Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Weston/Dan Murray/BOS/CPC

The latest pronouncement by town counsel Dan Murray on the Weston Town Forest issue represents a morass of virtually incomprehensible linguistic babble. The only nugget I was able to glean from it is that Mr. Murray has access to a dictionary or two and uses that as a basis for his legal decisions. What it in actuality it amounts to is a rather thinly constructed attempt to somehow justify his original opinion that was a remarkable few paragraphs devoid of any common sense.
To sum it up for the research limited Murray many a town forest has a disc golf course and other forms of non-passive activities. If for some reason Mr. Murray actually has a working TRS-80 a cruise on the internet will show that and a dictionary will not. But the real issue is if disc golf is non-passive? To some it is and to others, it is not and that is generally the entire passive argument – the eye of the beholder – with the one solid connection being non-motorized.
I spoke with an attorney who said that at Weston some could interpret hiking as passive, but if I choose to run it would be non-passive. A finite definition, but one to show how convoluted such defining attempts can be. In many instances, horseback riding is considered non-passive and environmentaly destructive. To further the potential idiocy of the argument my legal source said that you could have a nature area accessible only by a boardwalk and that boardwalk could be deemed to have more of a minimal environmental impact and thus the entire area becomes off-limits.
Now I am beginning to sound like attorney Murray.
Enough has been stated regarding the two decisions from the TC. Personally, it appears the original was tailored to suit an argument against disc golf for whatever reason I do not know, but local conspiracy theories abound.
The Weston Committee – of which I am a member – is stagnant and without any authority. My own personal pet project is a boardwalk that would make an area known as Cedar Point accessible year round. Originally part of an Eagle Scout project that has been redefined the boardwalk still remains a priority and other options are being examined.
The first was to have a professionally installed boardwalk done by the Audubon and that would be priced at about $70 per foot. A second option is now in the developmental stages with a request into AmeriCorps for their building of one – about 50 feet. That, of course, is dependent upon massive paperwork and approval of a relatively small scale project. The sloppy method cannot be dismissed as thirty feet of a bog bridge and a few well-placed pallets would accomplish the task. Certainly no award winning architectural designs with that approach.
The importance of such a minor project is really rather major. The area to be accessed once had a bench – little remains – that was used my Mr. Weston to simply sit and enjoy nature. The idea was once the boardwalk was established a marble bench could replace the remains and be dedicated to the benefactor – providing, of course, no serious public uprisings sprout up over such a project.
That is just one idea that is being examined and there are others to utilize the two properties. In the past, even a scout camp was discussed along with a soccer field. Those are distant memories and thankfully never happened. Now the focus can be on a playground, trail expansion, picnic areas and possible easier access to the pond.
Now for more rant directed at some collective ineptness.
The real issue is money and the reluctance for the BOS to actually start funding a few projects by opening up the purse strings that Weston so generously left. As it now stands Attorney Murray has interpreted the Weston Will in such a manner that the committee is one without any influence. We can advise and that is essentially it. How ludicrous is this mess? Our clerk has not been paid since September of 2014.
A small stipend that the Town Manager, BOS and Mr. Murray cannot figure out how to appropriate without a method that would make the Founding Fathers pack up and leave Philadelphia in 1776. This is inexcusable. Maybe we have to start a PAC?
Middleboro has bragging rights that are now memorized: “The second largest land area in Massachusetts.” How about adding on the most neglected, underutilized, underfunded, and poorly maintained land area in the region. That is a FACT!
The latest discovery that I found out about is the gated portion of Rocky Gutter Street that runs through the middle of the WMA (Wildlife Management Area) is under town control. However, the DFW (Fish & Wildlife) is adamant about leaving the entire area untouched. No trail reconstruction or maintenance. This is their policy.
According to a representative of DFW any trails and they use it in quotes are old logging roads or illegally cut trails by ATV’s. In actuality, the majority of the roadways/trails was the result of bog operations with only a minimal of roads being the result of logging. What the DFW ignores is the necessity that some or all be maintained as fire roads.
The CPC is now a subsidiary of the Oliver House Committee and clearly demonstrates everything that I envisioned could possibly go wrong with CPA. It is now a mere fiscal conduit for the militant preservations who are the core of the Oliver House Committee. If I only knew then what I know now.

6 comments:

Hal Brown said...

Maybe you can get a group of armed protestors, like Cliven Bundy in eastern Oregon (our eastern half is like the wild, wild west). Maybe you could sit under a blue tarp with a rifle like the late, barely lamented, Robert "LaVoy” Finicum. You could give an exclusive interview to my pal Alice.

Meanwhile, no political rants?

I am amusing myself posting my opinions every morning on my www.halbrown.org second best blog in the universe - I just added photos to go with opinions on halbrown.org - http://halbrown.org

I implore you and your cadre of loyal readers to help promote this blog by reading it and if they like it, to send the link to their friends and enemies.

ojdidit1994 said...

The political rants would come down to the current array of flotsam and jetsam that are polluting our environment far worse than any toxic spill. My ire usually centers on Trump and Hillary who I will avoid comment on since I do not use profanity online.

I posted on your blog - a stylish one - compared to my pedestrian efforts, but, then again, I am soooo content oriented. I hope my post somehow reached your massive audience. I posted twice - with slight changes - since I didn't see anything. I know that you must that approve content so exercise editorial magic wands and choose one or the other - like Ginger or Mary Ann.

Hal Brown said...

Yeah, my massive audience…. I doubt anyone besides you figured out you have to scroll way down to the bottom of the page to get to the comments section.

Check out my piece on Kasich and let me know what you think.

www.halbrown.com

ojdidit1994 said...

Hopefully, you will get this, Hal, since I will attempt to also post it on your site. I read your Daily Kos (The national answer to the Middleboro Gazette)column. I will avoid the posters on DK which is exactly what I would expect from their readership. Anyways, as you stated in a post, there is not much vetting on the national scene with Kasich. You claim he is a moderate and in the context of today's Republican Party he is. What attracts me to Kasich is he is a fiscal conservative. I pay little attention to the abortion issue - an appalling concept - since that is already firmly legislated. The same applies to Gay marriage - which I don't really care about. What I do care about is what his approach will be to immigration, budget, military spending, welfare dependency (both corporate and individual), interventionist foreign policy, trade, tax reform - which is my personal issue - and the ongoing issues with terrorism. I don't care who he slept with or to see his spouse nude.

If the Republicans go "Old School" and have a brokered convention then you could see Kasich surface. He also appears a rather pleasant and likeable individual which is about the only one left on both sides. Even tempered and we all know that one must be part PR and glib in this day and age.

Is he a weak candidate? They all are. I have never seen such a flawed bunch. Is it the water? Inbreeding? Alien intervention? But Kasich managed to do reasonably well in Ohio. Certainly no Taft or Metzenbaum, but a decent hard working type. Somewhat of a policy wonk and that could be trouble in debates.

The polls I will generally ignore until September and then I will only pay attention to Nate Silver.

Hal Brown said...

A few things: One of the commenters on the Daily Kos repost of my piece rote:

cdg333 Mar 29 · 11:17:14 AM
I know the man. Kasich is completely unlikeable, an egomaniac and as arrogant as you will ever find. I fear him in the White House more than Cruz or Trump, to be honest. He’s a vengeful ideologue. Anyone who disagrees with him is unworthy. Thought he should have been president in 2000. Taking credit for less-than-robust job numbers in Ohio which are worse than those in 42 other states. I have seen him go off on waitresses; I have heard stories about him degrading service workers; I have seen him use the most vulgar language loudly in a family restaurant to the point that other diners actually confronted him (and this was as our Governor.) Run from this man.

Aliens: Be nice if benevolent aliens would rescue us. There may already be an orange skinned alien running for president.

Questions about Middlesborough:

Is Jane still editor of The Gazette?

Does Bumpkin still write a column there? I have to give him credit for finding something to write regarding Middleboro, even if he had to search through dumpsters behind Willy’s to find something to expound on. I didn’t see it only as it all seems to be a subsection of South Coast Weakly.

Is Alice still writing for The Spenterprise?

Do you ever read Bumpkin’s blog? If so, is it interesting? I can’t get into it, you need to be invited but there’s no way I can find to ask to be invited.

ojdidit1994 said...

Here is the BB link since you are looking at the "old" site. BB's latest blog is just articles from the Gazette although he says he will start to expand it a bit into politics. BB considers the Jimmy Carter years as a great presidency so I will certainly find his viewpoints amusing.

http://nemasket.net/

I saw that comment on the DK and just a modicum of research shows some serious casino like cherry picking of facts. The poster is - no doubt - one who considers anyone to his right as some type of fascist reactionary. Anecdotal input from a single anonymous "source" means little - especially when the axe they grind is quite large.

With Kasich, he does have the somewhat hard scrabble background growing up. Kasich also has that illustrious connection to some firms that make be dry vomit (Lehman Brothers), but to dig into Hillary his compensation was less than she would get for a speech.

Jane retired from the Gazette about a year ago, but occasionally writes for them. Alice, I am not sure about. I have seen a byline occasionally. The Enterprise is most assuredly a waste of money and time. Terrible daily. The Fuller family would be embarrassed.

I have difficulty posting on your site. I go to the bottom left and enter a comment and have tried my Google account to anonymous and get nothing.