Fall in the First Middlesex District
View from the Hill
October 19, 2009
With the cold season moving in, I want to reassure my constituents that the ice storm of last December has not faded from my memory. In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, it was déjàvu all over again, because my memory goes back to the ice storm that struck in December of 1996 after which Unitil made many promises it did not keep.
This time, however, the lawmakers on Beacon Hill are not going to let it rest until we have legislation on the books that give us more leverage to make utility providers respond to the needs of their ratepayers during emergencies.
I have taken a leadership role in urging this action. As a result I have been appointed to serve on a special conference committee that will be working on new legislation that will clarify the duties and responsibilities utilities have to their ratepayers and exact very stiff penalties for the kind of neglect that was demonstrated last December. Among the representatives joining me in this undertaking is Representative Richard Rice, Jr., who represents the towns of Ashby, Ashburnham, Gardner, Royalston, and Winchendon.
My Lyme Disease bill (HB 1148 An Act Relative to the Treatment of Chronic Lyme Disease) continues to wend its way through the legislative process. It was referred for review over to the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy as required by law. Once the review is completed, the Joint Committee on Public Health will convene to decide whether to send it on to the House and the Senate.
I have been getting a lot of mail about legalizing gaming in Massachusetts. However, it doesn´t appear that we will be considering this important legislation until after the Senatorial election is over. I will leave it to you to guess why it´s not being considered now.
By the way, I plan to cast my vote in favor of legalizing gambling in Massachusetts. I don´t believe it makes any sense to have several thousands of people leave Massachusetts to gamble in Rhode Island and Connecticut. We have the infrastructure to support world-class casinos here. I also want to add that we have the resources to address gambling addiction including Gamblers Anonymous. Massachusetts should be taking advantage of the revenue stream legalized gaming would provide.
This gives me an opportunity to repeat my mantra: You should never, never, never tax yourself out of a recession. The new sales tax is already having a negative impact on Massachusetts businesses. I believe legalized gaming would not only infuse our coffers with a new revenue stream, but would stimulate the creation of new jobs to accommodate the patrons who enjoy this kind of entertainment.
Pan Am Railroad had another day in the Suffolk County Superior Court last Thursday (October 15). The court seemed to be satisfied with the railroad´s plans to protect the aquifer that supplies drinking water to much of Ayer and Littleton. The Department of Environmental Protection will be overseeing the installation of the various safeguards, and the court will be revisiting these plans once more before the Pan Am facility opens on January 1 to make certain all of the promised protections are installed and operational.
It was money well spent when the Ayer Board of Selectmen voted to hire a licensed site inspector to oversee the construction of this facility. When it was documented that the railroad was not living up to what they had agreed to do, it was gratifying to see that the court stepped in. Andrew Rainer from the Attorney General´s office is to be commended for all of his work to make this happen. I also want to thank the tireless efforts of all of those citizens who got actively involved in trying to stop the construction of this facility. For details, please read Mary Arata´s articles in the Nashoba Publications newspapers.
I was also pleased to hear that Townsend received a Volunteer Fire Assistance grant from the Department of Conservation and Recreation´s Bureau of Forest Control for $2,000. Town Manager Greg Barnes said Townsend plans to spend it on two radios and protective gear for its volunteer firefighters.
Before I sign off, I want to invite you to attend my 16th annual "Hoedown" from 7:00 — 10:00 p.m. on Friday, October 30 at the Pepperell VFW Hall. Country Dave will be supplying the music and Cliff´s will be doing the catering. I am looking forward to seeing you there.
