MARLBOROUGH – Come Jan. 1, there will be a new mayor, and several new faces on the City Council.
Albert Trey Fuccillo will be the new councilor for Ward 6, while Sean Navin moves into one of the at-large seats.
At 21, Fuccillo will be one of the youngest ever to sit on the City Council. He’s worked at City Hall and the city’s Community Development Authority for the past two years – while earning an undergraduate degree at Emerson College in Boston.
Since winning the seat in November, Fuccillo has been meeting with his constituents; many of them are his neighbors since he was born and raised in the Fort Meadow Reservoir area.
“The transition’s gone well,” said Fuccillo. “It’s been a great opportunity to meet folks.”
He added that council members, including Navin, have been a big help in preparing him during the transition.
Potential development projects around Fort Meadow remain a hot topic of discussion. A recent plan to rezone a parcel at Sasseville Way from light industrial to residential was withdrawn by the applicant, without prejudice, after considerable discussion among residents and city boards.
“It was a big issue during the campaign,” said Fuccillo.
Once he’s on the council, he would like to sit down with Boston Scientific, the current owner of the parcel, and discuss the best way to preserve it.
“My duty is to have an open mind,” he said, adding that the area should be “preserved as best we can.”
Proposed changes to Red Spring Road – where residents want to create an overlay district – have also set off plenty of discussion.
“It will be an interesting one,” said Fuccillo. “It’s going to be about finding some common ground.”
Traffic – especially along routes 85 and 20 – is also a major concern for Fuccillo, as well as schools.
For Fuccillo, the top goals are to listen to his constituents and to work with the City Council.
“It’s 11 folks with 11 different visions,” said Fuccillo. “Doing a good job should be the priority. We really care about each other.”
After serving Ward 6 for the past four years, Navin is ready to become an at-large councilor.
Fuccillo and Navin share many of the same issues. With Navin, those issues will flow into something bigger, as he begins to hear from the entire city.
Like Fuccillo, Navin said he hopes to “continue the dialogue” with Boston Scientific about the future of the parcel at Sasseville Way.
On citywide issues, Navin said attracting local businesses to Main Street and the Solomon Pond Mall will be an ongoing goal.
“Repurposing the mall is huge,” he said.
He visited the mall recently, and he was glad to see so many local businesses operating out of the food court. The pop-up shops in the parking lot of Weed Street have also drawn visitors to the city.
“It’s getting better and better,” he said.
One of Navin’s biggest accomplishments as Ward 6 councilor was to change the traffic pattern at Bolton and Reservoir streets to cut down on speeding. Traffic safety will remain one of his top priorities, along with economic development.
The city’s inauguration ceremony will take place on Monday, Jan. 1, at 10 a.m. at Whitcomb Middle School.
