The MDN Pimps for Mendon Selectmen!

New Comments as of 5/17


We predicted that the spin would continue until the election and the local print rag came in right on schedule.

If you are a regular reader of this blog don't miss the front-page puff piece written in the Milford Daily News today by one of their premier lap dog reporters, Danielle Williamson. Yes, the powers that be at the old local rag are pimping for their favorite causes again. Higher taxes and bigger government any cost.

Danielle goes on for 765 words about the dire situation with Mendon’s public safety infrastructure. She lies, twists, spins and uses all the scare words. She relies on quotes from only one side of the issue as if no other side exists.

It is not until the article is 600 words into the selectmen’s gospel that there is even a mention of the real environmental cost concerns voters had about the project at Wednesday’s town meeting. Then 96 words are devoted to a careful weaving of outright lies by the Milford Daily News and quotes from Joe Reed a Public Safety Building Committee member and close friend of Sharon Cutler. We can guess that Joe was taken out of context allowing the paper to slip in its BS.

Read the article and if you see what we see. Tell your friends. This bold attempt to snow the voters should not stand. Vote NO on Monday and tell the selectmen to do this the right way.

HG

Spin, Spin, Spin

Well that didn't take long. When it doesn’t go your way... spin it!
Kenneth Michael O'Brien claims that all the yes voters were at other events last night. Hey Ken, has it occurred to you that the voting mix that wasn't there might be the same as the one that was?

In their typical style the selectmen deny that they did anything wrong. They deny that they screwed up the purchase of the land. They deny the problem of pesticide contamination is really a problem and they deny that they wasted a year of hard work by everyone involved in the project. As they say “Denial is not a river in Egypt.”

Sharon Cutler attempted to poo poo the idea that soil contamination was a problem. In another of her classic statements she claimed the whole town was contaminated. Nice work sister! Sharon said there was probably poison at her house. Yes Sharon we have known for some time that there is a poison element at your house.

The little tyrant from North Avenue claimed that the Kelly property is “loaded with pesticides”. Why then Dennis, did you approve the purchase 5 years ago? Dennis Shaheen will lie with a straight face and then scream at you if you question him. Nice guy! Hard to believe he is the lesser of two evils.

Yes the SPIN is on. It will be hot and heavy until the town votes on Monday. If they get a simple majority yes vote they will schedule another town meeting. Probably at 3:00am on a holiday and round up the usual suspects to attend.

Here is a piece of advice for the selectmen. Why don’t you find out what it will take to solve the problems and present a comprehensive plan to the voters including what will become of the existing public safety buildings? Oh and while your at it, find out why this Carrell Group building costs so much more than a much bigger building in Seekonk? .

New Information??

We received this email from Dale Pleau this morning. With permission we are publishing it here. You can draw your own conclusions.

Remember, 7:00 tonight Town Meeting

From: "Dale Pleau" <d.pleau@comcast.net>
To: "Hanging Gardens" <hanginggardens@comcast.net>
Subject: New Information
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 10:44:52 -0400


HG,

I have been in contact with one of the cooler heads in town regarding the "New" information they are touting. Bottom line is they don't have any. The only thing they have is the final "Limited" report from Tighe & Bond dated November 2004. It says what you have heard in the past: Quote:

"These contaminants detected in the soil may present a risk to human health and the environment and therefore, a full risk assessment must be conducted...prior to development of these properties.."

Pretty clear to me that Tighe & Bond spelled it out for the selectmen prior to the purchase. They ignored it, tried to bury it and now are practicing damage control. Not a good start to a $7.5 million project.

I will forward a copy of the report to you via email soon (many pages to scan). That's the view from the trenches. Enjoy the blog, keep up the good work

Dale Pleau

Public Safety - Do the Math

The same architectural firm (The Carrell Group of Hopkinton) that designed the proposed public safety building for Mendon also designed the same type of facility for the town of Seekonk MA. The Seekonk building was occupied in the fall of last year. We feel a comparison of these two projects poses some questions for the voters of Mendon.

The numbers are interesting:

Area Square Miles - Seekonk 18.4 - Mendon 18.3 (Virtually Identical)
2004 Population (rounded) - Seekonk 14,000 - Mendon 6,000 (Mendon 43% Smaller)
Median Family Income (2000) - Seekonk $56,364 - Mendon $71,164
Cost of construction - Seekonk $6,000,000 for 24,000 Sq Ft- Mendon $7,500,000 for 18,700 Sq Ft
Cost per square foot - Seekonk $250 - Mendon $400 (Mendon 38% More)
Square Feet per Citizen - Seekonk 1.70 - Mendon 3.10 (Mendon 55% Bigger)

Ask yourself these questions:

How do you get a nearly 40% increase in the cost of Mendon's building in 2 years? Gold Toilets? Inflation, even in the building industry hasn’t put up those numbers since 2004.

Why does Mendon require 55% more space per citizen? Crime Rate... Hardly! Go to the state crime stats on the web and compare. Mendon is Camelot compared to Seekonk. Seekonk borders on East Providence RI with a major interstate highway and 2 exits inside it's borders.

Maybe it's the fire danger that requires so much more space per citizen. Guess again, Seekonk has many older wood frame multi-family housing units and large commercial buildings. Most of Mendon's housing stock has been built within the last 25 years.

It would be helpful if someone from town government would post some answers to these and all the other questions posed by us and our visitors. But then again they ignore the blogs hoping they will go away… Not a Chance.

HG

The Fino Land Test Results - September 2004

These are the test results for the Fino land. We recieved them from Dale Pleau as promised a few days ago. Rather than attempt to explain them ourselves we have posted the email they were attached to. By clicking on the image you will get a full sized image. They are somwhat difficult to read but it would seem that a few people have some "splanin" to do.


HG

My apologies for not getting these to you sooner. Frankly I don’t think very many people really care but I appreciate your effort in getting the word out.

Attached are the scans of the test results and the site map for the hazardous waste testing done on North Ave and Route 16 in September 2004. These were preliminary tests and the consultant; Tighe & Bond recommended to the Board of Selectmen that further testing be done based on these findings. The selectmen ignored their consultant and passed over an article on a Special Town Meeting Warrant to fund additional testing. Cutler and Shaheen were the loudest voices in support of killing the article.

Let me explain what you are looking at. Testing was only done in the 12 test holes indicated on the site locus map. Not all of these test holes were tested for every substance listed on in Table 2. The designation NA indicates that no testing was done in that hole for that substance. The original reason for the testing was to establish the level of arsenic in the soil. Arsenic is commonly found in apple orchards, the Taft Orchard was no exception.The ambient level of arsenic is fairly consistent and somewhat above the RCS-1 standard in a number of the test holes. The minimum work needed to correct the problem would require the covering of the contaminated soil with several feet of clean fill. Covering an area of 5 acres with 3 feet of fill would require 25,000 yards of fill and an additional 2500 yards of more expensive topsoil.This all has to be decided on the state level by the DEQE so the numbers and the cost could go much higher after they order the tests that should have been done before the purchase.

Now for the real problem. Yes, it gets worse. The real gorilla in the room is DDT. Only four of the test holes were tested for DDT and it’s by-products. Two of these holes, SB-01 and SB-05, have very high levels of DDT contamination. In SB-01 the level of 4,4-DDE was 1300, the standard is 2. Ditto for 4,4-DDD, the tested level was 420 the standard is 2. And again for 4,4-DDT and Dieldrin, levels of 670 and 360 respectively with a standard of 2 and 0.05. This begs the question of what will be found when full testing is done.

The problem of cleaning up DDT contamination is not just a matter of burying it. The soil must be cleaned, usually by a process using extreme heat. This specialty work is only done by a few companies and at a very high cost. I would hazard a guess that that portion of the Fino land will not be usable for at least a decade and the cost to Mendon taxpayers will be huge.

You can do a Google search of any of the terms used here for more information.

I obtained these documents during my run for selectman in April of last year. I provided copies to WMRC radio, The Milford Daily News and the Town Crier. Not one of these public outlets mentioned the issue or did any investigation. All any of them had to do was call the testing company, Tighe & Bond and ask questions. Apparently the fix was in, local media will not step on the toes of their advertisers and friends. Mendon is not the quaint little village it appears to be. Again, thanks for the blog.

Dale Pleau