Stoneham School Building Committee Approves $61,000 Tree Plan, Drops Privacy Fence

STONEHAM — March 17, 2025 — Stoneham's School Building Committee voted unanimously to approve a $61,000 landscaping package for Stoneham High School, dropping a proposed privacy fence in favor of arborvitae screening trees alone. The March 17 vote followed a comparison of two Consigli-priced options — $75,000 with a fence, $61,000 without — after a committee member reported the neighboring residents had requested the arborvitae buffer, not the fence. "The neighbor did not specifically ask for a fence — they asked for the arborvitae," said Nicole, the member who made the motion. The committee also cleared more than $3 million in invoices for Warrant Article 64, approved Change Order 42 for $81,278.82, and unanimously adopted a dedication plaque design featuring a Marion Wright Edelman quote in a pewter finish. A special virtual meeting was set for April 7 to address a deferred Perkins and Will designer amendment; the project's contingency fund retains approximately $1.1 million.