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IN THIS ISSUE

Conservation deal preserves open space in South Framingham
Walnut Street project wins awards, opens to public
Mary Dennison Park reopens soon
City Council probes energy costs
Potential depaving sites reviewed 
City to trash trains: Get out of town!
Bringing the Bruce Freeman Trail to Framingham
Public art project highlights energy technologies
Upcoming events | In the news

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Conservation deal preserves open space in South Framingham

On June 30, the City Council voted 10-0 to place a conservation restriction on 103 Guild Road — preserving 11.22 acres of open space located off Hollis Street near Waushakum Pond, Beaver Dam Brook, and Bates Park on the Ashland line. The restriction is made possible through a grant to the Trustees of Reservations, a statewide land trust, funded by $215,000 from the Massachusetts Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program plus $250,000 set aside by Framingham’s Community Preservation Committee in 2023.

Councilor Leora Mallach noted that this will be the Trustees’ first land acquisition in Framingham. Sarkis Sarkisian, director of Planning and Community Development, was key in shepherding the deal through. Councilor Mary Kate Feeney said she hoped it would inspire other such deals in Framingham.

What will the conservation restriction do?

It will:

• preserve the area from development

• protect a floodplain, mitigating flood risks to downtown areas

• prevent the area from becoming a paved “heat island’

• promote healthy soils

• promote water quality in the Beaver Dam Brook and, ultimately, Lake Cochituate

• support a diverse array of wildlife

• provide a new outdoor recreation area with connections beyond Framingham.

The purchase also connects the land to a larger open space network that includes the regional Bay Circuit Trail. “This property is going to open up two to three miles of trails that are currently existing,” said Ron Chick, a community trails advocate who has worked on the land acquisition for five years. “Additionally, it opens up over 200 acres of deeded conservation land in Sherborne.”

Over time, the land could potentially be connected to the nearby Upper Charles River Trail and the planned Chris Walsh Memorial Aqueduct Trail connecting downtown Framingham with Farm Pond.

Award-winning Walnut Street pathway now open to the public

Framingham has a lovely new place to connect with nature. The Walnut Street Neighborhood Flood Mitigation project, now complete, has transformed murky water and a flood-prone path into a mini nature preserve. An elevated ADA-accessible boardwalk features viewing platforms that overlook a restored healthy wetland. 

The boardwalk connects neighborhoods along Walnut Street and Stonybrook Drive, Bowditch Athletic Field, the Callahan Senior Center, Fuller Middle School, McCarthy Elementary School, and MassBay Community College.

The project is expected to greatly decrease flooding in the Walnut Street neighborhood, an increasing problem as climate change brings more frequent storm events. It earned a Community Choice Award from the Environmental Business Council of New England, as well as a 2026 Stormy Award for Stormwater Management/Green Infrastructure from the New England Stormwater Collaborative. The project was funded through FEMA and the Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program.

Coming soon: A renovated Mary Dennison Park

Mary Dennison Park on Beaver Street was once a contaminated industrial dump known as a “brownfield.” Closed since 2014, it’s coming back to life after a $43 million investment by the city to clean it up, with some funds coming from Avery Dennison Corp.

The 15-acre site, adjacent to the Beaver Dam Brook, will reopen as green space in August or September with a softball field, volleyball and basketball courts, a skate park, playgrounds, a splash pad, and more. “It’s going to be a real showpiece for the city and the region,” Mayor Sisitsky said at a recent City Council meeting.

The Mass Department of Environmental Protection recently posted a nice video about the park’s cleanup. The screenshot below shows a likely lead-contaminated preschool play area before remediation:

Take a listen to Judy Grove, who was instrumental in the park’s cleanup and gave testimony at a recent Finance Subcommittee meeting (jump to 1:55:00). Her passion and many ideas about the park’s potential, with involvement of the community, are infectious. 

Even as Energize Framingham celebrates the cleanup and reopening of Mary Dennison Park, there’s one problem we hope to see addressed in the future. According to the plans, an artificial turf field will cover roughly a third of the park. While not having to maintain a grassy field is appealing to the city, which is struggling to fund park staff, we have called for a ban on artificial turf. Why?

• It replaces cooling, carbon-absorbing green space.

• It can cause burns and overheat children playing on the field.

• Its plastic surface is unsanitary and can transmit germs.

• It contains microplastics and chemicals — including the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS — which rainwater washes into the soil and groundwater.

• It releases methane and ethylene, potent greenhouse gases.

As EF’s Larry Stoodt said at a hearing of the City Council Subcommittee on Public Health, Safety, and Transportation two years ago, “it doesn’t make sense to lay a toxic material onto something that was just cleaned up.”

City Council starts to delve into energy costs

The City Council’s Finance Subcommittee has begun reviewing the city’s energy budget. This is a welcome development, since surging energy costs present an opportunity for Framingham to embrace renewable energy — in particular solar with battery storage, which is coming down in price. Thanks to Councilor Leora Mallach for putting energy costs on the June 23 agenda.

The time to act on energy is now. According to Sustainability Coordinator Shawn Luz, city energy budgets increased roughly 20 percent from FY26 to FY27, versus a 10 percent increase from FY25 to FY26.

Energy costs are based both on utility rates and building energy usage, which fluctuates (most notably spiking during this year’s unusually cold winter). But rates alone have risen substantially:

Measures have brought savings

As Luz noted, the city has thus far reduced energy costs through:

• building energy efficiency improvements (notably in the Memorial Building and Fuller Middle School)

• municipal energy contracts, which saved $406,239 from August 2025 to May 2026 as compared with Eversource Basic Service

• a contract with a solar “farm” (located on the rooftops of the Shoppers World complex), providing a 10 to 15 discount on municipal electricity bills. (Luz and colleagues are exploring an additional solar contract.)

Councilor Michael Cannon questioned the solar and municipal energy contracts and the energy broker Framingham uses. He felt the city’s broker contract should be put out to bid and wanted to know the current broker’s commission and to review the contract. Councilor John Stefanini wanted to know who makes final procurement decisions. (Answer: Energy contracting currently lies within the finance division with support from Shawn Luz and others). 

Probing geothermal and solar

Stefanini asked what savings Framingham’s geothermal network has brought. According to Luz, total energy consumption of the connected buildings is down 27 percent from 2025, despite a slow start in the first winter when homes were still being connected. Luz noted that extreme cold temperatures of this past winter didn’t greatly affect efficiency, since geothermal heat comes from underground where it’s a constant 55 degrees. 

Luz added that planning is underway for a Phase 2 geothermal expansion, which would add a loop tying in Flagg Drive, Warren Road, and portions of Rose Kennedy Lane and the Farley school administration building that are not yet connected. Eversource is currently seeking state approval for the expansion (see In the News below). The Memorial Building, Police Headquarters, and the new downtown parking garage are under consideration for the future.

Turning to solar energy, the Finance Subcommittee considered the merits of city-owned systems versus power purchase agreements (PPAs), in which the city pays nothing upfront for solar panels and purchases power from the installer at a cheaper rate. (The installer can then sell the excess electricity at a profit.) Luz felt, and the Subcommittee seemed to agree, that a mix of these two arrangements would serve Framingham best. 

“PPAs are really attractive sometimes for this committee because hey, you’re not asking us for money,” Cannon said. “But we’re sacrificing a long-term gain to a for-profit entity that’s going to make all the money off of our solar usage.” 

Note: If the above links in the tables have expired, Luz’s presentation slides can be found here (see action items 1 and 2 on the agenda).

Finance Subcommittee votes to repeal electricity surcharge meant for clean energy projects

The Framingham Community Electricity program, launched in March 2025, enables residents and businesses to pay lower electricity rates through bulk purchasing and, if they wish, receive more of their electricity from renewable sources. The City of Framingham estimates that this “municipal aggregation” program has saved residents more than $2.5 million. Divided by the current 19,300 participating accounts, this is a savings of nearly $130 per household. 

The program’s electricity pricing includes an “operational adder” — a small surcharge meant to go toward municipal or residential clean energy projects. According to Luz, the adder generated $162,608 in FY2026, with a total of $300,000 expected by March 2027.

Unfortunately, at the July 15 Finance Subcommittee meeting, Councilors Cannon and Stefanini pushed through a motion to stop collecting the adder fee. Cannon argued that the fee amounts to an involuntary tax that was never disclosed to residents. 

If it’s a “tax,” it’s quite small: The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources estimates (see p. 24) that for an average residential customer using 600 kilowatt hours per month, the adder will cost $7.20 per year. 

As Councilor Mallach noted, other municipalities have an adder fund. Many are using it for clean energy, including solar projects. The intent of the fund is for its proceeds to go directly to benefit ratepayers — for example, by helping with co-pays for efficiency projects, hiring coaches to help residents navigate solar and heat pump installations, or supporting regional clean energy projects.

The motion to stop collecting the adder fee passed by a vote of 4-1, with King, Cannon, Ottaviani, and Stefanini in favor and Mallach voting “no.”

It’s unclear what will happen next, but halting collection of the fee will likely require a vote by the full City Council. Meanwhile, the Finance Subcommittee chose to wait until its November 1 meeting to decide how to deal with the money already collected. We would like to see it used to advance clean energy projects as originally intended.

BRIEFS

Potential sites for greening South Framingham reviewed

Since January 2025, Energize Framingham has been exploring ways to plant more trees in Framingham. In late June, EF members Liliane Dutra, Nanette Magnani, and Nancy Fliesler toured a half-dozen potential locations for a “depaving” project together with Leigh Meunier of the nonprofit Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW). Depaving entails removing concrete or asphalt and creating a green space in its place.

CREW has a $40,000 grant from the state to do a repaving project in South Framingham, part of an $85,000 settlement with the Framingham Salvage Company for alleged discharge of industrial stormwater into Beaver Dam Brook. CREW’s partner, Bio4Climate, is interested in planting a miniforest (sometimes called a Miyawaki forest) on the chosen site and may pursue an additional grant. Several of us attended a very informative summit about Miyawaki forests and their educational potential.

We’re starting to investigate the feasibility of various sites identified in consultation with city officials and community groups. The ideal project would mitigate heat island effects in a heavily paved area and would be highly visible so as to draw community and volunteer engagement. More to come, but if you’re interested in being part of this effort, email [email protected].

Parked trash trains could be run out of town

Since August 2024, CSX Transportation has been parking railroad cars loaded with garbage downtown on the weekends. Residents in the Waverly Street area have been complaining about odors, health impacts such as worsening asthma, and inability to enjoy their outdoor spaces. State Representative Priscila Sousa took up the cause, and the city finally engaged U.S. Senator Ed Markey and Representative Katherine Clark to set up a meeting with CSX, including one of the company’s PR heads in Washington. 

CSX said they don’t own the railroad cars and don’t control what’s in them, but agreed to look into storing the cars outside of Framingham where they wouldn’t impact residential neighborhoods. Mayor Sisitsky encourages the public to continue to report to the city if the garbage trains reappear.

Bringing the Bruce Freeman Trail to Framingham

On June 29, the city hosted a community discussion at Framingham High School about extension of the regional Bruce Freeman Rail Trail into Framingham. The plans call for a 12-foot-wide paved path for pedestrians and cyclists that would connect Framingham with Sudbury, Concord, Acton, Westford, Chelmsford, and Lowell. 

The first phase of construction would bring the trail from Eaton Road at the Sudbury line to Frost Street near Dunning Elementary School. The trail would cross Frost Street and Water Street near the McAuliffe Library, where a parking lot with about 30 spaces would be added (on the opposite side from the library’s existing parking lot). The plan also includes mitigating some drainage and flooding issues in the area.

Later, a second phase would extend the trail to Route 9 in Framingham Centre, near Framingham State University. 

Most public comments were supportive, but some residents did express concerns. An official hearing will likely be held in December. For more, see Sharon Machlis’s article in the Framingham District 2 blog, this public comment document, and this slide deck from the project consultant. Construction would begin in 2029 or 2030.

Public art project highlights energy technologies

A Home for Future Generations, a public art project months in the making, officially opened July 16 on the Framingham Centre Common. Award-winning Brazilian-American visual artists Julia Csekö and Raquel Fornasaro shared the inspiration behind the project, their creative process, and how the installation encourages visitors to envision a more sustainable future.  

Funded by Mass Save’s Community First Partnership, the project explores how communities can act collectively to improve home energy efficiency. Visitors can learn about energy-efficient technologies such as solar panels, EV charging stations, heat pump water heaters, and the resources available through Mass Save.

Multiple people across Framingham painted shingles for the installation during events at the Danforth Museum, the Callahan Center, Keefe Tech, the Framingham Public Library, Walsh Middle School, Framingham High School, and the Potter Road, Hemenway, Stapleton, Harmony Grove, and Brophy elementary schools.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Every Thursday until October 8:

Wed., July 29, 6-8 p.m. Biosphere Book Club: Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization by Bill McKibben 
In person - Strawberry Hill Road, Acton, MA (details shared on registration)

Thurs., July 30, 2:30-4 p.m. Sun Prints at Newton Community Farm
303 Nahanton St., Newton (park on Winchester Street and enter by the farm stand)
Green Newton and Newton Community Farm host an afternoon of creativity and discovery. Kids will create their own sun print T-shirt, tour the farm, and learn how the sun helps grow food and how solar energy works. Parents and caregivers are invited to chat with Green Newton’s Energy Advocate about ways to make their homes more energy-efficient, comfortable, and climate-friendly. $5 per child for supplies. RSVP required.

Fri., Aug. 7, 3-4 p.m. KiwiCo presents: Drip Irrigation
Spark Lab, Framingham Main Library, 49 Lexington Street
Kids 8-12 can engineer a drip irrigation system, blending botany and physics by constructing the water tower and trellis, setting up the planter pots, and growing bean, wheatgrass, and watermelon plants.

Sat. Aug. 29, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. 15th Annual Framingham Vegetable Gardens Tour
The tour will showcase several home and community gardens. Visit FraminghamGrowsFood.org for more information. If you have a vegetable garden you’d like to show off, or know of one, email [email protected].

Now through September 1: Art on the Cochituate Rail Trail
An open-air gallery featuring eight unique installations by talented local artists. 

Tues., Oct. 20, 7-8 p.m. Plastic Pollution: Health, Climate, and Solutions (webinar)
Eileen Ryan, leader of Beyond Plastics Greater Boston, will discuss plastic pollution. Sponsored by the Jewish Climate Action Network. Register for Zoom link.

IN THE NEWS

Framingham/Metrowest

Eversource wants to expand Framingham MA geothermal pilot. What's next (MetroWest Daily News)
Eversource is seeking $7-10 million to complete the expansion, on top of $8.5 million in federal funds already allocated. State officials will have the final say. Also covered by the Frame (video).

Ahead of New Mary Dennison Park’s Opening, Officials Consider Adding Maintenance Staffing (The Frame)
The renovated park is expected to open in August or September. City Councilor John Stefanini has requested that Mayor Sisitsky work to fund three staff positions in the Parks and Recreation Department to maintain the new park. The local parks team had originally requested funds for six full-time salaries.

Framingham leaders look to address downtown odor issue (The Frame)
Residents have been complaining about a stench coming from CSX Transportation’s garbage trains. (See our story above.)

Healey Administration Awards $8.6 Million in MassTrails Grants – Here’s What’s Getting Funded (streetsblog.org)
The project to bring the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail into Framingham was awarded $200,000 to complete shovel-ready design plans. The new segment would extend the trail from Sudbury into Framingham Center, near Framingham State University. (More in our story above.)

Framingham MA will treat two ponds, Sudbury River with herbicide (MetroWest Daily News) 

Massachusetts/Region

European-style plug-in solar could quickly cut soaring utility bills in Massachusetts [editorial] (Boston Globe)
Imagine buying small solar panels at Lowes or Home Depot, placing them on your balcony, porch, or in your backyard, plugging them into an outdoor socket, and cutting your electric bill immediately and substantially. “Balcony solar” units hold particular appeal for renters. Both the Senate and House are advancing energy bills that would clear the path for plug-in solar in Massachusetts.

With energy costs rising, Massachusetts should make solar simpler [Editorial] (Boston Globe) 
The Legislature should adopt Australia’s more streamlined approach, the editorial board argues. In Australia, permits for rooftop solar are typically approved within 24 hours. Then solar panels are installed and connected to the grid within a week or two. 

Major energy-affordability bill passes Massachusetts Senate (Canary Media)
Now the legislature must hammer out the differences between the Senate text and the House version, which includes major cuts to energy-efficiency funding. The Senate version would not lower spending for the Mass Save energy efficiency program, while the House version would.

Mass. Senate says energy bill would save consumers $14 billion (WCVB)
In this “Ben Has Your Back” segment, Sen. Michael Barrett defends Mass Save and the Senate’s focus on instead reining in the Gas System Enhancement Plan (GSEP), which guarantees utilities profit in replacing gas infrastructure. More on reining in GSEP in the CommonWealth Beacon.

Ten communities in Massachusetts went ‘fossil fuel free.’ Then utilities spent $100M on natural gas infrastructure there.  (CommonWealth Beacon)
Regulators have approved the spending, but the work locks in pipelines for years to come as the municipalities try to move off gas.

Massachusetts should lead on shifting how and when energy is used [Editorial] (Boston Globe)
If we can lower the peak electricity demand, it might lessen the need to build expensive energy infrastructure, the Globe editors argue.

Massachusetts pauses tax breaks for data centers and addresses energy, water and noise concerns (CBS News)
Gov. Healey is pausing tax breaks for data centers in the state and released a framework that addresses concerns about their impact on cities and towns. 

Electric shock: insurer drops EV coverage for longtime customer (Boston Globe)
Massachusetts has the highest difference in insurance costs between electric vehicles and gas-powered: $3,560 on average, for EVs in 2025, compared with $2,318 for gas-powered cars. EVs tend to be more expensive; however, they are less likely to get in accidents.

Local action

When the heat doesn’t stop (CommonWealth Beacon)
Aiming to increase cooling infrastructure accessible in Chelsea, one of Massachusetts’s hottest cities, the TreeKeeper program trains residents to care for and expand Chelsea’s urban tree canopy. It has grown into a network of about 80 volunteers maintaining over 200 trees. 

Environmental groups launch boycott of Worcester-based Polar Beverages (WGBH)
The boycott protests Polar’s opposition to expanded “bottle bill” legislation, which would raise the deposit amount from five to 10 cents per container. The expanded bill would also cover plastic water bottles, nips, and other containers, and shift the cost of recycling to beverage manufacturers and away from cities and towns.

National/General Interest

The U.S. Is Pulling Back on Energy Efficiency Just as Prices Are Rising (New York TImes) [gift link]
The Trump administration is dismantling a wide array of federal energy efficiency programs even as war in Iran, data centers, and heat waves are pushing up gasoline and electricity costs.

The Very Good and Very Bad News on Climate (New York Times/Ezra Klein Show) [gift link]
This informative long-form interview with environmentalist and climate activist Bill McKibben is worth listening to.

False promises: Why carbon capture and storage won’t fix our climate crisis (Pro Public)
For more than 40 years, oil companies have been funding research into carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a climate change “solution” that would not require the public to stop using oil and gas. A new investigation has found that boosters of CCS have ignored evidence of the technology’s limitations or overstated its potential. For CCS to work at the scale now envisioned, the world would need to devote almost unimaginable resources.

'Stretched to the limit': Heat wave prompts US electrical grid emergency (ABC News)
The Department of Energy declares an emergency to reduce blackouts.

The Iran war has pushed some countries away from oil and toward clean energy (NPR)
Countries across Asia and Africa are speeding up the adoption of solar, batteries and electric vehicles to decrease their dependence on imported natural gas and oil. 

Trump Secretary Says Bike Lanes Are DEI (New Republic) 
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said his department would redirect $1.73 billion in Biden-era grants away from establishing “DEI bike lanes” to build roads and bridges instead.

You Paid to Have Old Clothes Recycled. Here’s What That Really Means. (New York Times) [gift link]
Collection services offer convenience, but most garments are shredded into low-grade stuffing or sent abroad to an uncertain fate. Two for-profit collection companies, Retold and Ridwell, say they prioritize keeping clothes in the U.S., but that is hard to ensure.

Europeans are making the most of cheap solar panels – by creating green garden fences (euronews)
Solar fences can maximize land use and remove the need for costly installations that often require scaffolding.

ABOUT US

Energize Framingham provides climate education, outreach, and advocacy to promote a healthy, equitable, and resilient community.

Have a tip for us? Email [email protected].
Editors: Nancy Fliesler and Aimee Powelka