April 4th 2009 Election has a Candidate

Yesterday, I spoke with both the Burlington Daily Times and the Burlington Union to announce my intent to run for one of the two open Selectman seats in the April 4th 2009 election. In my first bid for Selectman last year, I came up short by 22 votes. I won 5 of the 6 Burlington precincts with more votes. I look forward to Burlington residents’ support this year. As always, please call or email me anytime with questions.

Sewage out of control

What you see here is overflow from the Terrace Hall sewer pumping station. This gets chlorinated…..sometimes and then gets pumped into our aquifer. The overflow is a result of heavy rains and sewer demands from our toilets, sinks, sump pumps, and water that goes down the sewer system. This is why some of us think we have enough development for now. What do you think?

Commerical Density

An interesting article I want to share with you. Please read
this blog about more commerical density in the town of Burlington.

Tis The Season

The holidays are upon us as is the pressure of how much to spend and who to buy for. To me this is the most insignificant part of the holiday season. The time spent with family and friends is my first priority. As a senior member of the community (not in age…yet), and as a small business owner this is my third recession. My advice is don’t feel pressured to spend money just to satisfy someone else. Also don’t dwell on all the bad news. Worrying will only make you weak and sick. While the news reports on issues such as 8% unemployment keep in mind 92% of us are working. The stock market is for those who are the gamblers. For decades the money in CD's as well as money markets, or just savings accounts have been a safe haven. I think many of us got caught up in the greed, and also in trying to speed up the retirement process. I think we should concentrate on working as being part of the balance of our lives as long as we can. We have all heard 80% of the bad you worry about happening only really happens 20% of the time. This does hold true for me. Good luck to all and have a Happy Holidays.

Town Meeting Talk

The September Town Meeting ended Oct 1.

We extended the session to accommodate a special town meeting on
A school feasibility study as requested by the MSBA.This is part of an
on going effort to get the necessary funding for the new Memorial
School project.The School Committee has been pursuing this to get a
commitment from the state to go forward with our Memorial school
project so we may receive a 50% reimbursement.

Town Meeting supported one last effort to reconstruct the Grandview
Farm Complex. Request for Proposals (RFPs) will go out to bid soon in
hope that we may finally complete the renovation within our
budget.This has been on going since we received the property from
Ruping Builders Inc. as part of the famous or infamous three way land swap.

An effort by Patriot Partners to acquire the Landlocked parcel
wasdefused by the voting down of two warrant articles as well
as a Motion to continue talks on municipal owned properties by
Land-use. Patriot Partners has a deadline to meet by way of an
option on the property that will expire May 2010. The Selectmen,
as well as Town Meeting, Do not feel the need to be pressured by
this deadline.Right now, the property is not for sale because it
is not in the best interest of the community. Why would we sell a
valuable piece of land with only one bidder at the table? Currently,
we have approx 4 million square feet of retail and office space that
has been permitted to go forward. We must allow these projects to
be built out and occupied before we move forward with additional
projects, such as the Landlocked parcel. At some time in the future,
the selectmen will want to open up some Talks with Town Meeting,
as well as the taxpayers, to hammer out some Ideas on what to do or
not what to do with this 247 acre parcel/forest. As I said at Town
Meeting, this land has survived two recessions and can also survive
a possible third.

The other land issue we are discussing is the Boston-owned property
located at the Northeastern campus, near Blanchard and Muller roads.
The property is owned by the city of Boston and is 219 acres. All but
45 acres of this land are located in Burlington. This land has been in
a trust by Mary Cummings to be forever used as recreational land.
Town Meeting supported the trust of Mary Cummings via an open
space Article by Paul Raymond to be attached to the property as an
extra layer ofprotection. Preserving open space has been a key issue
in manycommunities, especially with developers having opposing views.

As always, feel free to call or email me about these or any issues in the town.

Landlocked Parcel

The landlocked parcel issue has come up in our local news. At the May
12th town meeting, a warrant article was put on the agenda to convince the town that a development proposal by Patriot Partners is beneficial to Burlington. This warrant article was only supported by two of our five selectman but, unfortunately, 57 town meeting members supported it. Patriot Partners holds a first right of refusal in the event the town wishes to sell the property.

Just so you don't think you missed something, the property is *not for sale*. The sale of the landlocked parcel needs a majority vote from the selectman, as well as a two-thirds vote from town meeting to trigger the option. Further, a two-thirds vote from our legislators is needed to remove Article 97, a water resource protection article, along with town dept approvals. Only after these steps are taken could a sale be executed.

The selectman are the trustees of this property. If you do not think selling 247 acres of beautiful Burlington property is in the best interests of the community, you should speak up. Contact your selectman and town meeting representatives. A list of elected officials and information on the landlocked parcel can be found at http://www.burlington.org/LLPC.htm. The site includes information on the option for Patriot Partners plus information on the land transaction in 1985. The next town meeting is September 22nd. Please let your voice be heard. I'm a supporter of open space. I'm happy to listen so feel free to contact me.

Town Meeting update

Well, we are rounding 3rd base at Town Meeting this week. The members supported the raising of the Wildwood School for $750,000. This cost is about half of what was estimated a couple of years ago, which is a true reflection of a hurting real estate market. The low cost includes the asbestos removal, demolition of the building, and grading of the land. I am very pleased that Town Meeting recognized that the building is a safety issue and responded appropriately. (The vote was 60-17 in favor.) What's next for this town owned site? For the near future, it will be nothing more than open space. I can see possible uses for the land: recreational fields, playground, and cemetery space. I can't emphasize enough that Town Meeting completed its objective without selling off this pristine neighborhood property.

A study of the land-locked parcel was approved. This study will not cost the town any money. The development consortium, Patriot Partners, who bought up all the options on the property, will foot the bill for the study. They have the first right to purchase the properly until the end of 2010. Keep in mind that the town on Burlington still owns the property. This is simply a feasibility study of what the land could be used for. We are not obligated to sell this property to Patriots Partners or anyone else. Let your feelings be heard by the town and your Town Meeting members.

I voted against funding the B-Line at a cost of $217,000 of the tax payers' money. This service is used by less than 200 residents (and some non residents). The fares from the ridership bring in only $30,000 per year in revenue to the town. With the exception of
Lexington, most communities do not provide in-town transportation for its residents. As you can see, it is very costly and will continue to rise with gas prices going up. The town does not have a protection clause in its contract if the fuel costs continue to rise this year.
It's important to note that I do support the COA bus service for our seniors and I have recommended we get a second bus if we eliminate the B-Line.

Coming up this week will be the Francis Wyman play ground article. Last year, we gave them$100,000. They are looking for additional funds to match the $54,000 they have raised. Town meeting resumed last night. Feel free to email or call me if you want to discuss any of the latest agenda items.