Albert L. Irvine, 87

Albert L. Irvine, 87, a lifelong resident of Hopkinton, passed away Monday August 19, 2013 at the Blaire House in Milford. Born in Framingham, he was the son of the late Hazel (Luigi) and Arthur Irvine. He was the husband of the late Ruth C. Irvine who passed in 2001. He served in the United States Navy during World War II.

Mr. Irvine is survived by his children, Donna Baldwin and her husband Richard of Hillsboro, NH, Karen Garbarino and her husband Charles of Hopkinton, Albert L. "Skip" Irvine, Jr. and his wife Karen of Cramerton, NC, Debra Schmitz and her husband Paul of Stonington, CT, Kelly Kangaloo and her husband Larry of St. Petersburg, FL; brothers, Joseph Irvine and Wally Irvine and his wife Alberta all of Hopkinton; and a sister, Hazel Johnson and her husband Ed of Shrewsbury. He also leaves behind 18 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. He is predeceased by a daughter, Ruth Taylor and his brothers, Arthur, Robert, Kenneth and Ralph.

A memorial service will take place on Saturday, August 24th at 10:00a.m. at the Faith Community Church in Hopkinton. Private burial will take place in Evergreen Cemetery in Hopkinton. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Friends of the Hopkinton Senior Citizens, Inc, c/o The Hopkinton Senior Center, 28 Mayhew St, Hopkinton, MA 01748. Arrangements are under the care of the Chesmore Funeral Home of Hopkinton.

Forecasting School Enrollment

ESBC and SC meet jointly

Hopkinton is seeing "Super-heated real estate activity"

by Muriel Kramer

August 20, 2013 — The Elementary School Building Committee (ESBC) continues to wait to hear from the Massachusetts Building Authority (MSBA) with possible next steps if invited to partner with the MSBA on a construction project as part of the Center School solution. In the meantime, the work to gather data and shape the process continues.  Last night the ESBC and School Committee met in a joint session to hear from Don Kennedy representing NESDEC on enrollment projections. The New England School Development Council (NESDEC) is a private group that provides support services to school districts in the areas of planning, executive searches, professional development and more.

                Dr. Kennedy first presented the current projections to the SC in June 2013, and he indicated that the data has not changed since then, but may soon.  Due just after Labor Day is a projection based on the 2010 Census done by the Donahue Institute at UMASS Amherst; this projection is done every ten years following the Federal Census. Additionally in October, Hopkinton will have the data on this year’s actual numbers versus the projections. Both pieces of data will shape NESDEC’s projections for student enrollment into the future.

                Dr. Kennedy, speaking to the data, likened the projection effort to forecasting the weather; “The forecast for the first five years is likely be very accurate. We are less sure farther out.”

                Many factors drive the data. While there are currently fewer women in the ages ranging from 24 to 44 in town, Hopkinton is a community that consistently draws a high number of families moving in with young children and the realtors are having another big year.  Additionally, construction projects online are slated to add 100 to 125 new units occupied each year in the near term.  Dr. Kennedy likened the next ten years to the growth Hopkinton experienced in the 1990’s. “It looks like you’re going into another banner decade. We think you’re in a period of super-heated real estate activity.”

                Currently the data, considering known factors, indicate Hopkinton will see a net drop in students over the next five years and then in the following five years a small increase.

                Pam Waxlax, representing the Appropriation Committee on the ESBC, asked about the likelihood of the state mandating full day kindergarten.  Kennedy answered that while a mandate was unlikely other factors could impact that. There may continue to be incentives for districts to consider expanding full day k as an option for parents.  Kennedy also spoke to the notion that the district might consider an expanded approach to service for pre-kindergarten age children; currently the district provides pre-k to children needing additional educational support and a matching number of typically developing 4 year olds. According to Kennedy, “It wouldn’t surprise me to see the district target a long range goal to service a larger percentage of typically developing 4 year olds.”

                Selectman and ESBC member John Mosher asked about targeting flexibility in the building project. Speaking from his experience with a building project in Brookline and past projects in Hopkinton, ESBC Vice-Chairman Mike Shepard suggested that the MSBA was likely to support a project that addressed current demands versus future needs.  He asserted that it will be important to design a facility that provides core facilities plus flexible classroom space. “It’s the core facilities that are expensive; classrooms are cheap.”  He added that it was a more saleable approach for the public as well.

                Dr. Kennedy added that the delivery of education has dramatically changed in the last fifty years. The challenge is to look ahead fifty years when designing a school.

ROADWORK NOTICE

On Thursday August 22 Front St from Hopkins Rd to Ash St will be rubber chip sealed. This will complete the rubber chip seal resurfacing work on Front St. Work is scheduled to only take from 7am – 10am.One lane of traffic will be open but expect delays and seek alternate routes if possible.

Thank you,

 Mike Mansir, Highway Manager

TROUBLES ON RTE 495 TO THE SOUTH

11:17 am - At this time a passenger car has rear ended a tanker truck on route 495 northbound, ½ mile prior to Route 95. There are no injuries and all parties are out of their vehicles. The passenger car has caught fire and become fully engulfed. There are no injuries. The truck is reportedly hauling corn syrup. We will continue to update.

At 9:50a.m. a Lincoln Navigator rolled over on Route 495 northbound in Plainville. The SUV was pulling an camper at the time of the crash and was destroyed during the crash. At least four people were transported to Hasbro Hospital in Rhode Island with non-life threatening injuries

MetroWest Stakeholders Support TechSandBox Expansion in Hopkinton

TechSandBox, Inc. (August 19, 2013; Southborough, MA) – The innovation center/ incubator that launched this May in Southborough confirms that is has signed a multi-year lease with Southfield Properties, as part of the future Hopkinton Innovation Park.

The destination for science and technology entrepreneurs in MetroWest, TechSandBox has received support from local stakeholders in order to expand to a facility that has the additional assets needed.

“In the past few months, we’ve been asked for a light load lab for prototype assembly, space to secure a few (IT) servers, and a rent-a-bench space for life sciences and have requests from partner organizations for conference space for over 100 people,” noted Barbara Finer, CEO and Founder of TechSandBox. “We’ve been extremely fortunate to have had Becker College provide its Southborough facility, covering many of the expenses for our initial phase; moving TechSandBox to the Hopkinton facility will enable us to meet the demand for increased services.” ~ Contributed Content, HopNews photo.

Upton State Forest Hike

Join Friends of Upton State Forest and the Upton Open Space Committee on Sunday, August 25 at 1:00 PM as we Discover the Forest on a hike led by Joelle Vautour who is the Management Forester for the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Midstate District. We will visit an area that DCR harvested about seven years ago. Then we will continue along Park Road to view other areas of the forest that have not had any recent management. Along the way, Joelle will identify and talk about various plants. Meet at the Headquarters building at Upton State Forest near the intersection of Westborough and Southborough Roads. GPS address is 205 Westboro Road, Upton. This is a moderate, two to three hour hike with some hills and uneven footing.

Discovery hikes are free. Remember insect repellant, sunscreen and water. Please dress for the weather and wear appropriate footgear. A liability waiver is required. Children are welcome when accompanied by a parent. Please leave pets at home because some people are fearful or allergic. For questions, reminders or cancellation notices please send an email to uptonopenspaceevents@charter.net.

Rivers School Open House

Come learn about the exciting programs The Rivers School Conservatory offers for beginning musicians at an open house on Saturday, September 7, 12-2 pm.  This event is free and open to the public. Students can try the instruments and participate in small group learning sessions with our faculty.

Programs include:  Suzuki Method for violin or guitar; Music Box for piano, violin, or cello; and Marimba Magic, a creative exploration of marimbas and rhythmic drumming.  All programs feature both private instruction and group learning.

Parents will learn about our programs for children ages four to eight, meet our superb faculty, and discover the importance of early childhood musical training.

No reservations required.  Doors open at 12 noon at Bradley Hall, 333 Winter Street, Weston, MA 02493.  For questions contact music@rivers.org or call 781-235-6840.