By Patrick Brodrick

            One of the key selling points of purchasing the 62-acre Rauscher Farm on Clamshell Road at last year’s Town Meeting was the fact the Clinton could receive up to $500,000 from the state to help offset the cost of, literally, buying the farm. The promised cash windfall undoubtedly swayed a number of residents to vote to accept the $1.8 million price tag for the former dairy farm to prevent it from being developed. Now that Clinton has secured funds through the state’s Self-Help Grant, however, some of those tasked with leading the charge to pass the debt-exclusion override vote required to buy the land are gambling with the money promised to voters — and it could cost the town $350,000.

            According to Frannie Hodge, member of the Open Space Acquisition Committee (OSAC) and the Clinton Greenway Conservation Trust, there are certain stipulations to the Self-Help-Grant that must be met before a municipality is allowed to seek money through the program. One of those stipulations, Chapter 97 exactly, is that any town seeking funds have no outstanding or unresolved issues regarding open space.

            Several years ago, voters approved placing a conservation restriction on the Wekepeke Reservoir, a 500-acre parcel in Sterling that is owned by Clinton; however, the protective order was never put in place. A bureaucratic lapse the state is viewing as an unresolved open space issue.

Who knew what

            Recently, Selectman Joseph Notaro Jr., who also chairs OSAC, was quoted that he had no idea the grant money would be affected by the failure to enact the conservation restriction. Several officials, however, knew of the potential financial implications the failed conservation restriction could have on the town, which raises the question, why didn’t officials closely related to the project know of the possible repercussions?   

            “Once everything came into context they [selectmen] should have drawn the conclusion that these two things were related,” Hodge said. “Of course the commonwealth is going to link these two issues. The OSAC knew this matter with the conservation restriction was open because it came up during one of our meetings.”

            Community and Economic Development Director Donald Lowe, who wrote and filed the grant application, was aware of the possible consequences of the open conservation restriction, but pointed out the responsibility to enact the protective measure was not part of his efforts to write the grant.

           “I just looked at it as something that would get resolved one way or the other,” Lowe said. “When Ian Bowles [Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs] came to town to visit the property in July he reinforced the fact that the CR [conservation restriction] needed to be concluded. That was when I completely understood that the two matters were intertwined.”             

            “I was aware that the CR for the Wekepeke had not been signed, as that had been brought up during the Open Space Plan process,” Conservation Commission member John Woodsmall said. “Thinking about the situation, I find it reasonable and not surprising at all for the state to ask that all outstanding land acquisition issues be finalized as a condition of the awarding of grant monies.”                     

            Woodsmall pointed out that it’s the Conservation Commission’s responsibility to enforce conservation restrictions; however, up until efforts to purchase the Rauscher Farm began it wasn’t a top priority. Although in this instance it might not have mattered.

            “Before that, for right or wrong, it was not a priority of the commission,” Woodsmall said of monitoring conservation restrictions. “Rauscher Farm has changed all that, and starting with the creation of the Open Space Plan, the Commission is beginning to become much more involved in these issues.  However, I don’t believe that the Cons. Comm. has any jurisdiction over the Wekepeke Lands — primarily because the land is held in the name of the Water Department, and serves water supply purposes, and secondarily, because the land is in another town.”

High Stakes Gamble

            According to Hodge, Nestle, the world-renown chocolate manufacturer, is looking to have the conservation restriction enacted before it potentially starts harvesting water from the Wekepeke Aquifers. Nestle has agreed to pay for a portion of repairing several of the dams located on the Sterling property. The cost of repairing the dams, approximately $1.5 million, will fall to the shoulders of the taxpayers if the deal with Nestle falls apart.

            “There doesn’t seem to be any reason not to move forward with the conservation restriction, but they are not discussing this in public so it’s hard to know what they [selectmen] are thinking,” Hodge said.

So could selectmen potentially lose the $350,000 awarded to the town to help purchase the land? Both Hodge and Lowe agree if the issue with the conservation restriction isn’t resolved in a timely manner they could.

            “Yes, the town is in danger of losing the grant money if the CR isn’t signed,” Lowe said. “Having said that, I don’t believe the Selectmen should be in a “take it or leave it” position regarding the CR. If there are issues with what the state requested for conditions, I would hope that we have the right to work through that. That will take time.”

            Hodge said a major stumbling block in the entire process seems to be a lack of communication between the state and the town.           

           “If they have questions or concerns they need to start talking to people at the state level,” Hodge said. “There are several things that should have raised some flags along the way. The problem is this is holding up efforts that are related to purchasing the Rauscher Farm.”

By Patrick Brodrick

            Under the lazy-eyed gaze of the Bush Administration millions of families have had to suffer through the pain and humiliation of losing their homes, while the millions that were fortunate enough to stave off foreclosure are unable to afford the costs of making much-needed repairs to their home.

            At the Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Wednesday night, Community and Economic Development Director Donald Lowe announced plans to seek funds through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to try and bring help to Clinton residents left behind by the Bush Administration’s woeful economic policies.

            “Unfortunately you don’t have to be low-income to be in financial trouble,” Lowe told selectmen. “A lot of people are feeling the pinch.”

            According to Lowe, his office will be writing a grant to try and secure up to $455,00 through the Housing Rehabilitation Program. Funds secured through the grant can be used to help lower- to moderate-income families make costly repairs to their homes. The grant money can be used to repair dilapidated roofs, replace drafty windows, no-longer-fully-functional furnaces, and various other construction projects.

            “The type of work we do on peoples’ houses is code violations such as roofs, windows, furnaces, electrical, etc.,” Lowe said. “Nothing cosmetic is done, unless something needs to be repainted such as trim around windows. We don’t do additions or anything like that. The housing rehab would be restricted to low- and moderate- income people as defined by HUD [Department of Housing and Urban Development].”

            While the Housing Rehabilitation Program does not call for picking specific areas in cities and towns looking for grant money, Lowe said having a designated target area is looked upon favorably by the state when it comes time to hand out the money. This year, he said, any funding secured through the grant would be used to help financially struggling families in Clinton’s North End.

              The North End was chosen, Lowe explained to the board, because of several other “complimentary activities” going on in the area, such as the $750,000 being used to turn the former Parkhurst School into a new home for the Parks and Recreation Department.  Lowe said having complimentary activities in the area “makes for the most competitive” grant application.

            Also as part of this program, Lowe said, his office is partnering with the Wachusett Health Education Action Team (WHEAT) to offer a program called Financial Literacy and Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention. While the rehab program does have some stipulations as to who can seek assistance, anyone is eligible to receive help through the Financial Literacy and Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Program.

            “I like the way this is broken up like this with a social services aspect to it,” Selectman Joseph Notaro Jr. told Lowe.

            Selectman Kevin Haley asked Lowe if he had seen the numbers that would show how hard Clinton has been hit by the current economic downturn.

            “We’ve been hit hard, for sure, but we are very similar to the state average,” Lowe said.

            Lowe also told the board it might be time to begin thinking of including the Community and Economic Development Office in the town’s budget. Lowe, who is paid a $1-a-year stipend from the town, receives his yearly salary through administration fees in writing grants; however, more and more grants no longer include administration fees.

            “The state has taken a different direction and the expectation is that Community and Economic Development Directors should be paid through the town,” Lowe said. “Our office can handle Fiscal-Year 2009, but this is definitely a concern for our future. Personally, I’d like to see my office in the town’s budget. It’d be nice to know that we are not one or two grants away from losing the our salaries.”

            Selectman Anthony Fiorentino commended Lowe for his dedication to the town.

            “To secure more than $2 million in grants in a year without any administration fees is impressive,” Fiorentino said.

            “Your office brings a lot of money into this town, but your office is also so important in job creation,” Notaro said. “Your office is vital to this town and it needs to be there”

            “Grants are just one of the many things we do,” Lowe responded.”

            Any resident from the North End and feels they are need of assistance to help make necessary improvements to their home should contact Don Lowe at the Community and Economic Development Office at 978-365-4113.  

January 7, 2008

The Honorable Board of Selectmen

Chairman Donlin Murray

Town of Sterling                                                                                        

Dear Mr. Murray,

We, as well as many other Sterlingites, are concerned by published reports about the Town of Clinton selling water from Sterling to the Nestle Corporation. We have many reservations about the proposal and trust our elected town and state officials will address all of them before allowing this to happen.

            Here are just some of the concerns that need to be addressed:

1.      Three years ago the state brokered an agreement between the two towns and the city of Leominster. Clinton would get a top priority Open Space Plan parcel (Blueberry Island in Coachlace Pond) acquired by the state for $275,000, and the state would receive conservation restrictions on Clinton’s Wekepeke watershed lands in Sterling and Leominster. Clinton has owned those reservoir properties for more than a century but has not used them, nor taken care of them, for decades. Under Section 4 of the agreement, approved by the Legislature on August 9, 2004, the town of Clinton specifically retained the rights to use the Wekepeke reservoirs as “a potential water supply for the town.” At the time of the deal, there was some talk that Clinton wanted the right to possibly sell water to Leominster at some future date, although that is not included in the legislation. There was no mention of selling the water to a foreign corporation.

2.      According to a story in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette on Dec. 20, Nestle’s engineers determined the Wekepeke reservoirs in Sterling are replenished by underground springs. As every school child knows, aquifers are huge underground lakes, far bigger than the surface waters above them. The story stated Clinton owns the aquifer. That is not possible, as the aquifer is not limited to, nor defined by, the above-ground boundaries of the reservoirs. Parts of that aquifer are under properties owned by the Sterling Land Trust and by private citizens. What could possibly give Clinton the right to exploit the water resources of Sterling and sell that water to the world’s largest food and beverage company? No disrespect to our good friends in Clinton, but if anyone should benefit from the sale of Sterling water, it is the taxpayers of Sterling.

3.      We need further studies of what the effects of Nestle’s draw would be. Nestle should pay for those studies, but they should be performed by an engineering firm that answers to the Town of Sterling, and not to Nestle. Our home and property do not abut the Fitch Basin, but it is a short walk through the woods and we visit it often. The water level is down precipitously right now, far more than at any time in the past four years. We understand several of the Wekepeke dams have fallen into disrepair and the water was drawn down from the reservoirs to minimize danger. Can anyone assure us a continuous draw by Nestle won’t have a further negative impact on the chain of small reservoirs? Many hikers, canoeists, fishermen, skaters and ice fishermen from Sterling and other area communities, not to mention beavers, blue heron, bass and turtles, now enjoy those reservoirs. We shudder to think of those beautiful little ponds becoming mud flats and breeding grounds for insects.

            4.      Who will answer if wells in the area of Spring Basin go dry, or if what is considered the finest native brook trout breeding area in the state is negatively effected downstream?  What impact will the pumping facility have on the environment and neighborhood? How much heavy truck traffic will be added to our roads? These are all questions that need to be answered. According to a story in the Portland Press-Herald on Nov. 26, as many as 90 tank trucks per day fill up at a private well owned by Nestle on Route 5 in Fryeburg, Maine. Nestle’s preliminary plan here is to pipe the Wekepeke water to Route 12 through an old aqueduct. Is that in Sterling best interest? If it is, how can we be sure that the plan will be adhered to and that 90 or 190 trucks per day won’t be rolling down Heywood Road? Section 3 of the 2004 legislation begins, “The purpose of these land transfers is to ensure the preservation and protection of wildlife and habitat, and for passive recreation and consistent purposes.” It goes on to state, “the conservation restrictions may restrict or regulate, but not unreasonably limit, the acts or uses associated with [use of the Wekepeke as a public water supply].”

A deal is a deal. We are counting on our elected and appointed town officials, as well as our state officials, to follow the letter and spirit of the legislation, to protect this precious natural resource and to look out for Sterling’s homeowners and taxpayers. There is no reason for Sterling to agree to anything involving the Wekepeke aquifer without a thorough examination of our town’s rights and of all of the potential consequences.       

Sincerely,

Paul Della Valle

Karen Sharpe

163 Rowley Hill Road

Sterling MA 01564

cc: Sterling Conservation Commission, state Sen. Robert A. Antonioni; state Rep. Harold P. Naughton Jr.; state Rep. Lew G. Evangelidis; Sterling Meeting House News; Nashua River Watershed Association.

By Patrick Brodrick

            Forget high-priced lawyers and numerous appeals to tired-of-hearing-it state boards — members of the Clinton Polish American Veterans Club (PAV) have found the solution to navigating the dead-calm waters of bogged-down bureaucracy – cross your fingers and hope for the best.

            Earlier this week, as the club/charitable organization was facing the all-too-real possibility of being forced to close its doors after more than 50 years due to a controversial ruling by Fire Chief Richard Hart, the PAV was granted a last-minute stay of execution by interim Building Inspector Tom Dillon.

            On Wednesday, PAV member Chris Dzicek told The Independent that Dillon lowered the club’s occupancy rate, which allows it to skirt a ruling by Hart that would have forced the club to install a costly automatic fire sprinkler system.

            “What I think prevailed was common sense and reason,” Dzicek said. “We were able to save something that was started by the ‘greatest generation.’ There is no ifs, ands or buts about it; if Tom Dillon hadn’t lowered our occupancy permit we would have had to close the club.”

            Under a state law enacted after the tragic Station Nightclub fire in Rhode Island, any establishment with a liquor license, an occupancy rate of more than 100 people and is considered a bar or nightclub is forced to install an automatic sprinkler system. A number of state watering holes, however, have been battling the law, claiming the installation costs of the systems would force them out of business.

            Hart insisted that the PAV met the criteria of the controversial law, and should be required to install sprinklers. The PAV, however, argued that the $80,000 price tag on installing a system would force them to close their doors.

            The club had been trying to appeal Hart’s decision to the state Sprinkler Appeals Board, but was caught in a legislative web after former Building Inspector Bentley Herget acted outside the scope of his authority and changed the club’s classification. State laws only allow a building inspector to change a venues classification if the establishment requests it. The PAV had 60 days, which would have ended at the end of February, to either convince the appeals board to overturn Hart’s ruling, install a sprinkler system, or relinquish its liquor license.

            After meeting with the appeals board several weeks ago, PAV members were pessimistic about the board overturning Hart’s decision and had all but given up hope when Dillon issued a last minute pardon.

            “There are stipulations there,” Dzicek said of the new agreement between the club and the town. “We have to be more vigilant, but we are safety-minded so it shouldn’t be a problem. If we have a function for any civic organization we have to strictly monitor the event to make sure we don’t exceed 95 people. We will have to hire a fireman to be on duty during any function, which isn’t a problem, but we aren’t going to charge our parties for that. We’ll police ourselves and we’ll do that because it’s better than shutting down a charitable organization that’s been in town 60 years.”

            As for Dillon’s role in bringing an end to the PAV’s epic struggle with town officials, Dzicek said he holds the interim inspector in the highest regard.

            “He’s a man of his word,” Dzicek said. “I’d like to have a beer with the guy. He impresses me and there’s not a lot of people that impress me.”

            When asked if he had any hand in working behind-the-scenes to get Dillon to lower the club’s occupancy rate, Dzicek, no stranger to the carnivorous waters of the shark tank that is Clinton politics, said it was simply a matter of common sense prevailing.

            “This is something that the whole club dealt with,” Dzicek said. “I’m no hero, all the heroes are dead.”