Man About Canton: Ice Rink Update

Did you know …

The town of Canton is in the process of hiring an architectural firm to determine the cost of either (1) repairing the damaged Canton ice rink facility or (2) building a new regional rink on the existing site. The town recently advertised a “Request for Qualifications – Designer Services” for repair or replacement of the Canton ice rink facility. The legal notice, published in the December 21 edition of the Canton Citizen, states that “design services will be administered in a two-phase approach, with the initial phase anticipated to be completed by March 2018 in order to support funding request and overall project approval at the 2018 Canton town meeting in May.”

As detailed in a recent Canton Citizen article, the town still controls its own destiny regarding building a new rink, but it must use its insurance proceeds and/or supplement the project with additional town money. The state has given the town of Canton until February 2019 to start construction or repairs of the ice rink or it will forfeit the insurance monies.

The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline is expected to rise about 8 cents in 2018, according to the annual fuel price outlook published by GasBuddy. The average price in the United States is projected to increase to $2.57 a gallon, the highest price in four years.

In case you don’t know it, the odds of winning the Powerball lottery prize is one in 292.2 million. Many times there is only one winner when the jackpot reaches over $400 million.

A Milton resident has sued the town to block a 54-unit senior living (55 and over) project on Canton Avenue, just over the Canton town line on Route 138. The existing zoning would allow a developer to divide the 47-acre property into 22 or 33 single-family lots. The developer, Northland Residential, has Chapter 40B as an option as the town of Milton has only 5 percent of its homes classified as affordable.

The nine towns — including Canton — whose students attend Blue Hills Regional Technical High School have given approval for an $84.8 million renovation project to begin this year.

The largest personal property taxpayer in the town of Canton is Eversource at $1,701,725 per year.

The misuse of a disabled placard will now cost a lot more. A new state law calls for tougher penalties against people who fraudulently use handicap parking placards. The new law imposes fines of up to $1,000 for using a handicap license plate or placard that was issued to a person who has since died. It also increases the period of driver’s license suspension for anyone who wrongfully displays a handicap plate or placard. The new law also imposes a fine of $500 for the first offense of parking in a handicapped spot without a disabled placard.

There are 8,762 housing units in Canton.

The median household income in the town of Canton is over $90,000 a year.

The Canton Community Preservation Committee has approved a project to install lights at the Paul Walsh softball field at Memorial Park at a cost of $150,000. The field is used by the CHS girls softball teams, the Canton Little League, and several other community programs. A number of residents abutting the property have voiced concern about the proposed lights.

The 2018 Fuel Assistance Program is open. Canton Senior Center outreach worker Robin Tobin can assist those who are eligible — call 781-828-1323 to schedule an appointment to complete an application.

Beware of people who are in your circle but not in your corner.

This is all for now folks. See you next week.

Joe DeFelice can be reached at manaboutcanton@aol.com.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=38051

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Jan 27 2018. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.