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Neely
Resigns | DeMacedo Run | Herald
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Pottle Field Damage | Teflon Ted
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and clutter. There'll be more in the days ahead. |
WHO
PAYS FOR THE POTTLE DAMAGE?
The Pottle Street Sports Complex calls for 11 fields, 12 when you consider
the existing ballfield. The unauthorized mining done by Kingston trucker
William "Billy" Lyons has caused problems greater than his lack
of explanations. Lyons departed from engineering plans and made deep cuts
on the Pottle Street Site, removed what was pretty good sand, and replaced
it with less valuable subsoil to the original height of his excavation. A
ballfield is slated to sit directly over that same location. Lyons never
compacted the subsoil in the 6-8" lifts as required in the
engineering plans. That means you will always have an unstable surface and
a lifetime of trouble. If we are to salvage that area of the site, who
does the remediation? The taxpayers, who are already overburdened and have
already given their financial support to the project?
Where does Lyons fit in here?
-
He refuses to name the
person or persons who authorized his private enterprise on town land
-
He instead says the
Ballfield Committee gave him the ok. No minutes support such an action
-
He had no contract for
the work
-
He and those who put him
on Pottle Street placed the town at financial and legal risk
-
He backfilled his
excavation site without compacting the subsoil thereby damaging the
site
-
He should bear the
financial responsibility of compaction and the job should be corrected
by somebody else named by the Town Administrator.
It is clear to note that the
Lyons work was not a matter of disposing of unwanted "excess"
fill. Somehow that is being lost here. We are not talking about excess
fill. We are talking about decent quality sand in its natural state made
better after screening. Additionally, we are talking about excavating
below grade. And let's not forget the biggest joke…Lyons invoiced the
town for delivery of this sand for Highway Department use.
HERALD
COVERAGE?
 (Wednesday
- March 20) We looked at the front page of
yesterday's Boston Herald and thought they were covering the Pottle Street
Ball Field story. Alas, it was a ditty on ticket scalpers at Fenway Park.
TEFLON
TED?
Almost a month has passed without a written explanation from Ballfield
Chairman Ted Alexiades explaining the entire Lyons debacle. If nobody
pushes him for the penned creation, then why should he commit anything to
paper? Ignore it and the problem will go away. Ted never put anything much
to writing for former Town Administrator Patricia Whalen, why start now
with new TA Kevin Donovan.
NEELY OFFICIALLY
RESIGNS
(Wednesday - March 20) As the Observer was going to press last Thursday
(March 14), Conservation Commission Enforcement Officer Marie Neely was
submitting her resignation to the Town Clerk's Office. Our advanced
information on that matter was right on target. Neely would not confirm
the resignation for us prior to press time so we had to treat it as rumor.
She's going to work for the private sector in Scituate. We will miss her
as will others. Neely was a very capable individual. Tough but fair. Now
where do we go?
DEMACEDO WILL RUN
(Wednesday - March 20) In
that same issue, we mused over the fact that Selectman Olly DeMacedo will
make a run for County Commissioner. We also said Bob Stone would bow out.
Stone is out and we hear, that at this very moment, (Wednesday morning)
Olly is in Boston completing the paperwork necessary to make official his
candidacy. He would be the first, and to date, only Republican on the
slate. The Dem's already have a lone candidate. Trust us, nobody will
allow these spots to go uncontested in the primary.
 BREAK
THE BANK
(Wednesday - March 20) One
could say that the Weymouth Cooperative Bank is certainly giving its
Kingston Center location a facelift. We thought is was getting
re-shingled. Guess again. We can hardly wait to see the new design. It's
about time the Center played host to a bank. It has been years since a
bank existed in the Center. We believe the last to leave was Landmark Bank
across the street.
CORRECTION
(Monday, March 18)
We had previously reported
on-line that Kevin’s Landscaping of Shrewsbury was paid $35,000 for work
not done at the ballfields. Since that report, additional information has
been reviewed and we conclude that this assertion was in error. Our
apologies to Kevin’s Landscaping on this particular item. We strive for
accuracy in our reporting and make every effort to insure our facts are
correct. We will be the first to acknowledge and correct any reporting
errors. The work in question has, in fact, yet to be started or paid for.
The fact that the work hasn’t been done could be
good news for Kingston. We have suggested to both Town Administrator Kevin
Donovan and Selectmen Chair Richard Kenney that we have the resources and
equipment available at the Highway Department to do this work at little or
no additional cost. If we are not locked in to the contract with Kevin’s
we should explore this option immediately.
Excess Material
(Monday, March 18) We have in fact, paid for
the stockpiling and movement of half of the alleged excess fill at a
 cost
of $45,000. This, theoretically to make it easier to give away. Once
again, if not locked into the contract, the Highway Department could
finish off the job at little or no additional cost.
It will be interesting to see who takes this ‘worthless
material’ off site. Information provided at the last Ballfield Meeting
saw Project Engineer Andy Fairbanks and Committee Member Peter Opachinski
in disagreement over the amount of material still to be removed from the
site. Fairbanks says 15,000 yards while Opachinski says 10,000 yards (or
half the amount remaining under Kevin’s Landscaping contract).
Overview of the Pottle Street
Ballfields construction project. Area of unauthorized mining
is marked by the black & red box. Click on image to take a virtual
tour of the site.
No Explanation Yet
(Monday, March 18) Today
was the deadline Kevin Donovan gave Committee Chairman Ted Alexiades to
respond to the Administrator’s request for documentation concerning W.E.
Lyons presence on site. As of 2:30 there has been no reply to the request
made almost a month ago.
WATD Hears
Explanations
(Monday, March 18) During WATD's coverage of
the story, they got sound bites from trucker William "Billy"
Lyons and from Alexiades. Once again, Lyons said it was volunteer work
being done for the "kids". He said he was part of a
"bunch" of volunteers at the site and he received his marching
orders from the ballfield committee and the town itself.
Town Administrator Kevin Donovan strongly disputed
any approvals coming through the procurement process. Lyons said he was
doing some "cuts and fills" and dealing with excess material.
Lyons did not explain how conducting cuts and fills or digging out sand
and replacing it with subsoil, then processing it for commercial sale fits
that description. Lyons said he did sell the material, but only to
retrieve his trucking expenses. He stated that a close trip was done for
less money as opposed to a longer trip.
The suggestion seemed to be there was no charge
for the sand. Tell that one to the family in Pembroke who paid their
septic contractor for what could hardly be called The Lyons/Pottle joint
venture discount. What about the town? Let's not forget we bought at
least 28 yards of our own sand. That load was delivered to the highway
barn, exactly 1 mile away…surely his shortest haul. That was on February
11, just 8 days before Lyons was shut down. The bill for that load was
$4.98 a ton. On November 30, 2001 we bought sand from Lyons, price? $4.98
a ton. On January 9, 14 and 23 we bought even more. Price? $4.98 a ton.
Now either we have been buying back an awful lot
of the Pottle Street Fields sand or the discount theory is simply a lie.
Committee Chairman Ted Alexiades took the path we
figured he would. Divert attention from the problem with suggestions like:
- It's this type of negativity that keeps people
from volunteering or running from office
- This is making a mountain out of a molehill
- We're all just doing the best we can for the
kids
Alexiades served three years as a Selectman having
come via the Finance Committee. He is Town Accountant for the Town of
Hingham and has recently been appointed to the town Audit Committee (not
yet sworn in) and runs a private financial services business. With that
kind of resume, Ted should know better.
Aside from generalized defensive statements he was
short on specifics which has been Ted's methodology during the entire
project. A river of paperwork and questions have flowed to Alexiades from
the town, but the stream dries up in the other direction.
We still have no answers for the questionable
activities going on at the site.
________________
TKO
Community Forum
Today's Question: What
should be done about the Pottle Street Ballfield mess?
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