Friday, May 18, 2012
Water service is expected to be restored by at least day's end.
Friday before 9 am resident Victor Foresta looked down from his kitchen window and saw a stream gushing across Puritan Road. The stream, an estimated 8-inches deep, coursed to the nearby Whales Beach path and poured into the ocean. "It looked like a tsunami going backwards," he said, surveying a layer of silt in front of his house. Police, fire and DPW crews arrived to the scene and barricaded Puritan Road, set up details and closed line gates to shut down the flow of water. DPW Director Gino Cresta said about 20 homes are without water. The homes are on Puritan Road and Lincoln House Point. The director called in Meninno Construction to dig up the road and repair the line. He expects water service to be restored before day's end. On …
Stacked container cars will form a building for the set, enclosing the pool which will be set off the ground.
The Grown Ups 2 movie set at Phillips Park will include an "in-ground pool" set well above ground. Ten-foot-high shipping container cars stacked at Phillips Park Thursday were forming walls for the Hollywood set being constructed on the practice football field behind the Bertram House. The set will host multiple days of filming pool scenes. These scenes were once targeted for Piper Field in Marblehead but are now to be shot in Swampscott. The set construction has a long ways to go before any stars in the movie cast that includes Adam Sandler, David Spade, Taylor Lautner, Chris Rock and Salma Hayek float, flop or swim in a pool. When they do take to the water, the action will be off the ground on an elevated pool set inside those shipping…
Thursday, May 17, 2012
A GOP poll that showed Richard Tisei in the lead may have not been what it seemed, and Team Tierney is calling foul.
Congressional candidate Richard Tisei released polling results to the media this week that showed the Republican challenger with a 7-point lead over incumbent Congressman John Tierney. But that polling data, compiled by GOP pollster John McLaughlin, may not be accurate. As it turns out, the poll dramatically over-represents Republicans. The same poll had Sen. Scott Brown with a 24-point lead over Elizabeth Warren (in most other polls statewide those two are in a statistical tie). Blue Mass Group took to Twitter with their suspicions. Then McLaughlin himself reportedly admitted to the Salem News that his pollover-represents Republicans and under-represents Democrats and independents. Tisei’s pollster admitted in an interview published today…
Swampscott Animal Control Officer Diane Treadwell has seen a spike in abandoned animals and is looking for residents who will open their homes to these animals on a temporary basis, serving as foster homes.
This has been a busy spring for strays and a tough time for finding them homes. Swampscott Animal Control Officer Diane Treadwell begs, borrows and does anything else she can to find temporary homes for animals hit hard by tough economic times. But with the increase in animals needing homes she is seeking volunteers willing to open their doors as foster homes, primarily for cats. She has rescued four animals — three cats and one dog — in four weeks. They are found hungry and crying for food on porches or the road side. One of those kitties was Bentley, a hungry black-and-white cat found on Salem Street three weeks ago. Bentley was lucky. There was room for one more cat at the Marblehead animal shelter, at 44 Village St. Lately the …
Town officials are preparing for a water study and exploring additional funding for flood control.
The Hawthorne Brook Neighborhood Association told selectmen Wednesday that they hope the town will dredge retaining ponds used for flood control as soon as possible. Selectmen, who were meeting in their strategic planning session at Town Hall, said the town administrator was gathering cost estimates for a water study and seeking additional funding for flood control. Town meeting approved $350,000 for Hawthorne Brook maintenance and $40,000 for a lower Paradise Road water study. The brook maintenance project is expected to include dredging ponds whose water-holding capacity have been severely diminished due to sedimention build-up and vegetation. Selectman Jill Sullivan thinks there might well be some funding available for technical …
Selectman Barry Greenfield drew on single-family home prices and other data for his comparison.
You might be surprised to find out how much less expensive living in Swampscott is compared to Marblehead, said town Selectman Barry Greenfield. The selectman took Boston Magazine's 2011 report on single-family home prices and "compared the cost of living in Marblehead to Swampscott for both 20 and 30 year periods, including property taxes added to the cost of a home purchase (which most people don't do)." The selectman said many people will be "shocked to learn how much less expensive it is to live in Swampscott." In 2011, the average cost of a single-family home in Marblehead was $510,000 vs. $348,000 in Swampscott. The tax rate in Marblehead is $10.52; and the tax rate in Swampscott is $17.99. So, for the Marblehead house, annual …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Here is a list of the salaries, overtime, detail pay and totals for Swampscott school and town employees in 2011.
Here is a list of the salaries, overtime, detail pay and totals for Swampscott school and town employees in 2011.
The town and Columbia Pictures have signed an agreement allowing the temporary use of a section of Phillips Park and other locations in town.
Action on Bondelevitch Way. The first stirrings of what will become a swimming pool set for Grown Ups 2 are underway with the arrival of heavy equipment, fill and survey crews to Phillips Park. Now that the town has an agreement in place with Columbia Pictures for the temporary use of town properties, expect more and more stirrings, culminating with the arrival of stars. Town Administrator Thomas Younger said the town will receive $248,000 from the movie people for the temporary lease of property through Aug. 17. That agreement includes $175,000 for the use of the practice football field and a portion of the parking lot at Phillips Park, as well as the parking lot at the former Temple Israel property on Humphrey Street. It includes $40,…
Monday, May 14, 2012
The resident wants the Attorney General's Office to review her complaint and rule on whether there was a violation of the state's Open Meeting and Public Record Law on Tuesday on the second night of Town Meeting.
Resident Mary DeChillo alleges the Board of Health met without posting their meeting and has asked the Attorney General's Office to rule on whether a violation of the state's Open Meeting and Public Record Law took place. Ultimately, DeChillo, a former School Committee member, wants the Board of Health members to adhere to the Open Meeting law when making public policy, her complaint states. She also believes "all public officials should receive more training in the execution of Open Meeting and Public Record Laws." Board of Health Chairman Martha Dansdill said yesterday that she has not seen the complaint and would withhold comment until she reads it. DeChillo filed the complaint form with the Swampscott town clerk on Wednesday, as …
Friday, May 11, 2012
When an insurance carrier told the town about month ago that it was dropping Swampscott due to excessive claims the town had to subsequently increase its Fiscal 2013 budget for insurance coverage by $300,000.
The Town Meeting crowd seemed to gasp in unison Tuesday when the Finance Committee chairman announced that the town's budget line for insurance had to be increased by $300,000. Finance Committee Chairman Michael McClung explained that the town's insurance carrier had dropped Swampscott for making excessive claims, he said. These claims have included one for the middle school roof and another for the failure at the town pumping station last fall. The departure of Trident insurance, as of July 1, leaves the town with one carrier, he said. The change in coverage was cause for the committee to recommend an increase in the proposed insurance spending from $350,000 to $650,000, to make sure the town has adequate funds for insurance premiums in…
Ernist Lubivitch
9:56 am on Friday, May 18, 2012
what a nice group these movie people are. Stopped by the old temple sinai where all the trucks were parked and asked a few questions...was told "this is private property get out of here." Nice way to treat the neighbors. more ›