Turkey time is here again; and now’s the time to begin;

that fateful journey up and down; of those of us who’ll gain those pounds.

Fear not though as those pounds will surely fade; as the turkey did on his fateful day; with all the specials going on that night; the consumers are so sure to bite.

So sure to bite; so sure to run; oh joy, all that fun!  You’ll be your slimmest once again when all of this is said and done!   

Yes your slimmest is what is said to be; with all that running you will do, to buy that perfect gift for you know who!

The only problem now I see; is that you may no longer be debt free. But fear not my friend; as the story goes, you’ll look your best in those slimmer clothes!

The Town of Southbridge is implementing a new Chloramines disinfection system for their public drinking water supply. Do you have concerns? Questions? Join us Tuesday October 18, 6:30pm for an informational forum, Conference Rooms 1 & 2 Harrington Hospital, 100 South St, Southbridge.

Speakers include: Marielle Stone; Section Chief of the Drinking Water Program of Mass DEP Central Regional Office. Dr. Jeffrey Griffiths MD, MPH & TM; Director of Global Health, Public Health, and Professional Degree Programs, Tufts University School of Medicine. Member of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council, US EPA Member, Drinking Water Panel, Science Advisory Board. William Nunnery; Project Mgr. for Westin & Sampson Water Treatment and Water Quality, Designer of new water treatment system for Southbridge plant.

These professionals will provide insight into why we are changing our system along with the potential impact to our community and other users of our water supply.

For more information contact Monique Manna: 774-230-0156 or Denise Clemence: 508-277-4494.

I was unsure if I really wanted to do a post such as this, but with all the facts NOT being out there by other groups,  I decided to go forth and spout out my opinion.  You do not have to like it, but it is mine, and mine alone, and I like you, have the right to free speech as well.

I will express my opinions regarding the landfill and the BOH.  I am only going write about what I have observed and know as facts.  Also, to make it clear, the opinions I express here are mine, and mine alone and should not reflect on anyone else's opinions, they especially do not reflect nor do they represent the opinions of any PROFESSIONAL(s) (i.e. EPA, Town Manager, Attorney's, Doctors, DPW, Health Director, etc.) 

In MY OWN opinion are the professionals, and although we the people have a right to speak our minds, and ask questions, which I think is great and we always should do this, doesn't mean that we are ALWAYS right.  And in turn, sometimes, the professionals get it wrong too.

From what I understand the previous contract the town had with for the landfill before Casella took over was a mess.  Our town was at a greater risk than ever financially. 

Now the Town has a contract with Casella Waste Systems, that I am not familar with, (but do have a copy of and so can you by requesting one) so I will not make any comments on that except for what I heard, and that is from one side, it is better than the last one we had and from the other side, it is not a good contract and only benefits Casella Waste Systems.  

One of the big issues with the  Landfill is the expansion, there is a group of people  who are suing the Town of Southbridge over this.  (Wow, I never thought a landfill could be such a huge issue!) 

I am not going get into the logistics of this because I am not familiar with this either, and I do not like to comment on things I am not familiar with, just makes you look bad if you don't have ALL THE FACTS!  I do however know that a local attorney (from Sturbridge)  is representing a group of people, pro-bono, in a law suit against Southbridge due to the landfill and I know a few of the names on the law suit, but that is it.  

I also know that a current member of our Board of Health was on the law suit against our town.  One of the requirements to be appointd to the Board of Health was to take her name off the law suit, which eventually ended up happening.

Here is some of what I know from my observations over the last couple of years, and it is quite interesting indeed!  I will not elaborate on any rumors, I will just present the facts as I know them, some that tend to be left out when this comes up.

• Ann Fenwick-Bienema was on the "Twenty Eight Ten Citizen Group" who petioned the Court through a law suit regarding the Southbridge Landfill
• Ann Fenwick-Bienema has been a member since 2009 on the Southbridge Board of Health
• Ann Fenwick-Bienema agreed that herself and husband would withdraw their names from the law-suit if appointed to the Board of Health (August 2009)
• By clicking here you can see that in April 2010 & May 2010 Ann Fenwick-Bienema and husband Larry Bienema are still listed on the law suit
• By clicking here you can see as of July 2011 their names no longer appear on the law   suit
• Ann makes a statement “[I] am not dealing with anything …that is going to be a financial gain to myself or my family.”  You can read this in the 04.13.10 Edition of the SEN by clicking here

Okay, so now we have some facts, so let's continue on this "journey" I guess one might say.

Now, it is 2010, and we are at a Town Council meeting, a fairly new and re-organized Town Council Meeting as the date is July 19, 2010.  Councilor Steve Lazo is voted on as Chair and Councilor Laurent McDonald Sr. is voted on as Vice Chair.  During this meeting, Councilor Richard Logan calls a Point of Order:

"Councilor Logan called for a point of order in reference to a breach and cited a couple of
Charter sections and asked Chairman Lazo to rule the 2004 by-law creating a five
member Board of Health null and void. Chairman Lazo stated that the Board of Health
goes back to 3. Councilor Logan passed out documents that are attached to the file."

Chairman (Councilor) Steve Lazo voted back in 2004, to reorganize to a Five Member Board of Health.  That vote passed unanimously at the town council meeting.  What made him change his mind?  If he thought this was wrong when he voted to pass this, then he should have stated so then, or if he thought he needed more information on this he should have done his homework and asked the Agenda Item be postponed until he had more information.  Councilor Lazo went 6 years with this being a NON-ISSUE.

As for the "Point of Order" gig...well, in my opinion, it should have been "rehearsed" a little better, like this actually came on a whim.  (Watch the tape, there are records of this.  July 19, 2010 Town Council Meeting)

• Councilor Richard Logan makes the statement "I posted as John Higgins on a forum in Roberts Rules of Order" Click here to read article
• Councilor Steven S. Lazo & Councilor Conrad Vandal voted on Town Council in 2004 for a Five Member Board of Health Click here to read minutes on vote

Whenever I heard that a "google" search was done and then later found out that Councilor Logan received his information from a "blog" forum, well, I was never more disappointed.  One may think a man of such education would seek legal advise on this. 

Oh but wait...from what I understand there was legal advice! 

Three legal opinions on the BOH issue, however, it was not the advice that some were expecting to hear, so if you were to ask me, and this is just my opinion, Councilor Logan and Councilor Lazo took it upon themselves to fix what they, in their minds, thought was broken. 

We even had the advice from Attorney Caprera, the new town attorney that was approved Unanimously through Town Council because it was pushed to get a new town attorney.  (From what I understand Kopelman and Paige did not sit well with some.)  Yes, the advice our now new current town attorney gave was not good advice either.  (I wonder how many attorney's one would have to go through to get the right answer?)

• August 2003 Letter Five Member Board of Health
• June 2008 Letter Five Member Board of Health
• June 2010 Letter Five Member Board of Health

 So, time marches on.  And now it is June 2011 and the re-appointment of Dr. Thomas O'Leary comes up.  Dr. O'Leary is a Pediatrician who practices Medicine through Harrington Hospital in Southbridge.  He has been on the Board of Health for 10 years, the last year though seems to be somewhat if a struggle as I see it. 

There are now only three members vs. five members and everything is being stalled (if you will) to prevent anything going through with the landfill.  There are also rumors going around that people do not want Dr. O'Leary on the Board of Health, and there even is a 'campaign" to "oust" him through this new group (as they would let you think) known as "United Southbridge". 

Now, I will not speculate on the rumors I heard, but I will point you to the post where it is so written as an "Action Item" for this group to see that Dr. O'Leary does not get re-appointed to the Board of Health.  Just click here. 

If you want to see a comment post that was put out by a "Founder" of this group I have copied and pasted it below, you can also follow the link to the comment, that too is pasted below.

Raciel Fernandez said...