Citizen Jack

Thoughts for a Better City

I have been extremely remiss this month. Not one post. That does not mean that I have been neglectfull. Just busy.
Flooding is still on my mind. Another flood event has just come and gone in the past week. Many times I have been asked what can be done? Lot’s of people think the City should do more for flood victims. There is some truth to that but not in the way most people perceive the Cities role.
Here is my email to my councilors. I ask for two items to be considered.
Dear Councilors,

The flooding is ending, again. The Red Cross has moved through the neighborhood passing out cleanup kits.

The City will soon start to add up all the associated costs and make a determination of how close can we get to the Federal eight (8) million dollar mark to qualify for cleanup funds.

I live in a flood plain. Here are the Historical Crests for the Spicket River.
(1) 12.14 ft on 05/16/2006– Mothers Day Flood.
Major Flood Stage:12 ft
Moderate Flood Stage:10 ft
(2) 9.86 ft on 3/16/2010
(3) 9.07 ft on 03/24/2001
(4) 9.04 ft on 04/18/2007
National Weather Service Flood Stage:9 ft
(5) 8.83 ft on 04/03/2004
(6) 8.53 ft on 02/27/2010
United States Geological Survey (USGS) Flood Stage:8 ft
(7) 7.54 ft on 05/27/2005
(8) 7.52 ft on 10/16/2005
(9) 7.02 ft on 03/09/2008
(10) 6.53 ft on 03/23/2003
USGS Action Stage:6.5
(11) 5.70 ft on 05/18/2002

Why do I send this information? The answer is simple.

The data shows that every year since 2000, the Spicket has flooded our neighborhoods. The only exception is 2009. The response has always been to total up the City costs and apply for federal funds.

I ask that we become a bit more proactive.

I ask that the most flood prone roads n my area;

Canobieola Road, west of Venice Road for about 200 feet (to the mailbox in front of 45 Canobieola;

Cross Street at the Old pumping Station (where Harris Brook meets the Spicket) and

from Danielian Way ( about 60 Cross Street) to about Pelham Street (near 32/34 Cross Street)

be placed on the Capital Improvement Plan.

I would like these areas re-designed to avoid closure during flood stage. This would allow residents a means of ingress and regress during flood events and reduce the cost of police and fire services during flooding in the long term.
Basically raise the roads above the flood water and provide water flow under these raised roads. This would reduce the closures and use of DPW workers and Police in these areas, each year.

In the mean time, before we can afford to implement these improvements;
I recommend that the Emergency Management and Police and DPW get together and create a volunteer group ( or paid at costs less than patrol officers) of Flood Wardens. Their task would be to put out,under the direction of these departments, the closure saw horses and barrels and in place of police, monitor all flooded streets, allowing two benefits.
The first would be allowing the police and DPW to focus on their currently assigned jobs.
Secondly, it would reduce the costs to the City and not impact public safety adversely.
The concept is similar to flagmen at construction sites but in this instance these persons would be deputized to patrol flooded streets in place of more expensive police.

I thank you for your consideration of my proposals.

I am always available to further discuss these proposals.

So, dear reader, what do you think. Isn’t the role of the City to provide for the Commenweal of it’s populace?
Even understanding that the City, via its own zoning rules and zoning overrides, has had a hand in the flooding, I only ask that the City provide a means of escape from flood water for persons in these flood plains. The City should contain it’s costs by using lower paid personnel or volunteer persons to man the flood gates at streets that become impassable.
I do not ask for the impossible, only the expediant and, over time, most probable actions that the City can take.
These actions can be taken in any location of the City that suffers from annual flood events. I only list my area, as that is what I am most familiar with. Similar action should be contemplated across the City to mitigate the City cost while providing a means of escape for persons who live in these areas.

Again we have had rain. Lot’s of rain.
In fact the rain guage at the USGS station nearest to Methuen showed about 3.5 inches of rain in the past 4 days.
The Spicket River rose.
I have found, by watching the guages, for the last few years that a simple seat-of-the-pants rule can be derived.
For each inch of rain we will see a rise of one foot of water in the Spicket River at Methuen.
The river followed this rule this weekend.
Canobieola Road at Venice Road was washed over from one side to the other.
I have some observations.
There are two guages on the Spicket river. Both guages are in Salem New Hampshire. One is at the Hampshire Road bridge near the Methuen line. The other is in North Salem.
The North Salem guage did not show flood stage. The Methuen guage did show flood stage.
What happens between these guages that causes flooding in south Salem and no flooding in north Salem?
Water flow does not stop at State lines and neither should we. The City of Methuen is part of the macrocosm called the Spicket River watershed.
The other observation is contained in a small chart attached to one of the sites that I view.
It lists the top five high water dates. This weekend knocked the #5 event off that chart.
Here is the chart as it will appear after the website is updated sometime in the coming week.

Historical Crests
(1) 12.14 ft on 05/16/2006
Major Flood Stage:12
Moderate Flood Stage:10
(2) 9.07 ft on 03/24/2001
(3) 9.04 ft on 04/18/2007
(4) 8.83 ft on 04/03/2004
(5) 8.53 ft on 02/27/2010
Flood Stage:8
(6) 7.54 ft on 05/27/2005
(7) 7.52 ft on 10/16/2005
(8) 7.02 ft on 03/09/2008
(9) 6.53 ft on 03/23/2003
Action Stage:6.5
(10) 5.70 ft on 05/18/2002
A quick look at this chart shows that only 2009 did not have a historic crest in the past decade.
Is this caused by all the residential construction? I do not know.
The good news is that apparently the coordination set up between all the dam operators on the Spicket seems to still be working.
I would love to see guages at each dam site to show water height and streamflow.
With all the cutbacks in services it looks like these stream guages are not long for active service. Though I see that the City of Salem New Hampshire helps support the North Salem Guage there is no such support for the guage nearest to Methuen. The City of Methuen should step up, forget about State lines, and help support this important measuring station. For as little as $0.25 per home in Methuen they could create a fund that would help defray the costs of the upkeep of this station for many years to come.

The media has today reported that Governor Patrick claims 14,000 new jobs have been created from the so-called stimulus package.
This is reported at the same time that the unemployement rate ,again, increased in Massachusetts, to 9.1%.
The bottom line is that Job creation, real job creation, long term job creation is lagging sorely behind the layoff curve.
In the article, it was noted that Massachusetts received $4.3 Billion in stimulus money.
A simplistic look would assume that if you receive $4.3 Billion and create 14,000 new jobs, the cost of job creation is $307,142.86 per job. My guess is that we have not created 14,000 six figure jobs in Massachsetts.
If the median income in the state is about $42,062, then we should have been able to create 102,230 new jobs.
This is still woefully short.
The number of unemployed persons in the State is between 270,000 and 450,000, depending upon which data file one looks at and whether one counts the underemployed or not.
The Massachusetts minimum wage law sets a rate at $8 per hour for a 40 hour per week job. This is $320 per week. The stimulus money, at that rate of pay, would have created 13,437,500 new jobs. That is not a real solution either because most people today cannot live on that wage. But somewhere between these numbers is the possibility to create enough jobs to employ and support the currently un and underemployed population of the state.
All those who are now re-employed, I am happy for you but until the job creation rate can start to approach the number of unemployed we are still deeply in the woods and this means people are hurting. They are not being adequately supported by government policy and the money that is being spent may have been better spent. Maybe it could have been sent as a cash gift to each un or underemployed person. This would have been a windfall of $9,500 to $16,000 dollars per person. Sounds like a lot of money, and it is, but it would have been spent and stimulated , oops, there is that word again, the economy.
I am not advocating that as the correct method to use. I only offer it as one alternative that probably has a better chance of being a cost effective method to stimulate job growth.
There are many others. As many solutions as there are people to offer them. What are your solutions? Lets gather them together and send them to our elected officials and see if they can find a better means to get out of this mess.

Note: Please understand that the numbers above do not account for overhead and other expenses associated with job creation. They are examples only and assume a pure dollar for dollar transfer of funding to job growth. I understand that there are other factors involved.

I receive, just as you do, lots of emails that are chain-letter types. I do not support chain letters and they all end with me.
However, I read them to see what they are about and sometimes I check into them for friends who send them to me.
I use www.snopes.com to check veracity. They do an excellent job.

Here is a chain letter I received this week from a friend. She just said,” looks interesting, thought you should read”.

It is right up my alley.
I have stated and believe that Congress should not be exempt from any laws that they pass.
They likewise should pass law that includes and not exempts them.

The most recent example, health care.
Congress has debated and passed two versions of a Health care package.
The problem is, no matter which side of the debate you are on, they,Congress, are not recipients of this bill.
They still have some of the best health care in the world.
Either they should grant all americans the same health care that they get or they should get the same health care they are foisting upon us.

Here is the chain letter I received. read it and think about it.
It is a sentiment and not a reality.
We do not seem to have the legislators who rise to the “Profiles in Courage” level to propose this in the chambers.

This is such a simple thing to do. Read all the way to the end. I hope you see the value of the simple statement.

Have each person contact a minimum of twenty people on their address list,
in turn ask each of those to do likewise.
Then in three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message.
This is one proposal that really should be passed around.

Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution:

“Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and,
Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States .”

Found this section of the Mass DEP website. They list Orders and Consent Decrees issued during a year.

I sorted, using the Find function, by Methuen and this came up for last year , 2009.

2/18/09: MassDEP issued a Unilateral Order and $14,000 Penalty Assessment Notice to Kim’s Cleaners for Hazardous Waste and Air Quality violations in Methuen. MassDEP randomly selected and inspected the facility in September, 2007 as chosen by the Environmental Results Program. A Notice of Noncompliance was issued in October, 2007 due to air quality and hazardous waste violations observed during the inspection. A follow-up inspection determined that the violations were continuing at Kim’s Cleaners. An enforcement conference was held and a negotiated penalty determined in August 2008. Kim’s Cleaners, however, failed to sign a Consent Order with Penalty. As a result of the violations observed and the subsequent unsuccessful negotiation, MassDEP issued today’s actions to Kim’s Cleaners

This was the only address that came up on a Google Search for Kim’s Cleaners in Methuen.
Kim’s Cleaners
85 Swan St
Methuen, MA 01844-5048
(978) 685-4979

Then I located this one;

3/9/09: MassDEP executed a Consent Order with a $39,800 Penalty involving R & D Development Realty, LLC, for Wetlands violations off Howe Street in Methuen. The property is currently under development by R & D as a residential single and multi family subdivision with an 18-hole golf course.[Emerald Pines Golf Club] In August 2008, MassDEP found during a regular inspection (and a third party monitor) that insufficient stormwater and erosion controls had resulted in sedimentation to bordering vegetated wetland (BVW) at seven separate areas of the site. Additionally, a small amount of incorrect clear cutting and grading altered BVW in an additional area resulting with all BVW impact totaling 4,425 square feet. The violations also included non-compliance with a local permit (order of conditions) and a water quality certificate issued by MassDEP for this project. Today’s Order requires full restoration (some of which was immediately performed through removal of siltation) and long term monitoring. MassDEP has agreed to suspend $29,800 of the Penalty pending full compliance by 10/31/13.

The wetlands portion of the program is overseen by;
Wetlands Preservation, Inc. (WPI)
47 Newton Road
Plaistow, NH 03865
603 382-3435
and also at;
475 Ipswich Road
Boxford, MA 01921
978 352-7903
Fax: 603 382-3435

The President of WPI is Curtis R Young of Plaistow. He is a CERTIFIED Wetland SCIENTIST registered with the STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE Board of Natural Scientists.

This project will require six (6) wells ,[Word doc],to support the landscape of the Golf Course. Hope the wells will be properly documented and registered with the Board of Health.

Then there are two seperate notices for the Appleyards property

3/16/09: MassDEP executed a Consent Order with the city of Methuen for Waste Site Cleanup violations at 7 Lowell Street in Methuen. As owners of the property, the city has agreed to deadlines for submitting phased cleanup reports and a final response outcome. The site originally reported the gasoline release in 1991, and today’s enforcement action will lead to the cleanup of gasoline and fuel oil-contaminated groundwater and soil emanating from the removal of an underground storage tank and an above ground storage tank.

11/10/09: MassDEP entered into an Amended Consent Order with a $2,000 Penalty with the city of Methuen for Waste Site Cleanup violations at 7 Lowell Street in Methuen. As owners of the property, the city has agreed to cleanup requirements and MassDEP and the city have agreed to an extended timeline for a phase four remedy implementation plan. In addition, the city agreed to submit a final response action outcome statement to complete the cleanup of the site. This site has been in MassDEP’s release notification system since 1991. The property was a former trucking site.
Today’s enforcement action will lead to the final cleanup of gasoline-contaminated groundwater and soil at the site and construction of a park.

Must have misunderstood the city plans to put a parking lot there. Oh, the order is a typo. It meant construction of a park for cars.

Wouldn’t it be nice of the City to publish the extended timeline and the Implementation plan.

The United States Supreme Court, without the use of stem cells has created a new person.
What science has been unable to do and what so many have feared, since Mary Shelley,and Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus has come into existence.
Starbucks, Sears, Roebuck and Comcast or Verizon are now people.
They have the right of free speech.
In a decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission the Supreme Court has taken what normal people considered as an entity and what lawyers refer to as a person and given it life.
Only someone trained in the law could take a term that was used to compare a sole proprietorship and a corporate structure and imbue it with life.
Can a corporation now register to vote? Can it register for the draft when it reaches 18 years of age? Can a corporation be stillborn?
First, a corporation may, before the bar, be considered as a person, or single entity, but I wont perform any marriage ceremony for two of them to marry, no matter their inclination.
How far removed from reality must we get to consider money as a form of speech and then to take a comparative term, person, and breathe life into it.
If you do not see the logic in this Court decision, contact your Congress person and Senator.
You can contact MassPirg, Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group. They have a notice which you can sign onto about this decision.

I was reading about immigration in the Lawrence Eagle Tribune. The article was written by an AP (Associated Press) writer. It is not on-line at the Tribune site but is at the Boston Herald. I noticed that there are all types of advocacy groups.

I began to find links to these groups and will provide them here.
Now you can review the groups site and get a better idea about issues affecting immigration.

An informed public is always the best course of action.
Massachusetts is home to around 1 million foreign-born residents, or 14 percent of the state’s population.
Here are some links;
Massachusetts Immigrants & Refugee Advocacy Coalition

Chelsea Collaborative

Berkshire Immigrant Center

Federation of American Immigration Reform, or FAIR

Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform

There is a bill before the U.S. Congress dealing with Immigration reform.
The proposal seeks to legalize undocumented immigrants by requiring them to learn English, register with the federal government, pay a $500 fine for each adult, pass background checks and meet other requirements
It is called the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity (CIR ASAP) Act of 2009 (H.R. 4321).
Lots of reading but can be viewed at; Text of H.R. 4321: CIR ASAP Act of 2009.

I am adding the following because women are a large group of immigrants and underserved. The article mentions this program and a quote from Carol Hardy-Fanta, director is included.
Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston.

Keep an open mind.

Should we provide in state tuition and driver licenses for undocumented immigrants?

In order for a municipality to succeed in “containing” it’s rising health care costs, it must take a holistic approach to it’s employees.
This does not mean offering a smorgasboard of services but offering services and incentives to the employee and their family members.
Business Week recently published an article about how Human Resource departments, in the private sector, are now realizing the gains to be achieved.
Similar gains can be achieved in the Public sector but it will require real management commitment and leadership.
Read the article here. [Health Care: Human Resources Targets Your Family]
Then contact your municipal representatives and ask them what they are doing to reduce costs and make the employee and their family more health conscious.
All steps to increase fitness and better nutritional programs have a positive impact on the expense side of the health care budget equation.

Jumping jacks, anyone?????