Wet, Dry and Things That Fly

One Suitor So Far For The Swampscott Tarantula

The Swampscott animal control officer received a phone message from an ASPCA person who inquired about having the tarantula shipped to a far-off destination.

  Swampscott Animal Control Officer Diane Treadwell is not fond of arachnids but she has been getting use to caring for the tarantula found Monday at the Swampscott Cemetery. So far she has received one inquiry from a person interested in adopting the tarantula, which she has nicknamed Harry Houdini. That call was a phone message left from an ASPCA representative who is interested in having Harry shipped to their location. Harry is eating well and got a bath of sorts on Monday night — a misting, mist sprayed from a bottle of water, said the animal control officer. A few more details have emerged about how Harry came into the town's possession. On Monday morning a former Department of Public Works employee, Steve Caproni, had parked over by…

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Freedom Gets It Done In Swampscott

Essex County inmates enrolled in a community service program spent last week clearing sidewalks of brush and weeds and doing other work in Swampscott. Their labor freed up DPW crews for other projects.

  These guys have a lot to lose if they screw up and a lot to gain if they play by the rules. The Essex County short-timers said what they gained last week by working in Swampscott was freedom. "It relaxes the mind to get out," said Tommy Ventura, 27, of Derry, NH. "It's just a little bit of freedom," said his brother, Alexander Ventura, 25, of Pelham. "It gets you out — for sunshine," said Joe Dudley, 40, of Lynn. The eight inmates are in the prerelease program at The Farm, an Essex County minimum security correctional facility in Lawrence. Town Selectmen David Van Dam, chief of staff for the mayor in Haverhill, said inmates from The Farm do community service in Haverhill. So, he thought, maybe they could do some work in Swampscott. …

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Snow In Sight

DPW is preparing for possible snowfall tonight and on Saturday.

  It looks like Swampscott could get its first appreciable snowfall of 2012 overnight and again on Saturday during the day. Public Works Director Gino Cresta said Thursday at noon that he was hearing a prediction of 1-3 inches tonight and conflicting reports for Saturday. Saturday's predictions include calls for 1 to 3 inches or as much as 6 inches. In any event, four salt and sand trucks will hit local roads tonight, he said. Cresta will monitor the situation on Saturday and call in crews as needed. The department will be hooking up plows tomorrow. So far this season, the department has spent only about $15,000 of its $150,000 budget for snow removal. That includes money for overtime, contractors, sand and salt. This year's savings, so …

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Water Line Repair Underway on Burrill

The head of DPW hopes to have service restored by the end of the day.

  About 20 customers — a combination of residences and businesses — have been without water Tuesday during repairs to a leak in a service line, said DPW Director Gino Cresta. Water to the customers was shut off about 11 am to allow for repairs to a leaking service line at 143 Burrill St. The DPW director hopes to have water service restored by the end of the day, he said. The problem was a slow leak in a service line. The fix is replacing the leaking pipe, he said.

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Putting Swampscott to Bed For Winter

On Wednesday a DPW crew on Monument Avenue wrapped the town boxwoods that spell Swampscott. It's a fall ritual, one of several the town carries out before winter.

A silt fence shrouds the town boxwoods. The wooden floats that creaked and bobbed at the end of the town pier now sit in the Fisherman's Beach parking lot. Soon DPW crews will flush water from irrigation pipes at Lower Jackson field. They'll hitch heavy yellow plows to trucks. Winter is around the corner. The fence, float removals and line flushing prepare for the cold season, protecting the shrubs, landings and fields for next year. On Wednesday, Dave Gustavsen raised a 5-pound sledge. Tree warden Gene Gardiner held the fence and a wooden stake. The crew moved counterclockwise. They unfurled silt fence and pounded stakes to shelter the boxwoods from cold salty air, snow and ice. The shrubs are pruned to spell S-W-A-M-P-S-C-O-T-T. For the …

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Floats Pulled for Winter

A Department of Public Works crew hauled the landings out Thursday. The six floats sit stacked in a corner of the parking lot at Fisherman's Beach.

A DPW crew pulled floats from the town pier Thursday, marking the end of another boating season at Fisherman's Beach. The crew took advantage of extremely high water — almost 12 feet. They had the floats hauled to the parking lot and stacked in their corner by mid-afternoon, a few hours after the 11:45 am high tide, DPW Director Gino Cresta said. The crew detached the bobbing and creaking floats, hand-towed them to the boat ramp and chained them to a front loader for a ride to the corner. The director wanted the landings out before the weekend. Stormy weather is predicted. This was their second time out of the harbor in 2011. The first was the end of August before Hurricane Irene struck.  Even so, other heavy weather and wear have worn the…

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Where Oh Where?

Where Oh Where Winner

Last Wednesday we asked Where Oh Where was the contest photo located. Pete Flaherty was first to answer correctly — DPW.

We asked Where Oh Where was this location in Swampscott?  Pete Flaherty was first to answer correctly — DPW.  Congratulations, Pete. Please send us your address so we'll know where to send your prize.  Check back tomorrow for our next Where Oh Where question. This contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter, just submit your answer in the comments section below. All entries must be received by midnight tonight, Eastern Time. Readers may only offer one answer per week. The winner will receive a $5 gift card to a local business. To view the officials rules and regulations, click here.

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Water Main Break Carves Sinkhole on Humphrey

The section was repaired and water service restored by 11:30 am.

A water main break early this morning cut off service to the Bertram House, carved a sinkhole and slowed traffic on Humphrey Street. The line ruptured about 4:30 am, said Public Works Director Gino Cresta. A piece on the bottom of the 100-year-old cast-iron pipe blew out and a 13-foot section cracked, the director said. DPW shut down the water gate, stemming the flow of water, and called in a contractor, Meninno Construction. A Meninno crew dig up the ground, replaced the broken pipe and filled the hole. Rushing water undermined the surface at the roadside, creating a sinkhole four feet deep and about eight feet long, Cresta said. DPW crews have been working and continue to work long hours clearing and hauling debris after Tuesday's flood …

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12:20 PM UPDATE: Stay Clear of Flooded Basement Electrical Panels and Boilers [PHOTOS and VIDEO]

Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency representatives are expected to survey damage in town this afternoon.

As of 12:20 Homeowners with basements flooded to the point where electircal panels and oil heating systems are threatened should call 911 and seek assistance, said Town Administrator Andrew Maylor. There could be a risk of electrocution in some instances, he said. The fire department has been responding to these calls all morning, he said. Either firefighters or National Grid will respond to these problems. DPW Director Gino Cresta reports that four local roads include sections that still remain unpassable. The town's drinking water is safe to drink as it was not impacted by the flooding, he said. The town pumping station, relying on a by-pass system since last week's wastewater flooding, is running at full capacity but is holding out, he …

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Terry Date

6:21 pm on Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Thanks Nicki, Rick, Tom and Kerin. A raft of great photos.   more ›

Officials Investigating a Sewer Line Break

Officials are trucking raw sewage to Lynn this morning.

The main sewer line that pumps sewage from town to the Lynn Treatment Plant has been compromised, DPW officials have confirmed. According to Department of Public Works Director Gino Cresta, they are not sure where the actual break in the line is or how it happened. "We are still working on that," Cresta said. "Once we get the levels down, we should be able to find out." Cresta said currently, they are pumping the raw sewage via vacuum and trucking it to the Lynn Treatment Plant. Cresta said the department will be coming out with a statement sometime this afternoon. Swampscott Patch will bring more information as it is known.  

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