Some good, some flaws in DPW

August 17, 2008

The town's Department of Public Works is "well-managed, relatively cost-efficient and effective," according to a draft report on the DPW's operations by the Mercer Group, a national management consulting firm. However, the study also notes that the DPW's facilities are deteriorating and there is a lack of cohesiveness within the department's management team. The study, which is expected to be completed by the end of the month, recommends that town officials update the DPW's fleet and schedule more preventative maintenance on the vehicles. - Laura Colarusso

LIBRARY EFFORT FALLS SHORT - Aldermen Amy Sangiolo and Lenny Gentile persuaded the majority of their colleagues to support a measure challenging Mayor David Cohen's refusal to honor the board's request to reopen four branch libraries, but it wasn't enough. The measure, based on a little-used state law, required approval by 16 of the city's 24 aldermen in order to override the mayor's decision and appropriate $259,000 for the branch libraries. According to Newton's city charter, the mayor is the only one with the authority to appropriate money within the budget. The Board of Aldermen voted, 13-10, with one member absent, in favor of the measure at its meeting on Monday. Now, the board's Programs & Services Committee will take up several additional docket items about the branch libraries, which were shut down as a cost-cutting measure after residents in May turned down a request for $12 million in additional property taxes. The docket items include calling on the Newton Free Library's trustees and its director to explain their financial accounting, and exploring public-private partnerships to raise enough money to reopen the branches. - Rachana Rathi

INTERNET CENTER BUSY - The Charles River Public Internet Center is much busier this summer compared to last, probably because of the weak economy, according to Judith Webster, executive director of the nonprofit organization. Demand has been unusually high for courses on database and spreadsheet applications, both good resume boosters, she said. The organization offers beginning, intermediate, and advanced classes on several popular software applications as well as free computer access. For more information, go to crpic.org or call 781-891-9559. - Lisa Kocian

MEETING ON CEMETERY COMPLAINTS - Complaints of maintenance problems related to vandalism at the "Old Catholic" cemetery on Cottage Street has prompted Town Councilor Angeline Kounelis to call for a meeting between cemetery officials and relatives of those buried there. Kounelis said she plans to organize the meeting this month to clear the air after a number of constituents complained about gravestones they believe were recently knocked down by vandals. Unlike the town-managed Ridgelawn Cemetery, the East End burial ground is private, owned by the Boston Archdiocese. Kounelis said she's been told by the cemetery's director of operations, Bob Bradley, that plot owners are responsible for the upkeep of gravestones. Bradley could not be reached for comment. - Christina Pazzanese

DEMOCRATIC REMATCH - State Representative Alice Peisch has a challenger for her seat representing Wellesley, Weston, and part of Natick. Larry Kaplan, a physician and former hospital administrator who competed against Peisch for the Democratic nomination in 2002, is mounting another challenge. Peisch was town clerk in Wellesley before winning the House seat in 2002 and she's made a name for herself through aggressive attention to local needs. Most recently, she was credited with forging a compromise between Wellesley officials and the Massachusetts School Building Authority over plans for a new high school. Kaplan, a former School Committee chairman in Wellesley, says his focus in the Legislature would be health insurance. The primary is Sept. 16. - Lisa Keen

FIELD SCHOOL GROUP TO MEET - A Field School Project committee expects to begin the task of assessing whether it's best to renovate or rebuild the elementary school - and at what cost - when it meets on Sept. 17. The committee will receive a refined report with "presumably more accurate" cost projections from consultants Symmes Maini & McKee Associates, said School Committee member Edward Heller, the panel's chairman. A Weymouth engineering firm, Gale Associates, recently completed tests of the structural condition of the building and released a report of its findings to the committee on July 28. The report fills in gaps of key information left by a 2006 building study done by Symmes Maini & McKee Associates, according to Heller. The goal is to get "as good a handle as we can get" on the two options, allowing school and town officials to make a decision "as soon as possible," he said. Under either scenario, 350 to 400 fourth- and fifth-graders would have to be moved to another school during two of the three years that the project is expected to take. - Christina Pazzanese

SERIES OPENS WITH TALK ON AUTISM - The Friends of the Dover Public Library will introduce the library's fall lecture series, entitled "Authors & Issues," with a presentation by Dr. William Ahearn, director of research at the New England Center for Children. Ahearn will center his speech around diagnosis and treatment methods dealing with autism. It is scheduled for Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the library's Community Room. This free program will begin with refreshments at 7 p.m., according to the library's assistant director, Jane Granatino. - Anna Fiorentino

TRAFFIC COMMITTEE WEBPAGE - Lincoln's ad hoc traffic and roadside committee recently launched its page on the town's website, www.lincolntown.org, to educate residents about the committee's functions. The Board of Selectmen on May 30 gave the committee the responsibility of tackling roadway design, paving, and planning townwide in the short-term, and recommending a formal system of managing traffic and roadway problems in Lincoln in the long-term. - John M. Guilfoil

LAWYERS TO GO AFTER BACK TAXES - Selectmen last week voted to have the town's law firm, Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, handle Natick's case in Land Court as it pursues hundreds of thousands of dollars in back property taxes. Finance director Bob Palmer said the town is owed nearly $500,000, but interest and penalties raise the total amount owed to more than double that figure. Palmer said some of the money would be unrecoverable, noting that some debts date to the 1930s. The law firm already serves as Natick's town counsel. - Calvin Hennick

RESIDENT TURNING 100 - To help town resident Del Clark celebrate turning 100 years old on Thursday, Council on Aging director Karen Wellerson is planning a birthday party for Clark at her home. Selectmen, who recognized Clark at a recent meeting, have been invited to join the celebration. Clark enjoys sewing, decorating, and crocheting, Wellerson said. - Anna Fiorentino

RAIL TRAIL CONNECTION - The Mass. Central Rail Trail Coalition is sponsoring a meeting to bring together the leaders of various rail trails in the state to discuss creating a central, statewide rail trail organization. Massachusetts Rail Trails: Linking Together will take place Sept. 13 at the Goodnow Library in Sudbury from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with an optional walking tour to the site of future trails in town afterward. The group is asking $12 per person to cover the costs of food for the event. For more information, visit masscentralrailtrail.org. - John M. Guilfoil

NEW WAYCAM DIRECTOR - WayCAM, the Wayland community television station, has appointed a new member to its board of directors. Lawyer Susan Koffman will fill the seat left by Jane Stabile, who moved out of Wayland recently. Koffman, a Boston College Law School graduate, specializes in accounting and brings 25 years of experience to WayCAM, the station said in a statement last week. Koffman was appointed Aug. 5 and will serve out a term that expires in October 2009. - John M. Guilfoil

HEARING ON SELECTMEN'S ALLEGATIONS - A hearing date has been set for two Wrentham selectmen who are accusing each other of assault. The alleged incident took place in a men's room at Town Hall during a break at a June 3 board meeting. Selectman John Zizza told police that fellow board member Robert Cohen "stepped very abruptly" toward him and began shouting, causing Zizza to fear that Cohen would attempt to harm him. Cohen, in a counter-complaint, told police that Zizza was "hostile and intimidating" and that he feared Zizza would escalate the situation. Neither man is accused of physically attacking the other. A clerk-magistrate at Wrentham District Court has scheduled a show-cause hearing at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday. - Calvin Hennick