kerry O'Brien, one of two campaign representatives who appeared before the board, gave selectmen a statistical review of how well the town is doing when it comes to recycling paper. O'Brien said Dover throws out 1,535 tons of paper a year with a 46 percent recovery rate. She said it cost the town about $46,570 a year for disposal, and $2,230 for hauling paper to be recycled. She said recycling paper would not only save the town money, but the town could make a profit of $15 per ton when it recycles rather than incinerates the paper. The resolution has three goals: To educate citizens about the importance of recycling for economic and environmental reasons, to encourage residents to use paper recycling services, and to serve as a role model by recycling waste paper from all municipal offices. - Nadia Salomon

WEEKEND FOCUS ON SUDAN - "Sudan Comes to Lincoln," a weekend of educational events focusing on the African nation, takes place Nov. 30 through Dec. 2. The series begins Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. in Donaldson Auditorium, in the school complex on Ballfield Road, with a screening of "God Grew Tired of Us," a 2006 National Geographic documentary about the "Lost Boys of Sudan," 25,000 young men who have fled the country's wars in Sudan since the 1980s, and their experiences in the United States. There are exhibitions, lectures and discussions scheduled for the next two days, to be capped with a talk by world-renowned human-rights activist John Prendergast Dec. 2 at 4 p.m. in Bemis Hall on Bedford Road, and a gala fund-raiser featuring an auction, a Sudanese meal, fashion show and music at First Parish in Lincoln, also on Bedford Road, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $400 for a table of eight, with reservations required. For tickets, contact Nancy Fleming at nlfleming@comcast.net. For the full schedule of events, visit SudaneseEducationFund.org or the town's website, lincolntown.org. - John M. Guilfoil

WARD 5 COUNCILOR LEAVING - Ward 5 City Councilor Maura Navin Webster has announced she will be resigning from the position, effective Jan. 6, to take a job with the American Heart Association in Framingham. Webster said she is excited about her new job as senior director of communications for the charity's Worcester market but has mixed feelings about leaving politics. "Public service is what my family does," she said in a phone interview. "That's how I was raised. I know nothing else." Her father and grandfather both served as state representatives. To avoid conflict, the AHA requires that she leave her office because the organization has a strong lobbying effort. Webster, who has been a councilor four years, said she received the job offer on election night. The City Council will now have to call a special election to fill her seat. - Lisa Kocian

PRIVATE FUNDS PAY FOR FLAGPOLES - Private donations will pay for all or almost all of the cost of nine new flagpoles at Baxter Park, Town Administrator Michael Sullivan said. The cost of one 50-foot flagpole and eight 15-footers for flags representing the town, the state, and the branches of the military will be about $16,000, Sullivan said. - Calvin Hennick

SANTA'S HEADING THIS WAY - Santa Claus is due in town Saturday to help the Friends of Choate Park present their holiday parade and fireworks. The parade is to begin at 5:30 p.m. on Holliston Street, near Medway Middle School, and end with a fireworks display over Choate Pond at 6:30 p.m. Families also may take photos with Santa and buy refreshments at the park. - Alexandra Perloe

TREE CEREMONY - The town will hold its holiday tree lighting at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Veterans Memorial Building. The event will feature carols, hot chocolate and cookies, and visits with Santa Claus. - Calvin Hennick

APPROVAL TO DRILL FOR WATER - The Conservation Commission last Thursday gave selectmen and local businessman Ed Rose the OK to drill a test well on Price Woodlands conservation land owned by the town. The approval was given with the condition that the property be returned to its previous state after the drilling is completed. Rose is spearheading a proposal for a new water district that would include all of downtown and the Pine Hill School. The new water supply is deemed critical for development in the area. "We just want to go out there and see if we can get water," Rose said. "Within two or three days, we'll know." The town's Advisory Committee this month gave the Board of Selectmen permission to spend $15,000 from its reserve fund to conduct the drilling and water testing. The site of the test well or a date for the drilling had not been set. - Nadia Salomon

PREPARING FOR HOLIDAY BAZAAR - The annual Holiday Bazaar will be held Dec. 8 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sudbury Senior Center on Fairbank Road. Admission is free and proceeds benefit the Friends of Sudbury Seniors. Handmade gifts, attic treasures, and baked goods will be on sale, and there will be a cookie bar and raffle baskets, according to the senior center. The center suggests grandparents bring their grandchildren to shop for inexpensive holiday gifts. Anyone interesting in baking (the center asks that items be nut-free) should drop goodies off at the Senior Center on Dec. 7 or 8. - John M. Guilfoil

MEETING ON RAYTHEON SITE - The next public meeting on the project to remove hazardous waste from the former Raytheon Co. property on Boston Post Road will be Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Building. Raytheon representatives "will provide status updates on the investigation and remediation activities conducted in accordance with the Massachusetts Contingency Plan," according to an announcement by Environmental Resources Management Group Inc., the company's consultants on the cleanup project. For more information, visit ermne.com, a website set up by Environmental Resources, where access to the Wayland project requires entering Raytheon as the username, and the password wayland, in all lower-case letters. - John M. Guilfoil