#1 2010-09-28 09:48:55

From Southcoast Today Standard Times online

YOUR VIEW: Why stand in the way of Makepeace?

By CARA A. WINSLOW
Cara A. Winslow is a Wareham selectman.
September 28, 2010 12:00 AM

I am writing this to clarify my position on the vote to have a consultant analyze the recent Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act filing made by the A.D. Makepeace Company.

The A.D. Makepeace Company has been in business in excess of 150 years and is currently in the process of developing land at the intersection of Route 28 and Interstate 195 known as the "BDOD" (business development overlay district) project. This project will bring jobs and revenue desperately needed in our community.

As part of this project, a new health care facility is being built that will not only create decent jobs for our citizens, but will provide state- of-the-art medical services to not just our community but surrounding communities as well. The project also will include a hotel and conference center that is sure to attract both business and pleasure travelers who will spend money right here in Wareham.

The recent MEPA filing that was made is over 1,000 pages long, and on Tuesday we were all led to believe that the filing claimed the Board of Selectmen had previously approved 700,000 gallons per day of sewer. In fact, the filing says nothing of the sort. However, even if it had, there exists a legally binding contract that states the A.D. Makepeace Company can have unlimited capacity on our sewer system.

We all know that our system is quickly reaching capacity, and the president of A.D. Makepeace, Michael Hogan, publicly stated during a Board of Selectmen's meeting in June that he was willing to discuss that with us.

However, rather than have a conversation with A.D. Makepeace, the Board of Selectmen voted (4-1 with myself being the negative vote) to spend tax dollars hiring a consultant to review the MEPA filing and respond on our behalf. I am absolutely astounded that any of my colleagues would want to stand in the way of a project that has been voted favorably by Town Meeting three times, adds desperately needed revenues to the town, brings decently paying jobs, state-of- the-art medical services, and a hotel to attract more tourists along with business travelers.

I hope that the community will stand along with me in supporting the buildout of the BDOD project. I will continue to support clean, responsible economic growth that adds value to our community. I remain eager to work with the A.D. Makepeace Company to create a better community.

Finally, I believe the community should know that Jim Kane, who is the senior vice president of operations at A.D. Makepeace, sat at the Board of Selectmen's meeting until 9:30 p.m., at which time he asked if there were any further questions he could address. The board remained silent. It wasn't until after he had left that this issue was broached.

I said on Tuesday night, and I will repeat, if there is a problem we should talk about it before we resort to consultants and lawyers.

The A.D. Makepeace Company works well in our neighboring communities of Carver and Plymouth. I have to ask myself what logical reason there would be that we here in Wareham can't have the same positive relationship.

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#2 2010-09-28 10:21:56

Thank you Cara!!

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#3 2010-09-28 10:24:10

Good for you, Cara....It's about time some Selectman let people know what is going on...

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#4 2010-09-28 10:48:08

thankyou cara for letting us know about this ,i hope you spaoke up at  the meeting also , i have been waiting  for you to find your  voice  and thankful you have finally found it wareham needs leaders and not compliant followers of jane , we need these jobs and we  dont have a lot of money to waste , if you will lead we will follow.

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#5 2010-09-28 13:17:47

Cara Winslow wrote:

I said on Tuesday night, and I will repeat, if there is a problem we should talk about it before we resort to consultants and lawyers.

this says it all to me. now we know why our legal bills are so high. most of the bos could care less about how our tax dollars are spent. if the rep from makepeace was there, why didn't brenda open her mouth then. instead she wiats till he leaves and gets her digs in about adm and to the taxpayers, she screws us again. the morons who think she is so brilliant praise this wasteful spending. tin foil hatters deserve what they get.

some of you won't look at the rag but here is what was said by the makepeace people--

In an e-mail Burke sent to the Observer Wednesday afternoon, she took the selectmen to task for not better understanding what Makepeace was proposing.

    “The documents filed with MEPA today address wastewater flow for projects in Plymouth and Carver of approximately 734,000 GPD,” Burke wrote. “These potential future projects require significant further review, are not subject to the development agreement we have in place with the town of Wareham, are not proposed for connection to the Wareham sewer system, and as the document states on page 4-8, "... wastewater collection, treatment and disposal will be provided by the Proponent (Makepeace)...." A cursory reading of the MEPA filing - or a phone call to us - would show that in table 2.6.1, we have reiterated that sewer flow in Wareham will be approximately 50,000 GPD, as the Board of Selectmen approved at their meeting on June 8.

     “The Board of Selectmen knows that Michael Hogan and Jim Kane are available at any time to answer questions like this, and in any other community in which we do business, an official with a question would simply give us a call. Odder still is the fact that Mr. Kane was present at the selectmen's meeting for three hours Tuesday night, and a member of the board chose to wait until he left before raising this question.

     “This is a good example of why Wareham has a reputation of being anti-economic development and jobs,” Burke wrote in conclusion to her e-mail.

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#6 2010-10-02 12:24:01

I know you folks are going to come down on me for this but I feel that this letter is very unprofessional and unbecoming of a member of the BOS no matter who they are.  The explanation of her vote should have taken place at the BOS meeting in front of the other BOS members and the members of the audience.
I know she is a member of this site but a person is elected to the BOS and must take the good, the bad and the ugly that comes along with that position.  I don’t know Cara personally but I have read many of her posts on this site and she seems like an ok person.  I just find it hard to understand why a person in her position should have to resort to writing a newspaper and explaining why she voted a certain way when she already had a platform at the BOS meeting with cameras rolling and the whole works.

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#7 2010-10-02 12:34:14

How many people watch Tuesday night live? Unfortunately, the only way the public hears of these things is the way Cara chose.   Note that in the past, Brenda E has written letters to the ed. It is not an original idea for Cara.

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#8 2010-10-02 14:27:13

Zephyr wrote:

I just find it hard to understand why a person in her position should have to resort to writing a newspaper and explaining why she voted a certain way when she already had a platform at the BOS meeting with cameras rolling and the whole works.

Cara did the right thing by expressing her knowledge, expertise and opinion to the public.  For too long the crooked power elitists have kept Wareham in the dark, distorted anything and everything while inventing their own fantsy version of the truth which they continue to try to shoved down the throats of the public.

Brenda chose to shut up rather than speak up because she doesn't have her bully-buddy to support her and she knows her umms and ahhs aren't effective comminication tactics with intelligent people.  That makes her a gutless coward.

Last edited by Mixie (2010-10-02 14:28:08)

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#9 2010-10-02 16:07:39

zephyr:
When I first saw the letter I had the same thought you did, then I re-watched the meeting that I had DVR'd. Cara did try to speak, Jane throws her pen down and calls for a vote.
It seems to me that if the Chairperson isn't going to allow someone to speak then that really only leaves them the option of bringing the issue to the paper.
I also took the time to go to the Makepeace website where you can download and read the mepa filing, turns out the sewer is in Plymouth and Carver, not even our issue. Next I called an old friend in Plymouth. I explained that we were going to hire a consultant to respond to the filing. She called the Plymouth town hall to find out what the status of their consultant is since (for those of you who do not know the sewer in Plymouth has a few "issues").
The powers that be in Plymouth had no idea what she was talking about until she explained that Wareham had hired a consultant. Plymouth doesn't hire consultants to respond to Makepeace. Stunning news I know.
Anyone know someone in Carver we can ask?

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#10 2010-10-02 16:26:40

Thanks for the info iliveinazoo.  If that’s the case then I apologize for my writing. No one on the BOS should stop another member from expressing his/her views.  I hope the next time that happens Cara or any other member speaks up anyways.
You did a good job investigating things and thanks for giving me the info without attacking me.
Just one comment regarding what Nora wrote. You don’t have to be at the meeting or watch it on TV.  You can watch in online anytime you want.  Which I guess I should do now.

Last edited by Zephyr (2010-10-02 16:29:06)

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#11 2010-10-02 16:42:29

Zephyr, good comments and a good response when more evidence was presented. I do agree with Nora's basic idea that not too many people want to watch the bos meeting whether live or in rerun format if you will. people can't be bothered to turn out at town meeting or to vote in town elections either. not just in Wareham but all over the country.

as to Cara. she has been ostracized by the current board including by Steve Holmes who even verbally attacked her one time when she actually did think more investigation needed to be done before paying a bill to cdm for boulder removal. seems to me like she can't win with this crowd. someone told me although I have not verified this with Cara, that she is often left out of the loop. this is not good. if writing letters to the editor get her point across to the public, then so be it.

by the way Zephyr, it is nice to see honest disagreement on this site without name calling. people can disagree and still be civil. you should post more often. seems like you have some interesting things to say.

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#12 2010-10-02 16:50:58

Zephyr wrote:

Just one comment regarding what Nora wrote. You don’t have to be at the meeting or watch it on TV.  You can watch in online anytime you want.  Which I guess I should do now.

Zephyr, I might suggest making note of when Wareham's "Beloved Brenda"
brought the matter up during the meeting.  Because I was surprised by the discussion, I went back and re read their agenda posted on the town's site.
Nowhere on the agenda was there to be any discussion about an official document such as the MEPA report / filing.  So not only was that a blatant violation but then the other 4 took action to direct the TA to act accordingly.
That was their second violation within minutes of eachother.

I can't figure out why our "top officials" just can't get it right.  And the management clearly doesn't know better either as they didn't make any attempt to correct the BOS behavior. 

I guess I could see Mr. Holmes screwing up as new as he is but they all were made aware of the change in the open meeting laws at the same time so shame on him too.  I'm beginning to think they don't read the laws and instead send it off to counsel, which just runs the bill up further.  Hell, it's not their money and it seems as though there's plenty to go around the way it's being spent (abused).

Oh well.  We voted for what we've got.  I, for one, expected better.  I'm very disappointed.

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#13 2010-10-02 17:15:49

good point. when Brenda bitched about the fact that the agenda said discuss and vote on the warrant articles and the bos decided just to discuss since Cara wasn't there, Jane clearly said you can take things off the agenda, you just can't add them.

does that moron listen to herself? you would think that with four of them up there one of them would have said we'd better vote on this next week when it is on the agenda. same for the makepeace property. that wasn't on the agenda but they took vote. against the new open meeting law.

well, I guess if you already have more than 14 open meeting violations under your belt with nothing but a slap on the wrist, what's a couple more?

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#14 2010-10-02 19:03:50

watchtower, you wrote: "I do agree with Nora's basic idea that not too many people want to watch the bos meeting whether live or in rerun format if you will. people can't be bothered to turn out at town meeting or to vote in town elections either. not just in Wareham but all over the country. "  I couldn't agree more regarding the basic idea. I've mentioned on another thread that when I go to the BOS meetings on Tuesdays I drive by the Elks and there are more cars there with people playing BINGO than at the BOS meeting.  As a home owner and tax payer, I try to know as much as I can about the Government here in Wareham. I want to know what they are doing and how is that going to affect me and my neighbors along with the town as a whole.  I read all the papers and blogs.  Yes, now don't kill me, even The Wareham Observer.  I like to get my info from ALL locations and try to make a reasonable determination. I even spent an hour at the beach this year talking to a resident about our local politics.  I remember many many years ago I went to my mother to ask her for advice.  She asked me why I was asking for her opinion when I had my mind already made up?  I told her it was because she may suggest something that I never thought about and it may change my mind.  So that's why I read everything.  I know, much more info than you needed to know. LOL

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