Looking Back at the Storm
View from the Hill
December 26, 2008
By Christmas Eve, electrical power had been restored for nearly everyone. The massive storm of Friday, December 12 had sheathed the First Middlesex District, Fitchburg and surrounding towns in a coating of ice heavy enough to snap or topple large, mature trees. The fallen trees took utility wiring with them and blocked roads with impassable debris.
Let us thank and commend the local municipal workers, tree-handling experts from state agencies and electrical repair crews from across the country who arranged shelter for the vulnerable, opened the roads and restored the power. Likewise thank families, neighbors, friends and charities for pulling together in common cause during the emergency.
Three electrical companies serve the District's five towns of Ayer, Dunstable, Groton, Pepperell and Townsend. In this compact area, it was impossible to miss how much worse Townsend fared, how much longer it took to bring the town's power back on line, how many more nights residents were forced out of their homes to find shelter at the Hawthorne Brook Middle School. Some District residents were inconvenienced for only a few hours. Many in Townsend suffered the frigid darkness for nearly two weeks.
It was unacceptable, just plain unacceptable.
Lt. Gov. Murray visited Townsend on the 24th. House Speaker DiMasi and Ways & Means Committee Chairman DeLeo viewed the devastation the week before. The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities and the Legislature most certainly will follow up with inquiries and action. Our U.S. legislative delegation is working on substantial reimbursement of emergency municipal expenses. If you would be willing to help, please send to my attention (Rep.RobertHargraves@hou.state.ma.us) a brief e-mail (1) identifying you, (2) telling how long you were without power and (3) explaining how that affected you.
Acute ice storm problems have diverted the District's attention from longer-term financial woes. Many frame the state's problem as a choice between raising tolls, increasing the gasoline tax, hammering the private sector with greater taxes, slashing local aid to cities and towns or all of the above. This is a false choice. I hope that you will join me in resisting it until your Legislature first has eliminated all earmarked local projects: If projects of local benefit are not worth funding with local resources, they are not worth state funding either. Picking the people's pockets for more tax revenue is not the way to go.
In keeping with our custom of the last 13 years, Ellen and I supported breast cancer research with a donation in lieu of sending Christmas cards.
Best wishes for the year ahead, despite tough times right now. We will work through them. We always do.
