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| Missed Opportunity --- I'm sure SOMEBODY must have seen this guy nesting along the Service Road ? |
The No-Gas crowd saved the best for last. The mind-numbing broadcast caused me to nod off more than a few times, but I have a distinct memory that one of the last speakers had a lovely English accent and spoke of the Town shredding Baby Birds in a wood chipper.
Nonetheless, the Selectmen showed spine and made cogent comments and well-reasoned explanations for their votes to allow the tree removal. Justin the Tree Warden did a good job explaining the situation despite the fact he probably feared for his life. The Crossmans even appeared very reasonable and professional -- despite their long involvement with this issue.
On the other hand, more than a few of their neighbors thought they had been invited to a barroom brawl!
15 comments:
After listing to the national grid presentation and if they are kept to all of the commitments the service road will be a much better place then before.
The delay tactic on the noise levels, need to be addressed to the Massachusetts department of transportation, not with the town of Sandwich and the National grid. THESE FOLKS SHOULD ENGAGE OUR DULEY ELECTED MEMBERS AT THE STATE LEVEL TO HAVE THE dot INSTALL A SOUND BARRIER ALONG THAT STRETGH OF ROAD. THAT WOULD BE A BETTER APPROACH TO THE NOISE INCREASED AS A RESULT OF THE INCREASED TRAFFIC AND THE CUTTING OF TREES ON THE ROUTE6 STATE OWNED ROAD.
I thought that the National grid was very accommodating, especially when they stated that they would use local landscapers to install trees on the actual home owners property , for noise problems.
Every one needs to give this a chance to develop and hold them to every thing they stated they would do.
After last nights discussion Sandwich should also hire a turtle warden.
Install a sound barrier? Really? Isn’t that what an old[er] growth, dense, natural tree and shrub barrier is? And, isn’t the natural landscape more attractive and in keeping with the surroundings?
Somebody described this pipeline as representing progress. Are manmade miles long sound barriers a part of the progress we envision for our Town and the Cape?
I guess what the Highway Department has done clear cutting the mid Cape is progress too. Looks great (not). Sounds great (not). Improvement (not). Progress (not).
If the so-called NIMBYs hadn’t been advocating for themselves and our town the utility plans would not have included any of the mitigation efforts now required. Town officials, our Selectmen, Beacon Hill and all other so-called leaders and regulators would have let the utility clear cut a 10 to 15 foot path for miles without a thought – for our neighbors, our safety, our wildlife, our vistas - nothing. NIMBYs? How about advocates, negotiators, and an alternative voice? These are more suitable labels.
I agree a manufactured sound barrier will never fly. We can pretend that will resolve it but i bet more people scream about the addition of artificial sound barriers than will scream about the loss of trees.
While we're pretending ..... I doubt the NIMBYS got any more than was originally planned ..... Remote shutoffs, emergency training ..... they weren't going to do that anyway? There's no way they were going to leave the cut treeless ... The law already requires that trees be replaced. There was no gallant effort for mankind here ..... The neighbors fought to save their existing sight/sound environment. Not a bad thing, but call a spade a spade.
I agree about the rte 6 clear cutting ..... I can not imagine any benefit ... Other than giving a sweetheart contract to some very friendly vendor. Somebody got something out of the deal. Just like the stupid mile markers that have been put in every 2/10 of a mile ... Or the foolish electronic signs that tell you how long it will take to drive from Sandwich to Hyannis..... Or the signs that list incorrect distances between towns ... The list goes on and on ...
Somebody needs to do a serious investigation of DPW spending ... It looks like welfare for road contractors!
Here is a question.....whats in it for us?
Responding to Woody Owl Progress comes in many forms and for Sandwich folks to deny others from economic development and further progress for our neighbors as a result of denying this pipe line to continue is really selfish and uncalled for in my opinion.
Lets not deflect the conversation to what the state is doing presently on Route 6, our Representative is working on that as we post. It is a sad day what the state has done along this corridor for what they consider safety reasons?
Putting up sound barriers along high noise travel areas in many states and even here in Massachusetts can be done with visual appeal and reduce the noise levels , especially for those who may in fact be affected by the increased car noises over the years as more traffic come here to Cape Cod. What do think will occur when the state completes the lane increases along this road for future development. It is on the drawing board and it is only a matter of time, before the whole of route 6 changes its present face and then what will the noise levels be along the whole route?
As far as the NIMBYs as you called them. They are for the most part very disingenuous in the reasoning they took to ovoid having the pipe line follow the route m established a long time ago , before they even bought there homes and where aware that some day the road would further be impacted as progress came across the bridge in forms of increased energy supplies in various forms.
You are mistaken when you say that no thought was put forward with the cutting of the trees. Countless meetings were held between the town and those affected by the laying of this pipe line and that is well documented. Countless years , money was spent in order to provide the best overall situation for the town and our neighbors down cape waiting for this pipe line to get there.
You and I may not like it ,but it is what it is and the decision has been made and we all need to adjust to the idea that progress comes in many forms and some will need to make sacrifices for the common good of every one, which in this case will now be done.
Working with the National Grid and what they presented as medication, seems like a win, win for every one.
It is suggested that next time the community get more involved with what is going on around them, before it comes to completion and engage the system , rather then sitting on the sidelines waiting for it to go away/
The next debate will be on what side of the road do you want the bike path to go? I think it should go on both sides. Then instead of you running the road every morning, while you are doing your physical therapy , you would have a safe running area where those of us that use the road to travel on do not need to be afraid of running you over.
What will you do when the road needs to get opened up to place a main sewerage line, coming to your part of town in the future?
The trees will grow back, the animals will be safe, the sound levels will decrease and the visual impact will be much better then it was before.
I can recall a time when that whole area between 2 and 3 was devastated by a fire and much work went into regrowing the vegetation, that was destroyed from rt 6 to the Service road.
That is why so many scrub pines are in that area today. The replacement trees and shrubs being proposed for this area will make this area a much better forest cover and wildlife preserve then before.
Hopefully you will still be around to the see the beautiful transition when it occurs.
going to enforce prevailing wage Thuth Maker
Is any of this natural gas for Sandwich?
nope
Is any of this NG for East Sandwich?
nope
Forestdale?
nope
South Sandwich?
nope
So please explain how this is a win win?
What truly fascinates me about this town is that while we are "outraged" about the trees (that quite honestly needed to come down along the median for safety), the town is admitting that they have NO idea what they are going to do with the Wing School when it shuts down in June. We will no have an empty, rotting building that will be vandalized and looking like crap as the entrance to our downtown area as well as abutting many homes. Could we just for once focus on the big picture - figure out what we are doing with that building BEFORE it shuts or consider keeping it open as a school for an additional year while the town figures it out and the schools take a little extra time to plan the merger of the elementary schools and avoid the hiccups that have occurred with the rushed opening of STEM.
8:25 -- Excellent Point! If we aren't going to use that gas than F Them!
Fortunately, the folks in Bourne don't feel that way about the gas, phone, and electric lines that pass though their town on the way to Sandwich. Oh, and maybe the road that passes through them to reach Sandwich.
Your outlook is parochial and short-sighted to say the least.
Come on! all of the little darlings survived the opening of STEM. Not a single one of their little Gifted and Talented self-esteems was damaged beyond repair.
If you give the Schools an excuse to delay closing the Wing it will never happen -- and we will continue to have the same discussions that have gone on for years.
Make like Nike -- Just do it!
And, then move on and do something else!
This Town is just so completely immobilized its ridiculous (paralysis by analysis!)
12:07 - OMG, you're right! We spent two consecutive seconds not whining about the STEM Academy! Thank you for setting us back on track. Phew!
Keeping Wing open another year would be plain stupid. If anything, it should have closed sooner. Water streams into the place when it rains. It smells disgusting. The heating system is precarious. What's not to love?! If I had a kid there it'd be pissing me off that the place is still open at all.
And hiccups are just that... hiccups. No big deal. Wouldn't it be great if we could get our collective panties out of a bunch and see the big picture... and there's where we agree, 12:07. I would LOVE to know what the town plans to do with the building.
Of course it will depend how much Sandwich taxpayers are willing to spend to have something really cool there... so yeah, I think it's a fair bet that we can count on a vacant rotting building. smh
To 8.25 You have made the point that so far we here in Sandwich, may not have any direct benefit with the installation of this new gas line. How come you did not use that for a reason to not allow it to come through our town? To keep things positive when looking towards , the future one never knows what actually transpire that may in fact benefit our town down the road. That is unless you have a magic mirror that can predict future economic growth that may well be tied into this gas line being up and running for energy reasons for the future growth of our town.
I do believe some concessions have been made to reduce the energy cost to the taxpayers of our town , that are tied into the municipal property we own together as a town If nothing else these concessions may well offset some energy costs , thus keeping our tax rates stable or preventing cost increases[more taxes]for every one.
The delays are over and it is time that the work gets done. Then every one can judge for themselves if the right thing was done
PS, just a proven fact, trees of the type growing along the Service Rd. don't provide any significant noise reduction. These studies have been done at nauseam through out the country. Just look them up, it's very easy. Only christmas types trees planted tight together at least 50 feet thick will provide some reduction. Not saying that there is no aesthetic loss, but noise, not so much. Dumb argument.
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