Planning Board Raises Questions about Plans for New Walgreens Store on Central Street

by Inanna Arthen
At a public hearing on Tuesday, December 7, members of the Planning Board raised concerns about the architecture of a proposed new Walgreens store to be constructed on Central Street, on the parcel next to The Chapel Downtown and Not Just Produced where Bull Spit Brewery set up its Popup Bull Yard this past summer. The hearing has been continued until January.

Josh Kline, a licensed professional engineer with Stonefield Engineering and Design, presented the site plan.

The proposed new building will be much smaller than the existing Walgreens and will be much closer to the street. The paving will be removed from the lot and replaced in part with landscaping and grass. The remaining area will be paved for a drive-through encircling the building and 17 parking spaces. The impervious surface area will be much smaller, greatly reducing the rainwater runoff from the parcel. What runoff does occur will be channeled into drains to the south of the lot.

"The applicants really put their best foot forward to introduce a use that complies with not only the requirements of the zone, but a lot of the items that are highlighted in the Master Plan," Mr. Kline said. "I think we're protecting green space, we're providing a building in character with the neighborhood, we've pulled the building up towards the road, we're providing landscape planters to introduce greenery along the street. I think if you notice going up and down Central Street, there's not a lot of buildings that have greenery in front of them."

Mr. Kline went on, "When you look at the plan that's up on the screen now...I think the first thing that jumps out is the green space. We're introducing ten new trees around the site, we're including shade trees as well as evergreen trees to screen the traffic [behind the building] we're also introducing over 250 shrubs, grasses and perennials onsite, so it's a very robust landscape plan."

Mr. Kline explained that there will be two driveways, one allowing cars to both enter and exit, one only for cars exiting the drive-through. He stated that traffic should not back up in the drive-through as "people are just coming here to pick up their prescriptions, it's usually about ten minutes, they're in and out." He added, "we're protecting the driveway for the church to the north. We're actually going to be providing them additional access on our property so they can safely use their parking spaces."

"I think one of the big improvements is ADA accessibility," Mr. Kline said. "It's worth noting this site drops about nine feet as you go across it, this isn't a flat parking lot by any means, there is quite a big grade change there. Central Street today drops at about six percent, so the street itself is running at a slope that's greater than your typical ADA access. That's one of the reasons we've shifted the building a little bit further back, is to help provide safe ADA public access, both from the public right of way and from the parking spaces on-site."

The new store will have similar hours as the existing Walgreens, with about 4 to 6 employees at peak shifts. Weekly deliveries will be made by box trucks.

Mr. Kline acknowledged that there had been concerns expressed, and a great deal of changes made to the building's exterior architectural plans since last April. "We've gone through several iterations," Mr. Kline said. "We're incorporating red brick, you see red brick along Central Street. We're including clapboard siding and trim along the front of the building, behind the Walgreens sign is a clapboard plank and we're also looking to use decorative vertical pier along the left hand side, the front of the elevation as well, to give it a little bit of a sense of scale."

After the presentation, Planning Board Chair Guy Corbosiero said, "This building you propose is not, I think, what Winchendon is all about." Quoting from the town Bylaws and the Master Plan, Mr. Corbosiero said, "Now in the Master Plan, the economic development goal is to rebuild downtown Winchendon as a business center and rebrand it in the image of a vital New England small town. I don't think this design is for a vital New England small town." He referred to Macdonalds being asked to change their initial proposed design, and the Fidelity Bank having "a very Colonial design. Our town, we feel, is a Colonial type of town."

Mr. Corbosiero read a letter from Town Manager Justin Sultzbach which expressed similar concerns, including, "it is my hope that the Walgreens team can include some facade upgrades both in style and materials that would be more reflective of the historic New England architecture seen throughout the community and as referenced in our 2013 downtown revitalization plan."

Mr. Corbosiero said he could not support the proposed building design. "I personally would rather have an empty lot there than what that is," he said. Mr. Corbosiero also raised the question of signage, which was not included in the site plan at all. He estimated that the signs shown in the diagrams would exceed the maximum total square footage allowed in the Zoning Bylaws for signs. "Actually, I consider this application not complete without the signage package," he said.

"I think Walgreens has shown since the spring that they want to be a good neighbor, they want to be a good tenant, and our office as well, we want to come in here and do this project right," Mr. Kline said. "So I appreciate all the feedback, I appreciate seeing some real examples, and what I'd like to do is walk out of this meeting and be able to take some ideas to the applicant."

Planning Board member Burt Gould disagreed with Mr. Corbosiero, telling Mr. Kline, "I think you guys did a darn good job. This is well planned out and well presented." Director of Planning and Development Tracy Murphy described sending Walgreens "numerous emails" about the plans, along with examples of other buildings in town, and Walgreens "thanked me for the response and they would take it under advisement."

Ms. Murphy added, "We've met with, as the applicant stated, we've met several times with them talking about different things. They have been wonderful about working with us, trying to make corrections on the architecture, they got it to a point where the Town Manager and I felt like we couldn't get them to make any more changes, or we felt that it was developed enough."

Mr Gould asked, "If Walgreens has not been willing to bend a little bit to the needs of the town, why should we approve it?"

The Board agreed to continue the hearing to January 4, 2022 at 6:35 p.m., to allow the architects and Walgreens to respond to the feedback and revise their proposal.

Carriage House Restaurant Back in Business With an Entire New Look

by Keith Kent, Winchendon Courier Correspondent
In the few short months since its closing, the Carriage House Restaurant has been miraculously transformed, and celebrated a "Soft Opening" this past Saturday, December 11. To the delight of many customers, it has received a complete overhaul and modernization, breathing much needed new life in to what is now a vibrant and entirely new restaurant in the town of Winchendon.

Like a phoenix from the ashes, in just a few short months after its sale the Carriage House Restaurant was completely reborn, with its new managing partners investing nearly $1 million combined between the purchase and upgrades, one owner reported. With a whole new look, providing Winchendon with its newest dining attraction, it presents a modern and more inviting option, all the while keeping a hybrid menu of something old and something new, providing for a tasteful palette for your dining pleasure.

Joe Furlong, one of the Carriage House's new investing managing partners said, "I grew up just over the border in Rindge, NH. Back when I was young, there were hardly any of the businesses in Rindge that there are now today. My family and I came to Winchendon quite often for shopping, going to the YMCA and more. I always felt a connection to Winchendon. So when the unique opportunity became available, I was almost immediately interested."

Furlong emphasized the new Carriage House's Vision and Mission statements. Vision: Providing a happy and healthy workplace that aims to please any paying customer with our hospitable service, exceptional food and quality drinks in a clean, friendly and comfortable dining environment that nobody local has. Mission: Focusing to keep the local communities as regular paying customers and getting to know each one by name. Our food and drinks always prepared with quality whole ingredients and staff being adaptable to meet dietary needs. Orders served in a hospitable way with love and a smile.

The Carriage House is not only completely remodeled, but now has seating available for up to almost 200 people. Gone are the older colorings. The walls, ceilings, floors, light fixtures, furniture, and much more are all newly replaced. The bar, welcoming and known to many, remains in the same location. The rear dining room is completely remodeled, and the rear function room where brunch buffets were once served has an entire new look, as well. The bathrooms have all been updated and like the entire restaurant are now handicap accessible. Equally important if not more, the entire kitchen received a much needed complete overhaul. Once old and darker, it is now brightly illuminated and modernized everywhere it was needed with more to come. Everywhere you look, what was old is now reborn, with the premise just like in the movie Field of Dreams, "If you build it, they will come."

The new staff management team brings experience to the Carriage House. General Manager Sarah Marceau has a degree in Hospitality Management, and has worked in the food service business for twenty years, first starting at the young age of 16. Moving to Winchendon less than two years ago, Marceau wants to see the business succeed in the very town she and her family now live in. Marceau said, "We made sure we asked the previous owners what was popular that people wanted so we could keep it, while adding new items to attract more customers and provide them with a great experience. During the soft opening we have been going around to every table asking our customers what could we have done better to learn how to improve, and better understand most importantly how to make people who come here happy."

Running things in the new kitchen is Executive Chef Aaron Gesner. Now with a dozen years in the food service industry, Gesner attended the vaunted Le Cordon Blue College of Culinary Arts. Gesner has served as a Sous Chef for the nearby and prestigious college preparatory school, the Groton School, and additionally the Colonial Hotel in Westminster.

When asked what his work means to him, Gesner said, "As an example just last night on Sunday, we had a customer taking a picture of how much he like the presentation of his salad. We were excited knowing this, and even fist bumped in the kitchen! That's telling me the customer thinks we are doing something right. That is exactly what we want. On last Saturday night when we held our soft opening, I had our line garnishing everything. I don't want one plate leaving the kitchen without me making sure everything is looking perfect! We want to both keep the older crowd and and at the same time also attract a new crowd with our menu. We want everybody to know who comes through the doors, that we really want them to like what they see and like what they eat."

Returning on board from the old staff is locally known bartender Rhonda Lison. Working at the Carriage House for the past 17 years, Lison, according to Furlong, was an obvious yes when it came to who should be working on the other side of the bar and who also came recommended by the previous owners. Joining Lison and returning to the kitchen with 25 years of service is Fred Hodgman. Furlong said, "Hodgeman came to us and asked if he could work for us in the kitchen and we were very happy he came back and wanted to work for us."

The menu for "Starters" has no less than ten appetizers and several kinds of soups. From loaded Potato Skins and Boneless Wings, to Garlic Knots and Firecracker Shrimp, there is something for almost everybody to get your meal off to a great start. If you want a large salad for your meal, there is House, Caesar, Strawberry Spinach, and even Arugula Beet. All can be upgraded with either Grilled Chicken or Shrimp, Salmon, and Steak Tips. You can keep it simple with a few burger options, or for House Favorites choices you can have a Roast Turkey Dinner, Homestyle Chicken Tenders, Old Fashion Meat Loaf, or Apple Cider Pork Chop.

If Seafood is what you're looking for the Carriage House has you covered, with a Baked Seafood Platter, Baked Stuffed Haddock Newburg, Deluxe Seafood Platter, Salmon Dinner, Baked Stuffed Shrimp, Haddock Chunks and more. From the Butcher Shop there are items such as Baked Stuffed Filet Mignon, New York Sirloin, Queen Cut Prim Rib, and even a larger King Cut Prime Rib. Pasta brings you six solid choices with everything from Shrimp Scampi to Chicken Picatta, Chicken or Pork Marsala and more.

In closing Furlong wanted people to know, "This entire job upgrading the Carriage House is all about community. Being from Rindge, I didn't want to see another empty building. Winchendon is right over the state line, and this town is still like a home to me. When I was a child my parents brought us here for things like milk and eggs. I came here for Sunday brunch. When I saw this place was for sale, I thought this would be so cool to own, and by no means should this be another empty building in our community. With the cost of the property and all renovations, we are almost at $1 million invested into making all this happen, that is how much we believe in this place. We have about fourteen employees right now, and we want to employ people and at the same time help keep this area booming."

The Carriage House is located at 660 Spring Street, Winchendon. Its current business hours during its "Soft Opening" are Open Daily, Monday - Wednesday: 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Thursday and Friday: 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. (Midnight), Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. (Midnight), and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. For any questions you can call the Carriage House at 978-297-1089, or visit the Carriage House on the web at winchendoncarriagehouse.com/.

Winchendon Surges to COVID positivity Rate of 11.38 Percent

More Than Twice the Massachusetts Average

With the release of the weekly Massachusetts Department of Public Health update report on Thursday, December 16, the Town of Winchendon which was previously 8.98 percent in positivity testing and had been as high as 10.26 percent on November 25, has now surged to 11.38 percent based on 1,177 molecular tests in the last two weeks. The Commonwealth average as of this report is 4.97 percent.

Regionally, the ten town area around Winchendon, extending two towns in any direction, which last week yielded a positivity average of 10.4 percent, has increased to 10.53 percent, with five towns slightly dropping in positivity percentages but still remaining high, and five towns significantly increasing. Ashby remains the highest in our area at 20.51 percent and over 20 percent for the second consecutive week. At home, Winchendon surged almost another 2.5 percent to a 2021 yearly high to date of 11.38 percent, Templeton, still the lowest in the area at this time, rose to 7.47 percent positivity, Hubbardston just barely increased to 8.77 percent, and the Town of Westminster is again very high, increasing from 11.55 to 13.17 percent positivity. These numbers will most likely continue to rise with upcoming indoor large holiday gatherings.

Currently, the Town of Winchendon is still listed at just 52 percent fully vaccinated with a DPH-reported 5,627 of its listed 10,765 residents registered as vaccinated. Town residents receiving at least one dose for partial vaccination registered at 6,378 or 59 percent of the town population. At time of this report, the Town of Winchendon remains one of the lowest vaccinated municipalities in the Commonwealth.

At the Monday, December 6 meeting of the Board of Health, the board voted 5-0 unanimously in favor of recommending, "Becoming vaccinated only if healthy enough to do so" as town viral infection numbers were on the rise. On December 9, the BOH then participated in a "Code Red" town-wide call warning residents of the continuing viral increase, and again recommending any residents who are not yet vaccinated to become vaccinated only if healthy enough to do so. The Code Red announcement can be viewed at https://www.townofwinchendon.com/home/news/covid-19-code-red-announcement .

On Tuesday, December 14, the Board of Health, at the request of the Winchendon Public Schools administration and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), held an Emergency Meeting, due to a public health emergency occurring at Murdock High School. The BOH voted 4-0 unanimously to temporarily close the high school only, thus suspending all in-person learning and moving to remote learning at the request of DESE. Murdock High School is currently functioning with online learning only in a fluid situation which is being closely monitored by the BOH. In-person learning will resume upon the end of the upcoming holiday recess, with students returning to class on Monday, January 3, 2022.

Our town viral situation is rapidly becoming worse. As Chair of the Board of Health, I ask any residents who are not yet vaccinated and eligible to become vaccinated, for the good of your family and community, please get vaccinated if healthy enough to do so.

Keith Kent
Chair
Board of Health
Town of Winchendon

To schedule a free COVID-19 vaccination at any time, go to www.mass.gov/covid-19-vaccine.

Zlotnik Introduces New State Rep for Winchendon, Susannah Whipps, to BOS

by Inanna Arthen
At the Board of Selectmen's meeting on Monday, December 13, State Representative Jon Zlotnik introduced Representative Susannah M. Whipps (website), who will be representing Winchendon's Precinct 1 with the new ten-year redistricting and re-precincting changes in Massachusetts. The Town Clerk's office told the Courier that due to COVID-related delays in processing federal Census data, the new precinct lines are not yet finalized, but the town will be notifying voters which precinct their address falls into next year, probably around the end of January. Representative Zlotnik will continue to represent Precincts 2 and 3.

Rep. Zlotnik began with an explanation for the change. "One of the things that happened in this last cycle is that an entire western Mass House district was eliminated. That's to reapportion to make sure that the districts are of equal size. Unfortunately, out west, Berkshire County, for instance, lost 5 percent of their population in the last ten years, so that has to reflect in the representative districts. As a result, we're sort of at the end of that chain of dominoes, in Central Mass, where all our districts have to shift a little bit to accommodate the big shifts that happened with our colleagues out west." He said that his (and formerly Winchendon's) district, Second Worcester, is losing the town of Westminster and Precinct 1 of Winchendon.

"For my constituents in the town and town officials, your experience really won't change all that much, other than depending on where you live in town, your ballot might look slightly different. But your experience working with either of our offices will not change," Rep. Zlotnik assured the Board.

Both Rep. Zlotnik and Rep. Whipps described how they will all work together to make sure this area is served to the best of their ability. "Jon and I are going to manage this cooperatively and as a team, and our offices, our staff are very much in communication," Rep. Whipps said. "I think it's going to be very smooth. I look at it as you folks are going from one voice to two voices down to Boston, which certainly doesn't hurt."

"A little bit about me," Rep. Whipps volunteered, "I'm a former Selectman in the town of Athol, I was a Selectman for nine years, I am the only Independent member of the Massachusetts Legislature. I do caucus with the majority party. I have mainly focused on mental health, substance use and recovery which is one of my favorite committee assignments, a lot relating to elder care, and I'm appointed to a special state-wide task force on the prevention of child sexual abuse. I'm a business owner in Athol, I'm seventh generation in Athol, I love this region." She added, "I do have an office on Main Street in Athol, that is staffed, and my phone number there is 978-895-9606, my staffer's name is Rachel."

Selectman Barbara Anderson welcomed Rep. Whipps, but went on to say, "Personally, I don't like it, obviously it's got nothing to do with you, but I feel like there are more seats that are now being added east of 495. To me, that creates a loss of state funding [to towns east of] 495, so with both of your districts, I think that this could be detrimental. I'm thrilled that we have both of you working for us, but obviously I have huge concerns over if anybody's even going to be paying attention to us out here."

Rep. Whipps responded, "the fact is, 20 percent of the population lives in about 80 percent of the land mass out here. Our colleagues in Cambridge can walk their district, it's about 20 city blocks. When you come out this way, Jon was fortunate where Gardner is a good size, and Winchendon's good size. I have 340 square miles, and I think I was the fourth or fifth [largest]--there are three or four people with bigger districts than me" of four to five hundred square miles.

Rep. Zlotnik added, "The reality is, is that in the last ten years, Boston, the greater Boston area grew by about 50,000 people, so if you look at it that way, that's an entire House district in and of itself. And if you go back historically, unfortunately this has been the trend for quite some time. Once upon a time, Gardner and Winchendon each had their own seat in the House. That has obviously not been able to be maintained with the way the state has grown disproportionately, more favoring the eastern part of the state."

To Selectman Anderson's comment about funding for snow and ice removal, when the eastern part of the state gets much milder winter weather, Rep. Zlotnik responded, "That was really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to those issues. As you know we've had many conversations over the years about Chapter 70 reform, or Chapter 90 reform, any of the big formulaic state funds, trying to make sure they account for the differences that exist between the more rural parts of the state and the more densely populated parts of the state, I would say that's probably the number one thing that those of us [west] of 495, north of Worcester, north of Springfield, number one issue that we deal with."

The Board thanked Rep. Zlotnik and Rep. Whipps for attending the meeting and wished Rep. Whipps the best of luck going forward.

Festival of Lights Brightens Toy Town Spirits

by Keith Kent, Winchendon Courier Correspondent
It was windy, it was rainy, but that didn't stop many in Toy Town and its surrounding communities from celebrating a host of events lasting ten hours long from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., as the Festival of Lights celebration was enjoyed by many happy holiday attendees both indoors and out on Saturday, December 11 with events spanning across town at five different locations, from the Community Park all the way to historic Old Center.

Beginning with a Holiday Craft Fair located at the Town Hall in the 2nd floor auditorium lasting from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., a dozen vendors with multiple tables each sold a wide variety of items from specialty production to the even more personal hand made variety, from rugs and dish towels with purposed sayings, to baked goods, afghans, makeup and nail care products, jewelry, and even hand made mittens and much more. Many eager attendees passing through were more than happy to knock out some of that now precious time limited holiday shopping.

A dedicated duo from the Unitarian Universalist Church sold a variety of delicious baked cookies for their fundraising efforts created by multiple members for their cause. Their worth was more than proven by the occasional shopper seen slipping more than a nibble under their masks. Also on the fundraising front, Mrs. Shawn Vaillancourt, a Phillipston resident and essential school bus driver serving the Town of Winchendon, ran a large fundraising auction with over 20 items up for grabs ranging from the two largest prizes, "One cord of wood or 50 gallons of home heating oil," to gift baskets, a variety of scratch tickets, large crafted hand made holiday figures, a Nest device, and much more with nearly two dozen possible winnings up for grabs. Vaillancourt was pleased to announce proceeds raised from the raffle totaled $405 which is targeted to help pay for a future ice skating rink in town where the former Ingleside Property residences were once located, now the current Winchendon Community Park, of which more details will be soon be announced in an upcoming story.

Just a short walk from the Town Hall, the Beals Memorial Library held its annual "Festival of Trees" and much more to the delight of both young children and adults alike. The event taking place from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. displayed the coveted and well known large assortment of specially designed Christmas trees, each with its own unique individualized theme. The themes included, Secret Garden, Peace & Love, Polar Express, The Magic of Christmas, How to Catch an Elf!, Tree of Angles, Murdock Sports - Blue & White, Good Night Owl, Teddy Bear Picnic, Some Kind of Wonderful, You are Home, Just an Old Fashion Christmas, Snowman, Frozen, Harry Potter, T'was the Night before Christmas, and even on stage a tree dedicated to the memory of former Supreme Court Justice, "RBG" Ruth Bator Ginsburg, who served a historic career from 1993 until her passing in 2020.

With many of the designer trees up for silent auction, the viewings did not stop there. Getting their wish come true, many young children were able to meet individually with the great Santa Claus for not just a photo, but to tell Santa what they truly wanted for Christmas, as he knows who's been naughty and who's been nice! After meeting with Santa, children got to listen to the poem, "T'was the Night Before Christmas" told by Staff Member Patti Stanko to children's delight. Downstairs in the basement, a book sale took place, along with a variety of more baked goods for sale. With no shortage of festive activities on hand, there was something for everybody once again at the Beals Memorial Library!

Adding to a strong trifecta of events all taking place at the same time, the Winchendon History and Cultural Center during the hours of 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. presented also for free, a well thought out and tastefully designed "Holiday Table Setting" showing at the Old Center Church. To learn more about the incredible variety of items and topics preserved by the WHCC on the internet and all it has to offer, please visit it at www.winchendonhistory.com and also don't forget to visit the WHCC on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/winchendonhistory

Taking the Festival of Lights next to the outdoor setting, activities progressed to the Winchendon Community Park for a "Holiday at the Park" during the hours of 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., leading the event to sunset and dark for the Festival of Lights finale. With Santa being a busy fellow, both he and his dedicated wife ("Who we all know keeps Santa in line behind the scenes") made a special guest appearance. One by one, and two by two, children got to meet both Santa and Mrs. Claus, tell them what they wanted for Christmas under their tree, and take a picture with them both.

Additionally, there was an opportunity for children to make their very own Gingerbread House, and design it with a variety of toppings under a tent keeping the littlest nice and dry while making their own creations, along with making ornaments for the upcoming tree lighting soon to follow . Not to be outdone, Christmas Carols were beautifully sung by the "Surround Sound Chorus," a talented woman's a cappella group from the nearby city of Gardner. The seven choristers present delighted both children and adults with their voices, adding an artistic touch and helping to bring joy to what otherwise would have been a dreary weather day. If you want to know more about Surround Sound Chorus on Facebook go to https://www.facebook.com/SurroundSoundChorus

Lastly, beginning at 5:00 p.m. and scheduled until 7:00 p.m., the official lighting of the Christmas Tree and assorted activities took place at G.A.R. Park to finalize what had been a welcoming and inclusive well-planned town wide event. There may not have been snow and instead even heavy rain at times, but that did nothing to dampen the spirits of those taking part, with many both working and attending clearly enjoying the meaning of having holiday hearts.

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