Several months ago, I submitted a citizens’ petition to rezone Hayward Street/South Street/Pine Grove Lane from residential lakefront to rural business. The purpose was to allow Marguerite Concrete, owned by Hopkinton resident Jim Marguerite, to build its new...
Letter to Editor
Letter to the Editor: Support UCTC to keep trail moving forward
Do the people of Hopkinton want a multi-use trail connecting us to the Milford and proposed Ashland trails? Designated trails improve community connections, safety and environmental impact and provide a place for healthy exercise. We have seen the success of the Upper...
Letter to the Editor: Stephenson for School Committee
I write to encourage people to vote for Susan Stephenson for School Committee. Susan offers decades of experience in education. She’s taught a great many students from a wide variety of backgrounds. In the classroom and as advisor for student activities, her...
Letter to the Editor: Stephenson for School Committee
I am honored to endorse Susan Stephenson for School Committee. Susan grew up in Western Pennsylvania and just recently moved to Hopkinton in August. She spent her 36-year career as a middle school/high school English teacher in the Seneca Valley district, one of the...
Letter to the Editor: Maspenock residents oppose rezoning plan
At Annual Town Meeting on May 1, Marguerite Concrete wishes to impose a zoning change at the corner of South Street and Hayward Street that would fundamentally damage the Lake Maspenock neighborhood. All Hopkinton residents must be at Town Meeting to vote no to this...
Letter to the Editor: Kudos for Marathon edition
I just read [the Hopkinton Independent] Marathon edition and I was really impressed. Clearly, the Boston Marathon is the signature event of the year in our town. You have captured the basic character of our town and did it very well. Anyone who reads this edition will...
Letter to the Editor: Why the UCTC should be replaced
Article 47 on this year’s Town Meeting warrant asks the town to replace the current Upper Charles Trail Committee (UCTC) with a subcommittee of the town’s umbrella trail organization, the Trails Coordination and Management Committee. The reason for this request is...
Letter to the Editor: Fogg for School Committee
I am writing this letter in support of Ashley Fogg running for School Committee in the 2023 election. I met Ashley many years ago when our children played tee-ball together and got to know her even better during the pandemic as we debated the challenges that the...
Letter to the Editor: Lake Maspenock residents question rezoning plan
Representatives from Marguerite Concrete presented their proposed zoning map and plan for a three-floor building on a parcel in the Lake Maspenock neighborhood of Hopkinton. However, residents raised several concerns at the meeting on March 25, including traffic...
Letter to the Editor: Town’s road/trail planning raises questions
With our Main Street reconstruction getting underway for the third year, I can’t resist opining on a topic I know so little about. I do know the new Fruit Street bridge is planned at 32 feet wide, curb to curb, features a 5-foot-wide paved walk on one side and,...
Letter to the Editor: Town leaders need to answer for school funding concerns
We have heard a lot about the school budget, with many more conversations likely as we approach Town Meeting. The schools receive a significant portion of our town budget, and the growth of our school budget continues to outpace that of our town budget. Probing...
Letter to the Editor: Downtown needs green space
As springtime and Boston Marathon time approach, it is imperative that as a town we should focus on two of our most important downtown green spaces: the Town Common and the Center School land. The Town Common is in desperate need of more shade trees. Where is the tree...
Letter to the Editor: Hopkinton home to special sassafras
Based on a measurement by the urban forester for northern Massachusetts, Hopkinton is home to the third-largest sassafras tree (sassafras albidum) in Massachusetts. Sassafras trees are most commonly seen as small shrubs, or as tall, relatively thin, straight trees...
Letter to the Editor: Schools need full funding
As we approach our annual town meetings and decide our funding priorities, I want to make a case for fully funding Hopkinton Public Schools. Hopkinton has long held providing a top-tier public education as an essential piece of our identity. Our schools have received...
Letter to the Editor: Church closing part of bigger picture
Thank you for sharing the news about the closing of Community Covenant Hopkinton. The story of a church cannot be told in just dates and numbers but must include the story of the Spirit working among them. This church at many points during its history responded to the...
Letter to the Editor: New direction needed for UCTC
At the Feb. 2 Upper Charles Trails Committee meeting, the UCTC chair made an opening statement about two citizens’ petitions seeking articles on the Annual Town Meeting warrant targeting the UCTC and its future work. As it relates to petition organizers and the timing...
Letter to the Editor: UCTC needs better oversight
On Feb. 2, the Hopkinton Independent reported on the Upper Charles Trail Committee (UCTC) meeting regarding discussion of two citizens’ petitions for Town Meeting articles. One article would reorganize the committee under the umbrella of the town’s Trails Coordination...
Letter to the Editor: No trail along Hayden Rowe
I support Peter LaGoy’s assessment that running the Upper Charles Trail down Hayden Rowe will be of limited usefulness. Not only will it put people’s lives in danger, it will further increase the congestion on a main thoroughfare. The proposed trail route crosses...
Letter to the Editor: Questions remain about Main Street project
This time of year my favorite morning chore is firing up our old cook stove. It’s a fairly complex process, but the first step in the lighting protocol requires three newspaper pages, which I crinkle up and drop into the firebox. (We keep a random collection of...
Letter to the Editor: Marathon Way needs cleanup, lights
At night the traffic pattern on Marathon Way, which includes the Doughboy triangle, is confusing and dangerous. The Doughboy triangle is not lighted, and the construction materials still remain in the area along with portable toilets in the roadway. We were told by...