My goals for selectmen

Posted on June 23, 2014 | Comments Off on My goals for selectmen

The three selectmen each drew up his goals for our board for the upcoming year.  These were mine,originally drawn up in mid-May and updated with he addition of #5 two weeks ago:

Goals: Selectmen
Osler L. Peterson
June 13, 2014

I.  Communication
1.    Implement a push system to get residents town government information
2.    Improve the town’s web site.

II.  Medfield State Hospital
3.    Lead  the re-development process

III.  Planning
4.    Develop a town master plan
5.    Arrange for a consultant to do a town government wide review and analysis of current functioning and to make suggestions for changes
6.    Get five year plans from department heads and committees
7.    Implement an affordable housing plan
8.    Get by-laws concerning future development at the former Medfield State Hospital.
9.    Adopt Green Community Act
10.    Install solar PV sites and issue RFP’s to buy solar power
11.    increase recycling rates

IV.  Finances
12.    Create a business office for the town
13.    Implement a three-year financial forecast
14.    Implement property tax relief for senior citizens
15.    Examine opportunities for additional revenue streams, such as:
a.    Housing can be the “business” of Medfield (e.g. – Old Medfield Square)
b.    Power purchase agreements for PV power
c.    Selling Medfield bottled water
16.    Complete union contract negotiations before contracts expire
17.    Analyze overtime
 

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Posted in Budgets, Planning, Select Board matters

People want street repair schedule

Posted on June 23, 2014 | Comments Off on People want street repair schedule

I do not often look at the statistics about visitors to my blog, but WordPress posts a bar graph of past visits atop the page where I add new posts, and so I noticed today that there appeared to be a major spike last Thursday.

When I just looked to see why, I learned that a record number of visitors, by far, by a factor of about 2-3 times the next greatest number, had clicked through from a Patch article about planned road repairs.  Patch had picked up my blog post, but did not list the streets, so people had to click through to see which streets were being worked on this summer.

What this tells me is that there is a huge thirst for town information about what departments are planning that directly impacts people.  FYI, my fist two goals on my list for the selectmen this year are to develop a system to push town information to people and to improve the town’s website.

These are the statistics for my blog from last Thursday:

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Views: 805Help
Visitors: 448

Views per Visitor: 1.80

Search Engine Terms

These are terms people used to find your site.

2014-06-19

Search Views
medfield blog peterson 3
pete peterson blog 2
medfield state hospital 1
medfield music assoiciation 1
pete peterson medfield blog 1
pete peterson blog medfield 1
Unknown search terms 3
Total search terms 12

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Posted in DPW, Information

Solarize coach needed

Posted on June 23, 2014 | Comments Off on Solarize coach needed

Medfield residents could all benefit from a coordinated effort to install solar photovoltaic electrical generation panels on residences.  There are systematic efforts already available to towns to group its residents together to enable savings for each separate homeowner by virtue of the group buying power.

For Medfield residents to get those reduced cost benefits, some resident(s) would need to be the town coach(es) to make it happen.

This would be a great time limited volunteer opportunity for an individual or two with an interest in green energy, solar PV, and/or just saving people money.  The volunteer would coordinate what is needed to be done with the extremely knowledgeable individuals on the Energy Committee.

The Energy Committee is also interested in a few new committee members who  would be interested in working with them to reduce the town’s carbon footprint, and to also save the town money on its energy bills.  Interested parties should contact the Chair, Marie Nolan, or me and I will funnel the information along.

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Posted in Energy Committee, Green

New Life’s summer hours

Posted on June 23, 2014 | Comments Off on New Life’s summer hours

From Susan Maritan –

New Life Seeking Donations of Bed Frames and
Household Items for Families in Need

Walpole/Medfield, MA – June 21, 2014: New Life Home Refurnishing, a non-profit organization that accepts donations of gently used furniture and household items for individuals and families in need, is asking the public for help. They are especially in need of household appliances such as toasters, coffee makers and small microwave ovens, twin, full and queen bed frames, as well as gently used mattresses and box springs with no stains, tears or visible marks.

New Life HR will begin summer hours on alternating Wednesday nights from 6:30-8:30 PM starting June 25th and will continue on the following evenings: July 9, July 23, August 6, and August 20. They will resume Saturday morning operations starting Sept. 6. Donated items can be brought to the New Life HR warehouse at 102 Elm Street, next to the railroad tracks in Walpole, during the Wednesday evening hours only. Alternatively, a pickup can be arranged during the same time frame. (A voluntary donation is appreciated for pickups.)

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Posted in Uncategorized

Historical Society

Posted on June 21, 2014 | Comments Off on Historical Society

Still time to see the really interesting old maps and relics this morning.  Every Saturday morning.

On the 1888 map, Harding St. was Railroad Street and Hospital Road was Canal Street, later to become Asylum Road.

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Posted in Uncategorized

‘Dilbert Quotes’ contest

Posted on June 20, 2014 | Comments Off on ‘Dilbert Quotes’ contest

A magazine recently ran a ‘Dilbert Quotes‘ contest, looking for people to submit quotes from their real-life Dilbert-type managers. These were voted the top ten quotes in corporate America :

‘As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday, and employees will receive their cards in two weeks.’
(This was the winning quote from Fred Dales, Microsoft Corp in Redmond WA )

‘What I need is an exact list of specific unknown problems we might encounter.’ (Lykes Lines Shipping)

‘E – mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business.’ (Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company)

‘This project is so important we can’t let things that are more important interfere with it.’ (Advertising/ Marketing manager, United Parcel Service)

‘Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule.’  (Plant Manager, Delco Corporation)
 
‘No one will believe you solved this problem in one day ! We’ve been working on it for months. Now go act busy for a few weeks and I’ll let you know when it’s time to tell them.’ (R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing/ 3M Corp)

Quote from the Boss: ‘Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say.’ (Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation)

My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for Monday. When I told my Boss, he said she died on purpose so that I would have to miss work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her burial to Friday. He said,‘That would be better for me.’
(Shipping executive, FTD Florists)

‘We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to discuss it with the employees.’ (Switching supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division)
 

The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.
Albert Einstein

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Posted in Humor

MBTA’s granite blocks are ours

Posted on June 20, 2014 | 2 comments

The MBTA has just licensed the town to take its granite blocks to use as seats at Straw Hat Pocket Park.  Small details remain to be accomplished, like getting the MBTA a certificate of insurance.  However, we are well on our way to having historic seating with a relevant town connection to use in Straw Hat Pocket Park.

blocks photo 1

2 Comments

Posted in Downtown

Sen. Timilty opposes cell tower bill

Posted on June 20, 2014 | Comments Off on Sen. Timilty opposes cell tower bill

I had written to Senator Timilty to ask that he oppose the bill before the State Senate that had already passed in the House that removed local control over the siting of cell towers.  This morning I got his reply, indicating that he is working to sop passage of that bill.

Thank you for contacting me regarding your opposition to Senate bill 2183, An Act updating mobile broadband coverage in the commonwealth.  I appreciate your concern about this important matter.

 

Please know that I am also strongly opposed to this bill.  I have serious concerns about its impact on the local control of the siting process for telecommunications equipment and what that would mean for the towns I represent. I will be working with my colleagues to ensure that the bill will not be engrossed by the Senate in either its current form or as an amendment. I am hopeful that I will be able to convince them of the dangerous impact of this legislation.

Once again, thank you for your input.  Please do not hesitate to call or email should you have any questions or require more information.

With every good wish,

Senator Jim Timilty

Bristol & Norfolk

Chairman, Public Safety and Homeland Security
State House, Room 507
Boston, MA 02133
(617) 722-1222

 

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Posted in Legislature

MSH purchase – emergency once again

Posted on June 20, 2014 | Comments Off on MSH purchase – emergency once again

An email from Bill Massaro this morning affirms that the town’s special legislation for the purchase of the Medfield State Hospital has once again reverted to being emergency legislation (and as such would be effective upon signing by the Governor, instead of 90 days after signing).  I would love to know the back story on why the emergency preamble got removed, but there appear to be many things in the legislative process that just remain unstated.  The last time we were seeking special legislation, because that bill was late filed (i.e. – not filed at the opening of the legislative session) the bill had to go through the Rules Committee, and the Rules Committee Chair, Angelo Scoccia, of Roslindale simply refused to allow it to come up for a committee vote, without ever stating any reason, except something about maybe we would get a better deal from the next governor.  The result that time was that the legislative process, and therefore the town lost a whole year, without the state rep having to go on record as to why.  A good example of why change can be hard to effect via legislation.

Pete,

Just saw your blog on the re-instatement of the emergency premble.  I checked the MA legislature website for H4050 and the preamble is now back in on the on-line copy.

Thanks,

Bill

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Posted in Medfield State Hospital

WWTP gets $180K PV grant

Posted on June 19, 2014 | Comments Off on WWTP gets $180K PV grant

Bob MacDonald, the operator of the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP), attended the Energy Committee last night and explained to them that he has obtained a $180,000 DOER grant towards the cost of  installation of a solar PV array at the WWTP.  Bob indicated that he needs to get hard cost and payback numbers.

The Energy Committee already has a $12,000 DOER grant to analyze three potential solar PV sites in town, including the WWTP, so once that survey is complete, the WWTP should have the hard numbers Bob is seeking before he will bring the proposal to the town meeting to see if the town wants to install a solar PV system at the WWTP.

Kudos to Bob MacDonald for getting the grant monies for the town.

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Posted in Energy Committee, Green, Water & Sewer