I will definitely be attending the Special Town Meeting on November 13th and will be bringing pictures to show the flooding from the Marathon School to my property and other neighbors’ properties — even though we were promised this wouldn’t happen. There will also be pictures of accidents that have occurred on my property, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage, along with other pictures of accidents with injuries for those who don’t think traffic is an issue on this stretch of road.

I would also like to add that neighbors were told that lighting at the Marathon School would be minimal, [yet] the lights are on 24/7, and the gymnasium would not be used for events when that is not the case at present, creating nighttime traffic in and out of the school.

On August 8th, seven neighbors were invited to a private Zoom meeting with Christopher Eberly of Vertex to discuss the Elmwood School project, and we were advised of the implementation of a turning lane from 147 Hayden Rowe to Marathon School. Only 10 feet of our property would be taken, but [Town Manager] Norman Khumalo chimed in that the town actually owns 22 feet into each property, so this wouldn’t be an issue. We asked what would be the additional cost of this turning lane, along with moving street lights, adding street lights, crosswalks, flashing lights and a traffic light at Marathon School along with an additional street behind our properties connecting both schools, and were told it was not part of the $158 million earmarked for the school but would be an additional cost to taxpayers. It was Mike Shepard who answered this question.

— Ellen Holmes, Hopkinton, member of the Hayden Rowe Abutters

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