Trash Talk!

Just puttering around and cleaning out emails that accumulated, the following was discovered buried and almost deleted --
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Whats in Dave's Bag from Sustainable Dave on Vimeo.

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After watching SEMASS last week, it seemed there is no incentive to reduce waste, so let's just sign a long term contract and promise to continue to produce more!

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Plastics Bags was commented on previously and we have found a system and solution that works for us with reusable bags, but looking at what's still being discarded, we were looking for more ideas.

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Going out to eat, the portion sizes are so excessive, we always end up bringing home styrofoam "doggie bags." And I discover this solution for leftovers to avoid the styrofoam.

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Middleboro Town Election Results 4-4-09

The Town Clerk posted the election results by Precinct, but a synopsis of results -


BOARD OF SELECTMEN - 3 YRS
Steven P. Spataro 972
Stephen James McKinnon 1,022


BOARD OF SELECTMEN - 1 YR
Alfred P. Rullo, Jr 1,063
Gregory S. Stevens 990


SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Jeannie M. Martin 1,091
Gregory D. Thomas 1,223
Roger D. Haber 958


BOARD OF ASSESSORS
Paula M. Burdick 929
Charles Barry Shea 880


MODERATOR
Edward J. Beaulieu, Jr. 1,004
Wayne C. Perkins 1,047


From the Brockton Enterprise

Town Clerk Eileen S. Gates said there was a 14 percent turnout, with 2,137 people voting out of a possible 15,214.


The closeness of the results highlights why every vote matters.

Google's Larry Page building eco-friendly ...

The following San Jose Mercury News article reported on Larry Page's proposed new home --

The two-story home, with four bedrooms, will be contemporary in style, and is designed to "minimize the impact on the environment."

For example, the home's exterior will include zinc cladding and plenty of windows. The property has about 60 trees; most will be retained, while others that are not healthy will be replaced with native species that don't consume a lot of water.

Page also is applying for "Green Point Certification," the home industry's rating system for energy efficiency. The home will have a roof garden with solar panels.

Nuclear Energy: Not A Solution #3

The Nuclear Industry has spent gobs of money advertising, lobbying, propaganda and recreating the history of an industry fraught with problems, missteps, accidents and waste for which no solution exists.

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The success of those industry investments was visible in the most recent Presidential election, promoting a fairy tale that doesn't exist.

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Supporters of the nuclear fallacy often point to the myths of Three Mile Island as reason to promote safety publicly.

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The 30th Anniversary of the catastrophe just passed and the promoters would have you believe "All is well."

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It was April Fool's Day, 1979 -- 30 years ago this week -- when Randall Thompson first set foot inside the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pa. Just four days earlier, in the early morning hours of March 28, a relatively minor problem in the plant's Unit 2 reactor sparked a series of mishaps that led to the meltdown of almost half the uranium fuel and uncontrolled releases of radiation into the air and surrounding Susquehanna River.

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Today, [Randall Thompson] story about what he witnessed at Three Mile Island is being brought to the public in detail for the first time -- and his version of what happened during that time, supported by a growing body of other scientific evidence, contradicts the official U.S. government story that the Three Mile Island accident posed no threat to the public.

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Wing reanalyzed the Columbia scientists' data, looking at cancer rates before the TMI disaster to control for other possible risk factors in the 10-mile area. His peer-reviewed results, published in 1997, found positive relationships between accident dose estimates and rates of leukemia, lung cancer and all cancers. Where the Columbia study found a 30 percent average increase in lung cancer risk among one group of residents, for example, Wing found an 85 percent increase. And while the Columbia researchers found little or no increase in adult leukemias and a statistically unreliable increase in childhood cases, Wing found that people downwind during the most intense releases were eight to 10 times more likely on average than their neighbors to develop leukemia.

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Dr. Wing reflected on his findings at a symposium in Harrisburg marking the 30-year anniversary of the Three Mile Island disaster last week.

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"I believe this is very good evidence that releases were thousands of times greater than the story we've been told," he said. "As we think about the current plans to open more nuclear reactors, when we hear -- which we hear often -- that no one was harmed at Three Mile Island, we really should question that."

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The article in its entirety can be found in SouthernStudies (its lengthy, but worth reading)

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Nuclear is expensive --

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$7,500 per kilowatt to build

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That’s more than double the capital costs for solar power and three and a half times the cost for wind.

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As noted in Offshore Oil Drilling Scam ---

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Wind

is already more competitive

than electricity generated from

new nuclear and coal-fired power plants.

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Randolph Proposes CPA Purchase

The Brockton Enterprise offers the story of a land purchase by Randolph, using CPA funds (Community Preservation Act) a process that a few vocal critics in Middleboro condemned. Enacting CPA allows towns to access grant funding that is otherwise unavailable. It also allows the creation of a Piggy Bank of funds to be used when a crucial purchase becomes available.

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Randolph makes deal to buy farm land for open space

The town would purchase just under 13 acres of the farm for $800,000, with owner Dana Powers retaining the house, barn and an adjoining paddock. The farm has been in the Powers family for 110 years

The adjacent, 2.7-acre Rent property at 592 N. Main St. would be purchased for $425,000, to provide easy access and parking for visitors to the area.

The purchase would be made with the town’s Community Preservation Act funds, and must be approved by town meeting, which begins May 27. McCarthy said the town has also applied for a $500,000 state grant to cover part of the cost.

For less than the cost of a lottery ticket a month, homeowners could establish this planning tool for the future.

Middleboro's IT Department

In the Brockton Enterprise --


Middleboro FinCom to meet with IT firm
Town is considering outsourcing its computer needs
By Alice C. Elwell
ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT
Posted Apr 03, 2009 @ 11:18 PM

MIDDLEBORO —
The Finance Committee is expected to hear a presentation Monday from HUB Technical Services, an Easton-based firm that is proposing technical support for the town’s computer system.

“They are coming in to explain to us what they would provide and how it would blend with our IT department and budget,” said committee Chairman Richard J. Pavadore.

At issue is the town’s IT Department and whether an outside company could provide better service with the $316,000 budget.

IT Director Roger Brunelle Sr. said he has investigated outsourcing in the past, and the same level of services can’t be reached within the present budget.

He acknowledges the town’s Web site is not up to par, explaining it was first created by a high school student years ago and little has been done to update it.

Brunelle said his department has accomplished much on a tight budget since it opened in 1989, but said he needs more funding to go forward.

Brunelle said his department is unique.

“We’re the only IT department in the state that brings in revenue,” Brunelle said, referring to $298,000 that is billed to other town departments for indirect costs.

Last month, Vice Chairman Joseph Thomas discussed hiring an outside company to run the town’s technology department that has a proposed 2010 budget of $316,000.

Outsourcing could eliminate the need for a director which carries a current salary of $84,326.

The first time the committee discussed the move, they estimated Brunelle’s benefits to cost nearly $40,000 a year, but Brunelle said his annual benefits are approximately $21,000 a year.

Thomas said outsourcing would provide two on-site engineers for $150,000 a year.

Pavadore said if his committee favors outsourcing the IT Department’s function, it will recommend selectmen authorize HUB to perform a network analysis on the town’s system.

According to HUB’s Web site, the company is an approved state contractor that has been hired by Whitman Hanson Regional Schools, Stoughton Public Schools and New England Sinai Hospital in Stoughton.

Middleboro proposes ......

Because of the comments received, below is the pertinent article. The proposed cuts are items that the Middleboro Board of Selectmen, were they competent, could and should have proposed in the past.

Recently, the Town Manager commented on town-owned and insured vehicles that sat snow-covered all winter and escaped the Selectmen's notice and the need for him to conduct an audit.

There is much else and many other areas where money could and should be saved, but this is a beginning, heralded by the Finance Committee.

Of those people who have commented around Town, the prospect of having an actual professional manage the IT Department has been greeted with cheers!

Middleboro proposes outsourcing IT dept. to save $150K
By Alice C. Elwell


MIDDLEBORO - The Finance Committee is considering outsourcing the computer support department, potentially cutting the department’s $316,000 proposed budget in half.

Vice Chairman Joseph Thomas last week proposed hiring an outside company to run the town’s technology department.

“They would do everything, all IT needs,” Thomas said, including upgrades and Web design. Thomas said outsourcing would slash the IT budget by at least 50 percent, while at the same time provide two on-site engineers for $150,000 a year.

Thomas said hiring an outside company would eliminate the $84,326 salary of IT Director Roger Brunelle Sr. Finance Committee member Glenn S. MacPherson estimated his benefit package costs taxpayers another $40,000 a year.

Brunelle is married to Selectwoman Marsha L. Brunelle, who has excused herself from discussions of the IT department in the past.

Thomas said selectmen would have to authorize the company to perform a site plan and network analysis in order to present an accurate proposal and scope of work.

The committee voted to meet with the company for a presentation before recommending the plan to selectmen.

In a further move to reduce personnel, the committee discussed reducing the hours of several full-time secretaries.

“Can we ask selectmen why they need a full-time secretary?” MacPherson asked.

“Why not one secretary for police and fire?” added Tarsi Velantzas.

Chairman Richard J. Pavadore suggested hiring a full-time mechanic to service the town’s fleet of 212 vehicles. Pavadore said town departments are budgeting $162,550 for routine maintenance, such as oil changes and brake jobs. He said hiring a certified mechanic to do the same work would cost the town approximately $90,000 with benefits.

“You realize that is completely contrary to everything we believe in,” said MacPherson.

Another cost-cutting proposal was put forward by member Stephen McKinnon, who questioned the town’s insurance deductible on motor vehicle policies, saying in most cases it was $500.

McKinnon said there would be a savings if the deductibles were adjusted, pointing out a 1967 trailer didn’t need a $500 deductible.

Pavadore said the town’s fiscal year 2010 budget is $70 million, with a deficit of more than $1 million.

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