Westport
in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Sunday,
March 25, 2012
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Quick
Article Index . . .
Sidewalks to move forward
despite Lees Market objections.
April 3rd Community forum
highlights three non-binding ballot questions.
Annual Fishermen's Flea Market
at the VFW.
|
Sidewalks to move forward despite Lees Market
objections. EverythingWestport.com Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Lees Market says no to Central
Village sidewalks, citing liability and upkeep costs.
The planned sidewalk, which will run south
from the Westport Village Apartments and Condominiums, an over-55 housing
complex, has been in the works for several years and has overcome many
hurdles, the linden tree being the last. But in Monday Night's Select Board meeting,
Central Village Public Improvements Committee member Elaine Ostroff, who has
been working with Town Administrator Jack Healy to meet Mass DOT (Department
of Transportation) right-of-way requirements for the project, was stunned by
an abutting landowner's statement he would not grant the temporary easement
for the use of his property. Lees Supermarket, which abuts 45 percent of
the sidewalks, expressed concerns about future liabilities, maintenance and
improvement costs, landscaping, and expense to a town that is faced with
shutting off street lights because of budget woes. "To be clear, I'm opposed to
the Central Village sidewalks." - Al Lees Ostroff was requesting $21,738.29 in
Chapter 90 funds to pay for appraisals of the temporary easements. State
granted Chapter 90 funds are generally used for Highway Department projects
like roads and sidewalks. Citing liability and long-term maintenance
responsibilities that may be transferred to abutters from a future town
bylaw, Lees Market owner All Lees said that he was "opposed" to
the sidewalks. "My concerns are
not new, they have been expressed many times during this entire
process," Lees told Selectmen. "To be clear, I'm
opposed to the Central Village sidewalks," Lees Market owner Al Lees
(pictured above) told Selectmen at their Monday night meeting. The town can't afford
the upkeep, according to Lees. “If it
is not done (maintenance, repairs and landscaping), good intentions will turn
into a long-term eyesore within the Central Village business district,” he
said. "Sometimes ideas
are just that, ideas." "As late as July
2010, the Mass Supreme Judicial Court has expanded liability for slip and falls,
particularly mentioning sidewalks," Lees said. "For me not being opposed to
this (Central Village sidewalks) would be the equivalent of playing financial
Russian Roulette with a loaded gun." Al Lees. Lees feels the Central
Village sidewalk costs of maintenance and accident liability will fall on the
shoulders of abutters, as the town does not now have the financial resources
for proper maintenance and care of existing roads and sidewalks, nor the
appetite to carry additional liability protection. Selectmen had
considered placing a warrant article before the May town meeting creating a
town sidewalk bylaw that would shift sidewalk cleaning to abutters, but
recently withdrew the article. Lees was concerned
about "spot zoning" unfairly placing a burden on him and other
abutters for the Central Village sidewalks, while leaving other town
sidewalks (Head of Westport, the Point, and Route 6) untouched by a bylaw. "For me not being
opposed to this (Central Village sidewalks) would be the equivalent of playing
financial Russian Roulette with a loaded gun," Lees said. "I will not sign
off on any temporary easements, or any other legal document relating to this,
and if necessary I will have no choice but to pursue any legal avenue to
protect my business and my investment in this town." Reading from a
prepared statement, he asked the Selectmen to avoid any financial or personal
unpleasantness and not vote to allocate any funds for this project.
Left: committee woman Elaine Ostroff
and Select Board member Antone Vieira listen to Al
Lees' rejection of Central Village sidewalks. Right: Co-chair of the Central Village Public Improvements
Committee, David Wallace, defends the committee's efforts to construct
sidewalks in Central Village. Selectmen voted 3 to 2
to move forward with the funding request for $21,738.29. The vote was opposed
by Select Board Chair Richard Spirlet, who didn’t support the use of the
state Chapter 90 money, and Antone Vieira, who said
the project should be re-evaluated. Ostroff said the
project needs to be started soon or else the town could lose the $536,000 in
government funds that have been set aside for the sidewalks. Ostroff and the Select
Board were hopeful that some compromise could be made with Lees Supermarket,
and that "something could be worked out." "I find it hard to believe the kind of issues that
were just raised really can't be solved in the face of making the Village a
safer place to be." David Wallace David Wallace, Co-chair of the Central
Village Public Improvements Committee, rose to defend the project saying the
balance is public safety. "The reason we got involved in this
thing in the beginning was that there were 140 more people living in the
village, ah, in the Villages Apartments. That actually increased three-fold
more residents in the Village." "I find it hard to believe the kind of
issues that were just raised really can't be solved in the face of making the
Village a safer place to be," Wallace told the Selectmen. "That's been the position of the
Committee all along," Wallace said. EverythingWestport.com Thursday, March 22,
2012 photos/EverythingWestport.com Vietnam veterans Richard Benevides (below,
left) and Thomas Oliveira from VVA Chapter 207, part of an honor
guard comprised of the Westport Fire Department and members of Westport's veterans
groups, stand at attention on the Leo St. Onge
Memorial Bridge at Davis Road in Westport, and salute the state
police-escorted procession bringing the body of Westport native Sgt. Michael
A. Bono, 33, home from Dahlonega, GA. Sgt. Bono's body
was carried from T.F. Green Airport through Providence and onto Interstate 195 eastbound
through Fall River and Westport, to the Saunders-Dwyer Funeral Home in New
Bedford. Local fire departments
and veterans groups were placing honor guards at overpasses, including Fall
River's Milliken Boulevard overpass and the Leo St. Onge
Memorial Bridge at Davis Road in Westport Sgt. Bono, an Iraqi senior veteran, was
killed March 17 in a motor vehicle accident while stationed at Camp Merril in Dahlonega, GA. Sgt. Bono's body was
flown into T.F. Green Airport where planeside honors were conducted by Army
personnel and Bono's immediate family.
He was the husband of Heather (Shiner)
Bono. Born in New Bedford, the son of Paul A. and
Suanne (Baker) Bono, he was raised in Westport and lived in Dahlonega, GA. Michael served in the U.S. Army with the
501th Airborne in Iraq and was stationed at Camp Merril
in Dahlonega, GA. He was a graduate of Moses Brown and later
attended Alfred University. His children were his life. Survivors include his wife; his parents;
his twin children, Aiden Bono and Emma Bono; a sister, Lauren Bono of New
Orleans, LA; and several aunts, uncles and cousins. Funeral from the Saunders-Dwyer Home for
Funerals, 495 Park St., New Bedford Friday, March 23rd at 9 a.m. The Patriot
Guard will be holding flags at the funeral home. Funeral Mass at St. Francis of Assisi
Church. Burial will follow in Beech Grove Cemetery,
Westport. Visiting hours will be held on Thursday,
March 22nd from 4 - 8 p.m. at the Saunders-Dwyer Home for Funerals, 495 Park St.,
New Bedford. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made
to Donate Life America, 701 E. Byrd St. 16th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219, or at
www.donatelife.net.
April 3rd Community
forum highlights three non-binding ballot questions. EverythingWestport.com Friday, March 23, 2012 A community forum will
be held next month to give residents the opportunity to debate three of the
ballot questions appearing in the April town election and to hear from
candidates. The forum will take
place Tuesday, April 3, at 6:30 p.m. at the Westport High School and will be
moderated by town moderator Steven Fors. It will
end at 9:30 p.m. The forum, sponsored
by the Westport Middle School
Association, the ROMEOs, and
the Chronicle, will allow the
opportunity to meet candidates running for office, review materials in favor
of and in opposition to each of the ballot questions, and watch or
participate in a debate of those questions. The debate portion
will begin at 7 p.m. with speeches by candidates to follow. Westport residents are
invited to submit applications to initiate the discussion for or against one
of the three ballot questions to be debated: Question 1: Shall the Town of Westport be
allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half,
so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to pay
costs of environmental remediation at the Westport Middle School, including
the payment of all costs incidental and related thereto? Question 2: Shall the Town request the Board
of Selectmen to place a warrant article on the Annual Town Meeting to begin
action to repeal the Community Preservation Act in the Town of Westport.
(This question is non-binding. A vote of town meeting followed by a vote at
the 2013 annual election would also be necessary to repeal the Community
Preservation Act.) Question 3: Shall the Town of Westport want
its water ways, rivers and streams to be designated a Wild & Scenic river
way under the provisions of the Federal Government? Question 4: Not to be discussed at the
meeting is a non-binding question to change the schedule of town meeting to
hold two annual meetings on Saturdays, one of which would be held in the
spring for budgetary issues and a second in the fall for other matters.
Informational materials will, however, be available. Residents wishing to
speak on the ballot question should send an e-mail to westportelection@gmail.com
identifying the ballot question they would like to speak on for 4 minutes,
their position on the question, and a brief background statement as to their
qualifications. Applications must be
received by Thursday March 29, 4 p.m. The selection of
speakers will be made by representatives of the sponsoring organizations.
Speakers will be notified by 5 p.m. on Friday, March 30. Additional speakers
will be selected by lottery at the forum. Annual
Fishermen's Flea Market at the VFW. EverythingWestport.com Sunday, March 25, 2012
There is fishing tackle galore: rods,
reels, lines, and lures; and marine tackle including: rope, cleats, radios,
pumps, and more. Shopping was heavy in the morning according
to flea marketer Russell Hubert of Fall River (inset with his wife Michelle).
The master "reelman" was on hand with
every conceivable fishing reel a body could want. Hey, admission is only a buck, there are refreshments
and raffles, and everybody is welcome. For more information call at George Santos
at 774.644.9512.
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