Category Archives: Information

When I was called about the double pole issue,I took the opportunity to get information about the NSTAR response to tropical storm Irene. The representative told me that it was the worst storm he has seen in his career, and he is at retirement age.  He said they had 193,000 calls that Sunday, and that they just could not keep up with them all. He did say that they wanted residents to call 800-592-2000, instead of calling the police and fire, and asking the public safety people to relay the message. He also said that NSTAR does give special dedicated telephone numbers to the police and fire departments, that they do not give out to the public at large.  He said that they will work off of a priority list provided by the town, but said it does not help them if the priority list is too long, such as 60 items. There is also a critical medical care list, which is generated by doctors providing information to them. Finally, he said that they did have crews coming in from Kentucky, Canada, Minnesota and municipal companies, and that those crews got there in the middle of the storm on Sunday.

Medfield will be meeting with NSTAR in the near future to make sure that the communication problems we had during Irene do not happen in the next storm.

NSTAR’s representative called me yesterday to apologize, as it turns out he was working off an incorrect list, and NSTARdoes actually control all polls in Medfield, not Verizon. However, the answer was still the same for the double pole on James Avenue, namely the Medfield fire department needs to get its wires off of it first, then Comcast it’s wires, then Verizon’s wires.

The cemetery has its own advocacy group, the Vine Lake Preservation Trust, and their newletter each month is always interesting.  Sign up at http://www.vinelakepreservationtrust.org/.  Rob Gregg is doing a great job.

NSTAR’s Barry Salvucci already had someone look at the second pole I called him about removing yesterday, and he just called to report that to get that second pole removed the Medfield Fire Department must first get its line off that pole, then Verizon and Comcast must get their lines off.  He reports that NSTAR’s lines are already off the pole. In the words of Pogo, “we have met the enemy, and it is us.”

I just asked NSTAR to fix a double pole that takes away from the new anvil memorial for former blacksmith Robert McCarthy that is to be unveiled at 12:30 on Medfield Day on Jane’s Avenue, and I learned that Verizon controls all Medfield poles.  The utilities must have divided  up the towns – who knew.

Suggestions I made to Mike Sullivan on the telephone this afternoon:

• To examine whether Medfield should upgrade its ambulance services from its current EMT level to paramedic services.  The town currently provide EMT services, and, as this layman understands the differences, the paramedics would be able to stabilize patients and administer medications to the patients before they are transported.  There are issues as to how much more it would cost to implement a paramedic service, and whether the residents would want to that higher amount to get that higher level of ambulance service.
• Get a copy of Westborough’s debris management plan, to see if it would help us to develop a plan on how to handle all the debris when a hurricane actually does hit Medfield.  I have been reading Atul Gawande’s The Checklist Manifesto, and most things seem to work much better when one has made a list in advance.  I started a little bit of the storm clean up discussion this week at the Board of Selectmen meeting, about where we should draw the line as to what the DPW clears away after a storm and what is beyond what we expect them to pick up.  Do we want the DPW to help residents by picking up branches from the side of roads placed there by the residents?  Mike, Ann and Mark all said no.  Seeing what the DPW did after Irene made me realize just what a good job they did and how well our town government seemed to work to get the town running after the storm – a nice example of government working well.  Nonetheless, it would be good to have a good checklist on how to do it if the storm is worse.
• Get a copy of Northeastern University’s Economic Development Self Assessment Tool to evaluate it to determine whether it would be useful exercise for Medfield to use to evaluate our strengths, our weaknesses, and to stimulate a discussion about what we are doing.
• Investigate whether the smart phone app developed by a Peabody police detective’s to facilitate community reporting would be useful to our residents and to the Medfield Police Department.

I saw the last three items discussed in the recent issue of The Beacon, the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s monthly magazine, which is usually a stimulating source of ideas.

How NSTAR requirements made it more difficult in some instances to get power back –

Telephone call from Mike Sullivan
September 2, 2011 (11:28am)

1.    Power outages
a.    NSTAR would not attach its lines on to homes
b.    NSTAR required that resident’s own electrician install to house
c.    At times there has to be an inspection by the town’s electrical inspector

Mike Sullivan’s email to NSTAR this afternoon

=====================================

8/31/2011  4:17PM
Remaining areas of power outages Medfield
Sullivan, Michael J.
“‘Salvucci, Barry'”
===========================================================
Barry, The following is the list of remaining power outages in Medfield as
of 4:00 p.m., August 31, 2011.

MEDFIELD

Lower Indian Hill and sewer pump station on South St at base
of Indian Hill

Nauset Street

Mohawk Street

Penobscot Street

Granite Street (just before Liberty Road)

Snyder Road – blocked with wires

11 -13 Plain St. (beginning part)

Kettle Pond

Cole Drive

74 Wood End Lane (tree on wire)

Wood End Lane (beginning part)

38 Bridge Street

69 & 71 Dale Street

94 High Street – water well

Noon Hill Road

Appreciate your attention to these. Would like to get together with NSTAR to
discuss new dispatch system and other communication issues.

Mike Sullivan, Bob Meaney. Bill Kingsbury, Ken Feeney