By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The Spaulding Street Playground will soon have a new recreational feature thanks to an Eagle Scout project by an enterprising member of local Boy Scout Troop 701.
Eagle Scout candidate Benjamin Belyea was back before the Town Council for the second time after waiting out the mandatory 30-day public comment period dictated by the town’s “Bench and Structure Policy” for any proposal to place a new structure near the Lake.
The Town Council this week approved Belyea’s plan to construct two picnic tables with built-in chess and checker boards at the location.
One of the picnic tables will be handicapped accessible with a cut-out for a wheelchair. The tables will be located near the playground equipment at the Spaulding Street location next to the Lower Common.
The picnic tables will be average-sized, which is six feet long, 29 inches wide and 31 inches high. On top of each picnic table will be affixed one or two chess/checkers boards.
Belyea told the Town Council at a previous meeting that he had met with Cemetery, Forestry, and Parks Supervisor Dennis Fazio, who shared his enthusiasm for the project.
The tables would be constructed off-site by Belyea and a group of scouts with some adult supervision. Fazio has volunteered the DPW to help move the completed tables to the installation site at the playground.
One of the requirements of achieving the rank of Eagle Scout is to plan, develop and provide leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, school or community, according to the Boy Scouts of America. Through this requirement, Scouts practice what they have learned and gain valuable project management and leadership experience.
The original plan was to have the tables finished and placed at the park by mid-summer. But after the 30-day delay, that timetable had been pushed back to late summer or early fall.
In other matters this week, the Town Council:
• Heard a report from Town Counsel Thomas Mullen about a settlement related to a Chapter 40B affordable housing project on Nahant Street. (The Item reported on the settlement in a front page story on July 2.)
• Appointed Tommy J. Frolichstein of Rochelle Drive to the Environmental Sustainability Committee.
• Approved Katelyn Sartori’s request for a one-day liquor license for an event at the Americal Civic Center.
• Accepted a $25,000 donation for traffic improvements from the developer of 62 Foundry St.
• Voted to accept a donation of $160 to the Council on Aging.