Slippery slope has contractor fired up
By Karen Mann

The hill behind 142 State Road East (Route 2A), in Westminster.

A heated argument caused Westminster Planning Board member Don Barry to storm out of a Selectmen's meeting on Aug. 14.

Barry, who owns his own construction company, stormed out of the meeting after telling the selectmen that he would not finish his project on State Road East the way they requested.

Barry is working to stabilize a slope of land at 142 State Road East (Route 2A) near the new subdivision - the Village at the Old Mill. Barry has been using compost and woodchips to do so, which is his usual materials, while many construction companies use seed and loam.

The use of these materials led the Conservation Commission to issue a cease and desist order against the project.

This order has since been lifted but it caught the attention of the selectmen who have asked Barry what he is doing. The board wanted the opinion of the engineer they had originally hired to map out the project, when they were concerned about the amount of dirt removed from the property.

"You told me what I have to do after the facts," Barry said.

Emerson reminded Barry that he did not obtain an Earth Removal Permit before he started, and if he had, he would have known what the board wanted.

Barry said he was doing what the people who lived on the property wanted.

Brian Marchetti, of Rizzo Associates, came to the meeting and said he was concerned with the measures Barry was taking in dealing with a slope that steep. According to Marchetti, the slope is 2-1 in steepness, which is a 45-degree angle.

Marchetti said woodchips do not work when the slope is that steep and that using seed and loam is a better option. According to Marchetti, this is what his company recommended from the start.

"Woodchips are a temporary solution, not a permanent one," Marchetti said.

He claims that rain will wash the material away and that grass will not grow permanently on it.

Barry defended his project, saying there have already been a few rainstorms and nothing has happened to the slope. He also said that grass has started to grow on it.

Board Chairman Lorraine Emerson said she wanted the project finished the way Marchetti recommended, with seed and loam.

Barry said he would not do it because he had already spent a lot of money on the materials he used.

Selectman Thomas O'Toole wanted to know if Barry would guarantee his work.

"Give me a time frame," Barry said. "How long do I have to make sure the slope stays there?"

Selectmen would not answer this. On the suggestion of Selectman John Fairbanks, they said they would send a letter to Barry stating what they want to have happen with the project.

Barry became upset that he would have to come back a third time after he received the letter. He quickly left the meeting, throwing several accusations at selectmen as he left.

After this, selectmen asked Marchetti one more time for his opinion. He stuck by his original recommendation, and selectmen agreed with him.

In other business:

 Selectmen signed a letter supporting the fire department's application for a service change with the Office of Emergency Medical Services. The department is applying for an intermediate level ambulance service license. The full-time firefighters have been to paramedic training school, which will allow them to achieve a higher level of certification. But because they don't have a lot of experience yet, the state requires the town to apply at this level.

Fire Chief Brenton MacAloney said the two most important things to come out of this would be that firefighters could start intravenous lines on people and they could open airways with intubation. According to MacAloney, the average on-scene response time for his firefighters is four minutes, while the average time for paramedics is 12 minutes.

This response time is because the department has used either a private ambulance company or mutual aid from a neighboring community for the advance level of care.

"Earliest intervention, that is our intent," MacAloney said.

 Selectmen passed a motion for the Zoning Board of Appeals to apply to the Massachusetts Housing Authority Technical Review Assistance Program. The program allows for the ZBA to receive assistance from a qualified third party in reviewing and issuing Ch.40B Comprehensive Permits.

Ch.40B is a state mandate that requires 10 percent of all housing in a town be deemed affordable. The program grants awards of up to $10,000 for this. ZBA is applying for the grant for the proposed 40B housing unit project on Livermore Hill Road.

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Karen Mann is a 2006 graduate of Emerson College, in Boston, where she studied journalism. She resides in Townsend with her parents.