September
11, 2009 — "The storm drains have been affected," said Lt. Carl Harris
from his command post on Wilson Street at Tennessee Gas today, regarding
the effect of a diesel fuel spill from a generator at the company. A
half-hour later, the department reported that the fuel did not reach the
next junction, but they put oil absorbent materials down nonetheless.
The fuel that poured down the driveway of the facility and into the
drains was quickly contained by workers at the scene, until the
Hopkinton Fire Department arrived to sop up fluid that was on top of the
pavement. The fluid in the drains, said one firefighter, will be removed
by Clean Harbors, who were called to the scene. Hopkinton firefighters
cleared four hours later.
A reader writes:
Dog Found
This morning at about 6:15, my parents found a
lost dog on Hayden Rowe Street near Park Street / the common.
It is a beagle that looks young.
He has a striped collar. We are holding him here but he is crying.
Call HopNews
508-435-5534 and we will reunite you.
UPDATE: "Simon" has been reunited with his owner.
9/16
7:30pm
The first monthly meeting of the season for the Hopkinton Democratic
Town Committee. All registered Democrats are urged to stop in.
@ the fire station on Main St.
FRAUD ALERT
The
Hopkinton Police Department would like to alert the community,
especially senior citizens, to a threat of fraud. The following scenario
was reported in a neighboring community to the Town of Hopkinton.
The caller
(suspect) will call and make you believe that s/he is working for a
volunteer veteran’s affairs organization. S/He will request a donation
be made to his/her group and that s/he will pick this up at your house.
S/He will ask you to leave the donation on your front porch in an
envelope.
Do not become a
victim. This is reported to be a scam. If you ever have a question about
the validity of a call requesting a donation or gift please investigate
further. Do not wire money to anyone unless you are absolutely positive
and sure who the money or check is going to, where it is going and for
what purpose.
Don’t ever give
out any of the following information;
• Your social
security number
•
Personal Identification Number for your bank card
•
Or
any other personal information unless you trust who you area
speaking with
•
Any form of currency that cannot be easily traced and
accounted for
The internet has
enabled a whole new brand of thieve that can prey on unsuspecting
innocent people without the suspect every having to show their face.
Suspects will often use anniversary dates like September 11th
to target unsuspecting people.
If you have any
questions please do not hesitate to call the Hopkinton Police Department
at 508-497-3401.
Practice
Makes Perfect
September 10,
2009 — Members of Massachusetts District 14 Technical Rescue Team
consisting of firefighters from Hopkinton, Southborough, Milford,
Ashland, and Framingham train in trench rescue at the New England
Laborers training facility in Hopkinton. Training was held on two days
this week for 25 team members in making a collapsed trench safe, and
safely extricating a victim.Photos by Hopkinton Firefighter Fran Clark.
Below, a dummy is pinned by a fallen cement cover, but is protected from
any further collapse from the sides of the trench.
Now is a Good Time to Have the Chimney
Cleaned
Miss your Stove
Shoppe? Call Emener Stove Shoppe
Planning Board Has
Full Plate Monday
Hopkinton
Square on hold due to economy
September
20, 2009 — On Monday, the Planning Board will hear from Legacy
Farms LLC, which will ask for a continuance of their Master Plan
Special Permit application until October 19. Owner Boulder Capital
has been negotiating for refinancing of the loan for the property with
Wells Fargo, which took over the debt from Wachovia. Until they get the
refinancing, owner Roy MacDowell has said, they have been advised not to
put any more money into the development, which will result in 940
dwelling units at full build-out and 450,000
square
feet of Commercial/retail space.
According to a memo to the Planning Board from Planning Director Elaine
Lazarus, CJPM Development, LLC, owned by Chuck Joseph and former
Hopkinton resident Peter Markarian (2007 File photo, seated from left),
the partners have requested a two year extension of their Hopkinton
Square development, a 100,000 square foot retail and office site plan
approval at the corner of West Main and South Streets. The approval,
given on September 27, 2009, expires on September 25, 2009, the two-year
life span of any site plan approval.
According to Ms. Lazarus, the developers wrote, “due to the poor
economic climate over the past year there has not been enough leasing
interest to warrant our starting construction. Although, recently there
has been more encouraging economic news, we believe that it could be
another 1 ˝ to 2 years before retailers recover sufficiently to commit
to our site. We continue to aggressively market the site but are told
that most retailers’ expansion plans are indefinitely on hold.”
A Public Hearing for a Shared and Off-Site Parking Special Permit
for the proposed restaurant at 15 Main Street, Zio's Bistro, will
likely take most of the board's time, as this will be the first hearing
under that new bylaw. The agreement will involve the new restaurant
using 18 spaces at Colella's and 6 spaces at 38-42 Main Street/5 Walcott
Street. That address includes the empty and overgrown lot on Main
Street owned by John Burns, which has finished spaces accessible on Walcott Street.
There have
been no plans made public to improve the overgrown lot.
Rapid
Response
September
10, 2009 — Three additional cruisers responded to a traffic stop by
Officer Stephen Buckley on Lumber Street. No charges resulted.
Buying? Selling? Call one of our experts.
Things are starting to Move!!!
H
O M E S
H O M E S
H O M E S
H O M E S
Calling
All MetroWest Business Women
The kickoff meeting for NEW
- Network Of Enterprising Women will be held this coming Monday,
September 14th from 8:30am-10:00am at the Congregational Church, Rte
135, Hopkinton. Come and enjoy a complimentary continental
breakfast, hear what NEW is all about and have a valuable
opportunity to network with other MetroWest women. For more info on
us, please visit our website;
KAY-COR CONTTRACTORS, INC.,
UNDER CONTRACT WITH THE DPW WILL BE REPLACING DAMAGED SIDEWALK SQUARES
ON THE NORTH SIDE OF MAIN STREET (FROM MESERVE ST. TO CEDAR ST.) ON
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14TH, WEATHER DEPENDENT.
THE WORK WILL TAKE
APPROXIMATELY ONE WEEK
WE ASK YOU TO BE CAUTIOUS
AROUND THE WORK AREA
WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE
INCONVENIENCE
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, CALL
DPW
(508) 497 9740
J.T. Gaucher, P.E., Director
Department of Public Works
Water
Resource Commission Makes it Official: Wastewater to Milford Okay
WMRC
Radio reports deal in jeopardy
September
10, 2009 — The Hopkinton Department of Public Works received
official recognition
of the Water Resource Commission's (WRC) August 13, 2009 vote to
determine that the transfer of 204,410 gpd of wastewater from the SuAsCo
river basin to the Charles River basin in Milford as an insignificant
amount, paving the way for the two towns to execute an old and dormant
agreement.
The dragging out of lawsuits over the town's desired Waste Water
treatment Facility at Fruit Street as well as the need for the South
Street company, Lonza, to access added waste water capacity, has
provided impetus for reopening of the agreement.
Although the agreement with Milford calls for the transfer of 500,000
gpd, the approval from the WRC limits the transfer to the 204,410 gpd
figure. If the town wants to transfer more, the approval states, it will
likely trigger the need for an Environmental Impact Report, an expensive
and lengthy process that kept the Town's Fruit Street land in limbo for
a couple of years.
The WRC also states that it needs to see an agreement signed by both
towns before it finalizes its approval. According to Ed Thompson, News
Director of WMRC Radio AM 1490 in Milford, that could be a problem.
His verbatim report:
THE
NEARLY TEN YEAR OLD MILFORD-HOPKINTON SEWER DEAL IS IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY
OF BECOMING A REALITY AND HOPKINTON IS TO BLAME, THE ISSUE WAS DISCUSSED
BY FINANCE COMMITTEE MEMBER BOB DIVITA AND TOWN COUNCIL GERRY MOODY.
WMRC HAS LEARNED HOPKINTON WANTS TO RENEGE ON IT’S AGREEMENT TO PAY
INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS TO MILFORD OF $3.7 MILLION DOLLARS AND INSTEAD PAY
ONLY $1.4 MILLION, AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE DEAL IS THAT HOPKINTON WAS
TO REIMBURSE MILFORD FOR THE ENTIRE COST OF THE SEWER CONNECTION AND
SPECIFIC IMPROVEMENTS TO THE SYSTEM AS WELL AS 1.6 TIMES MILFORD’S
INDUSTRIAL RATE FOR UP TO 500 THOUSAND GALLONS OF WASTEWATER A DAY,
HOPKINTON IS BACKING DOWN SAYING THEY NO LONGER HAVE THE $3.7 MILLION
AND ALL THEY HAVE IS $1.4 MILLION. THEY SAID THE TOTAL GALLONS A DAY HAS
BEEN REDUCED FROM HALF A MILLION TO 204 THOUSAND, ALTHOUGH THERE IS
NOTHING THAT PRECLUDES THEM FROM APPLYING FOR A LARGER AMOUNT IN THE
FUTURE. HOPKINTON OFFICIALS, ACCORDING TO SOURCES IS SEEKING MILFORD’S
ACCEPTANCE OF THE $1.4 MILLION VERSUS THE $3.7 AND THAT MILFORD SHOULD
VIEW THAT AS BETTER THAN NOTHING THREATENING TO GO ELSEWHERE IF THE
LOWER AMOUNT IS NOT ACCEPTED. THE INFRASTRUCTURE WORK WAS DONE AND IT
DOESN’T REALLY MATTER IF ONE GALLON OR 200 THOUSAND FLOWS TO MILFORD THE
WORK HAD TO BE DONE. LAST WEEK MILFORD SEWER COMMISSIONERS VOTED TO
REQUIRE HOPKINTON TO COMPLY WITH THE ORIGINAL TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT AND
THE $3.7 MILLION DOLLAR CHARGE., THE BALL IS NO IN THEIR COURT AND
MILFORD WILL NOT CHANGE IT’S MIND.
Hopkinton v.
Medway
September
10, 2009 — Number One is ahead of the pack today as the Lady Hillers
took on Medway at home.
Flags to Fly at
Half-staff on Friday and Saturday in Mass
Pursuant
to the Presidential Proclamation for September 11, 2009, the American
and Commonwealth Flags will be flown at half-staff at all state
buildings from sunrise to sunset on Friday, September 11, 2009.
Additionally, pursuant to gubernatorial
protocol which states,
"The U.S. flag shall be flown at half-staff
at all state buildings from sunrise until sunset on the day of interment
of any soldier from Massachusetts who is killed in action in a war zone
while on active duty,”
Please be advised that Governor Patrick has
ordered that the United States flag and the Commonwealth flag be
lowered to half-staff at all state buildings from sunrise until sunset
on Saturday, September 12, 2009, in honor of Specialist Jordan M. Shay
of Salisbury, Massachusetts
who was killed in action in Iraq on September 3, 2009.
This gubernatorial order applies to:
1. The main or administration building of
each public institution of the Commonwealth, e.g. Town and city halls
2. Other state-owned or state-controlled
buildings
The Jimmy Fund Walk is
this Sunday, September 13, 2009. The walk begins with a “Rolling Start”
between 6:00 and 7:30 am at the Boston Marathon starting line on Main Street
in Hopkinton. The route takes the walkers east on Rt. 135 into Ashland. Please use extreme caution while
driving along the walk route.
About ten Hopkinton
Police Officers will be volunteering their time to ensure a safe start
to the walk. I thank them all.
My wife Judy and I
will be participating in the walk with Dana Farber patients and their
families as part of “Team Police Chiefs”. Our Team is walking in memory
of Southborough Police Chief William Webber who died last year after a
courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.
This will be my tenth
Jimmy Fund Walk and sadly my last as the active Hopkinton Police Chief.
If you would like to support the Jimmy Fund - Team Police Chiefs, Judy
(#1395), and I (#1396) can all be found on the walk’s website.
www.jimmyfundwalk.org/
Thomas Irvin, Chief of Police
3
Million Visits on the Way
September 10, 2009 — The HopNews counter below is approaching three
million visits, a fun milestone, but not exactly perfect. The counter
company we use, Sitemeter.com, counts visits to HopNews by placing a
"cookie" on a reader's computer, as most web software does. It allows
the server to know that you already visited, and not to count again
within a particular time frame. But as a result of this protocol, people
who do not allow cookies do not get counted, because the software is on
a third party computer, not the HopNews server. We can see every request
for HopNews from a different software program, which is located on our
server. We probably passed the actual 3 million mark months ago, but
it'll be fun to see the counter turn.
After the counter passes the 3 million mark,
we'll put it back at the bottom of the page, where it usually resides.
However, whoever is the first to send in a screenshot of the counter at
3 million to HopNews will receive a check for $50.
HELP! on Hopkinton Common
- A Taste of Honey
Check out
the Beatles cover band, HELP!, performing the last Concert on the Common
2009
EMC to Increase
India Investment by USD $1.5 Billion
Inaugurates New
Campus in Bengaluru; Represents One of EMC's Largest
R&D Centers Outside US
BENGALURU,
India. - September 9, 2009 EMC Corporation
(NYSE: EMC), the world leader of information
infrastructure solutions, today announced that it
will invest an incremental USD $1.5 billion in India
over the next five years (2010-2014), a threefold
increase to previous investments made by EMC in
India over the previous five years. Today also marks
the inauguration of EMC's new state-of-the-art LEED®
Gold green certified facility that joins together
research and development (R&D) and EMC Global
Services organizations from four separate locations
across two cities into one campus to form a
centralized Centre of Excellence (COE) in India.
This represents one of EMC's largest R&D centers
outside the United States.
Since opening its India
operations in 2000, the EMC India organization has
evolved to be a critical contributor to EMC's
long-term strategy by driving global innovation and
revenue growth for the APJ region. The incremental
investment is focused on three key areas that will
take EMC India to its next phase of growth:
Expanding R&D
infrastructure at the India COE
Increasing EMC
Global Services capabilities at the India COE
Adding more
technologists to drive deeper levels of
engagement and support for local customers and
partners.
The new campus is nearly
three times larger than the previous facility with
almost 500,000 square feet of usable office space.
The key highlights
include:
LEED® Gold certified
green campus
A state-of-the-art
Customer Briefing Center which will enable
customer and partner briefings by the EMC India
COE technical teams.
Excerpt
from EMC
Press Release
On My
Summer Vacation...
September 9, 2009 — Nellie Gross took this
photo at Six Flags Great Adventures in New Jersey a couple of weeks
ago. She and her siblings got a kick out of seeing all the animals walk
right by the vehicles.
Now is a Good Time to Have the Chimney
Cleaned
Miss your Stove
Shoppe? Call Emener Stove Shoppe
Police Protection
September 9, 2009 — Firefighters responding to an "illegal Burn" for the
second time on Downey Street Tuesday evening requested the presence of
police, because they were made to feel uncomfortable on their first visit.
Public Forum on Planned or
Desired Changes to Zoning
September 21, 2009
The
Zoning Advisory Committee will hold a public forum on Monday,
September 21, 2009 at 7:00 PM in Room 216 of the Town Hall,
at which time it would like to hear ideas that Town Boards, Committees,
organizations or the general public have with respect to desired changes
to the Zoning Bylaw and/or the Zoning Map. Zoning bylaws generally
regulate the use of land, buildings and structures. This is an
opportunity to propose changes to the land use of specific areas in
Hopkinton, and other ideas with respect to land use regulation. The
Committee invites you to the hearing to present your ideas and
suggestions.
The
Committee requests that if possible, a written summary of the idea or
proposal be sent to the Planning Department at Town Hall prior to
September 21. For more information, please contact Elaine Lazarus,
Planning Director, at 508-497-9755.
Ken
Weismantel
Chairman
Buying? Selling? Call one of our experts.
Things are starting to Move!!!
H
O M E S
H O M E S
H O M E S
H O M E S
ESL Telethon
September 13 5-8 pm on HCAM Cable Television
Hopkinton v.
Norton
September 9,
2009 — The Hopkinton Cross-Country route is indeed a picturesque one, as
evidenced by the surroundings of this runner bounding off of the bridge over the Hopkinton
Reservoir Dam spillway at today's meet against Norton. Photo by Jason
Kenney.
Discolored Water Continuing?
Call the
Water Department
The
West Main Street Tank is now off-line for scheduled cleaning and
painting. With the tank out of service water flow patterns and flow
direction will change, possibly causing some disturbance to the buildup
of minerals on the inside of the water mains. This may take several days
to work its way through the system. If you continue to experience
discoloration please give us call so we can try to flush out the
affected areas.
~ Eric Carty,
Water/Sewer manager P 508-497-9765
Hopkinton Police Department Receives
Grant Award
HOPKINTON,
MA - September 9, 2009 — The HOPKINTON POLICE DEPARTMENT was awarded
$4986.00 in federal grant funding as part of the 2009-2010 Pedestrian,
Bicycle and Moped-Type Safety Enforcement and Equipment Grant Program
from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS). This
program provides overtime funds for targeted enforcement of pedestrian,
bicycle, and moped laws, equipment, and materials. The EOPSS awarded 16
of these grants totaling $100,000 in federal highway safety funds.
"We are pleased to
receive these funds to enhance our pedestrian, bicycle and moped-type
enforcement activities in Hopkinton," said Lt. Richard Flannery of the
Hopkinton Police Department “Any loss on our roadways is one too many
and this program will help to reduce the instances of pedestrian,
bicycle and moped crashes with motor vehicles.”
The Hopkinton
Police Department will utilize funding from this grant to enhance our
enforcement our pedestrian, bicycle and moped-type enforcement
activities to coincide with the start of school as well as to address
ongoing complaints related to crosswalk violations.
According to the
Massachusetts Crash Data System, in 2007 there were 66 pedestrian
fatalities and 1,273 non-fatal injuries along with 11 pedalcyclist
fatalities and 800 non-fatal injuries on Massachusetts roadways.
Additionally, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, in 2007, pedestrians made up 15% of motor
vehicle-related fatalities in Massachusetts, compared to the national
average of 11% in 2007. Similarly, in 2007, pedalcyclists made up 2.5%
of all motor vehicle-related fatalities in Massachusetts, compared to
the national average of 1.7%.
For more
information on this program go to
www.mass.gov/highwaysafety
and click on 2009-2010 Pedestrian, Bicycle and Moped-Type Safety
Enforcement and Equipment Grant.
Hopkinton Police
Department Contact: Lt. Richard A. Flannery
Polyarts
Festival
Saturday
September 26th
10am – 4pm
Hopkinton
Town Common
Rain or
Shine
Ahoy!!!!!
Members of Pack 97 on the
USS Massachusetts at Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA. It was their
END OF SUMMER BLAST.
Buying? Selling? Call one of our experts.
Things are starting to Move!!!
H
O M E S
H O M E S
H O M E S
H O M E S
SENIOR
MOMENTS
Beef on a Shingle
by Nancy L. Drawe
(Punky)
September 9, 2009 —
Would you like bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast? Or perhaps you’d
like to bring back the memories from your military days with an order of
creamed chipped beef? The HopkintonSeniorCenter sets aside every first Friday
morning of the month for the Veterans to have breakfast. They get
together in the dining room and have a great time chatting, eating and
talking about their experiences in the service. I’ve written about that
in my previous columns, so this one is not about what the veterans do at
these breakfasts, but it’s about what they eat---specifically CREAMED
CHIPPED BEEF!
Mary Brown, the
center’s cook, makes up a batch of this especially for the veterans.
She makes her own sauce from scratch and then adds the dried beef.
Instead of toast, they get homemade biscuits. For many of the veterans,
this was pretty much a staple in the service and they either loved it or
hated it! I would say that about 75% of the veterans ordered the
chipped beef that morning; not bad for a full dining room. For the ones
who didn’t, I asked them why and the response was they had more than
enough in the service to last a lifetime! For the guys who did order
it, their reasons were: “Brings back memories,” “It’s good!” “I liked
it then and I like it now!” A few of them said the color was
different back then, it was sort of grayish. Hmmm, doesn’t sound too
tasty to me; I prefer the white colored sauce.
Actually, as a kid
from the 60’s, I grew up with the stuff and I love it even to this
day! My mother would make it, but she would add horrible canned peas,
and I hated them! I would push them all to the side of my plate and
she’d say, “Eat those peas!” When she went into the kitchen to make
more toast and couldn’t see what was going on, my father would quickly
scrape those gross peas off my plate and add them to his own. It was a
good rescue because my mother thought I was the one who ate them all!
So, if you’re a
veteran and would like to bring back those special “creamed chipped
beef” memories, then join your comrades at the senior center for
breakfast on the first Friday of every month—the cost is only $3.00. If
you want to experience the great taste at home, Mary Brown will gladly
share her recipe with you! It’s not really all about the food though,
it’s about the camaraderie you share when you all get together in one
place. I say… a bunch of veterans in one room, a serving of Mary’s
homemade creamed chipped beef, a lot of talking and
laughing--PRICELESS!
A special concert will
be held at the center next Tuesday--Sara Curry will be performing along
with her band in honor of National Grandparent’s Week. Sara has a
beautiful voice; you’ll really enjoy listening to her sing. There will
also be an ever so popular Ice Cream Social at this event, so call the
center to reserve your seat. Actually, make a reservation to come early
and have lunch first—delicious beef stew is on the menu for that day.
Don’t forget to mark
your calendars for October 2—the 50/50 auction. You’ll be reading lots
more about this big event in the weeks to follow.
That’s it for now, so
if you have any comments or suggestions, you can email me:
Punkala@aol.com. Until next time, have a great week!
Attention
6th Grade Parents:
School Council
Election - Thurs Sept 10 at the Middle School Back to School Night
Thank you to everyone
who submitted their names as candidates for School Council by the August
31st deadline. Election info for the other schools, for the
positions with more than one candidate, will be coming soon.
School Council member
duties include: adopting goals for the school, identifying educational
needs for students, reviewing the school’s budget, and formulating a
school improvement plan. Each School Council includes a parent and
teacher from each grade level and a community representative who does
not have a child at the school. The term is two years unless otherwise
noted. Questions? Please contact School Council Coordinator 2009-10,
Cate Doherty-Waldeck at
visdoherty@yahoo.com or 508-625-1429.
Now is a Good Time to Have the Chimney
Cleaned
Miss your Stove
Shoppe? Call Emener Stove Shoppe
Town Manager
Seeks to cut $1 Million from FY 2010 Budget
"We can do better" ~ Town Manager
Norman Khumalo
by
Heather Kelley
September 9, 2009 — “We can do better,” remarked Town Manager Norman
Khumalo (File photo) with a smile. With this optimism, he concluded his
report on streamlining town government through his Land Use Department
Consolidation plan at last night’s Board of Selectmen meeting. Charged
by the Board with, among other goals, generating $1 million in savings
from the town’s
FY 2010 budget, Khumalo is forging ahead with presenting options for
doing just that. Selectman Michelle Gates expressed concern with
consolidating administrative duties for the myriad town departments
involving land use under a proposed new Director. However, the rest of
the board gave Khumalo their full, and at times, enthusiastic support
for bringing this plan forward for a full vetting.
Chairman of the Board Brian Herr declared that our town is now on the
path of a “lean enterprise thinking process,” where we will never be
satisfied with the status quo, but will always be looking to do things a
little better.
Also looking to do things better is the Senior Center, specifically
hoping to help residents do better with their financial bottom lines.
Marlene Troupes, Outreach Worker for the Council on Aging, presented
information on a fuel assistance program available to all residents,
regardless of age, who may need help with paying for heating this
winter.
SMOC
,
the South Middlesex Opportunity Council, provides assistance based on
income guidelines. Troupes can help you navigate the paperwork required
to receive assistance from SMOC, and encourages you to contact her at
the Senior Center for more
information.
Available to help with the Medicare system is Lou Peralta, a local
volunteer with the
SHINE (Serving the Health
Information Needs of Elders) program. Medicare beneficiaries of any age
can receive free counseling through this state-based and
locally-administered program that offers information on available health
care options. Bilingual in English and Spanish, Peralta last year saved
Hopkinton residents an estimated $35,000, and is available Wednesdays by
appointment at the Senior Center. Be sure to take advantage of this
service before open enrollment ends on December 31.
Dr. John Duffy, Chair of the Board of Assessors, presented a tentative
overview of the property tax outlook for FY 2010. While the average
single family home can expect to see a decrease in assessed value of 3%,
this can actually result in a tax increase due to a rise in the tax rate
(currently set at $15.03, it could become $15.71). Selectman Todd
Cestari queried Duffy on the topic of tax abatements for residents.
Duffy explained that the Board sees few abatement requests due, he
believed, to the due diligence of the assessors and the open
communication they maintain with residents. Nevertheless, if residents
have any questions about the assessed values of their homes, they are
encouraged to contact the Board. New values are set to be certified by
the State at the end of September, and the Board will post this
information to their
website on the next
business day. Residents should approach the Board with questions prior
to the generation of new tax bills. The elderly and veterans are
eligible for exemptions, and seniors have the option for service
work-off of portions of their tax bills. It comes as no surprise that
the total valuation of the town dropped approximately 2% from last year.
Town Manager Khumalo also reported on a fruitful meeting earlier in the
day with State Senator Karen Spilka, State Representative Carolyn
Dykema, and other officials at the State House in Boston. The goal of
the meeting was to discuss ways in which the state can assist the town
with offsetting the costs of the Fruit Street Wastewater Treatment Plant
and the Milford-Hopkinton Connection projects. Chairman Herr, also in
attendance on Beacon Hill, expressed hope that “something positive will
come from the meeting in the next few weeks.”
Hopkinton celebrates its 300th birthday in just five years,
and a small group of committed volunteers has already come forward to
begin the planning process. Ann Click, Town Clerk, petitioned the Board
to recognize an ad hoc committee to be assembled soon. Funds and
volunteers remain from the 275th celebration, which birthed
the Civic Activity Committee. This committee hopes to be a catalyst and
clearinghouse for the proposed tercentennial committee as well as the
festivities being planned by various town groups.
Planned interviews during a joint session of the Board of Selectmen and
the Planning Board did not take place due to the absence of one of the
candidates. Joe Markey, Vice Chairman of the Planning Board, asked for a
swift rescheduling of the interviews, and the BOS concurred.
REGISTRATION FOR THE
114th
BOSTON MARATHON®
ON APRIL 19, 2010
BEGINS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
at 9:00 a.m. EDT
BOSTON
– Online entry for the 114th Boston Marathon® on Monday, April 19, 2010
(Patriots' Day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) begins at 9:00 a.m. ET on
Wednesday, September 9, 2009.
Those interested in participating are encouraged to register early. The
2009 Boston Marathon reached its field size limit in late January.
The race follows the historic Hopkinton-to-Boston route for its 26
miles, 385 yards (42.195 Kilometers) and will again utilize a two-wave
start:
Wave One Start - 10:00 a.m. ET.; Wave Two Start - 10:30 a.m. ET.
The 2010 Boston Marathon will mark the
25th consecutive year of the landmark sponsorship of John
Hancock Financial with the Boston Athletic Association for the Boston
Marathon.
The field size will be limited to 25,000 athletes. The 113th
Boston Marathon on April 20, 2009 had 26,388 entrants; 23,216 official
starters; and 22,892 official finishers.
Entry fee: USA residents - $130 USD if submitted
and received by February 1, 2010 ($180 USD if
submitted and accepted after February 1, 2010).
International residents - $175 USD if submitted and received by February
1, 2010 ($225 USD if
submitted and accepted after February 1, 2010).
The entry fee is not
refundable, and entries are not transferable.
A qualifying time run at a race on or
after September 27, 2008 will be accepted for the 2010 Boston Marathon
(even if it was also used as a qualifier for the 2009 race). Athletes
must be 18 years or older on April 19, 2010.
In addition, the commencement of online registration for the next year’s
Boston Marathon also signals the addition of new charity partners added
to the B.A.A.’s Official Charity Program for the Boston Marathon. Those
recently added are:
America
SCORES –
New England
Massachusetts
Amateur Sports Foundation’s
BayState
Games
Boston
Debate League
Community Rowing’s
G-ROW Boston
Museum of Science’s
Traveling Programs
Wediko Children’s
Services
Twenty four
organizations are among the charities in the B.A.A.’s program. It is
anticipated that these charities, collectively, will surpass the $100
million mark in total funds raised since the B.A.A.’s Official Charity
Program launched in 1989. For details on the six new charities and the
18 charities continuing for the 2010 Boston Marathon, go to:
http://www.baa.org/BostonMarathon/Charity.asp
Caliper Life Sciences to Present at UBS Global Life Sciences Conference
HOPKINTON,
Mass., September 8, 2009 -- Caliper Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALP)
today announced that Kevin Hrusovsky, President and CEO, will present at
the UBS Global Life Sciences Conference in New York City, on Tuesday,
September 22, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. EDT.
A
live webcast of the presentation can be accessed at
http://cc.talkpoint.com/ubsx001/092109a_ke/?entity=102_OHYDDUN .
The replay of the webcast will be available for 30 days
following the presentation. A copy of the corporate presentation will be
available at Caliper’s website in the Investor Relations section.
About
Caliper Life Sciences
Caliper Life Sciences is a premier provider of cutting-edge technologies
enabling researchers in the life sciences industry to create life-saving
and enhancing medicines and diagnostic tests more quickly and
efficiently. Caliper is aggressively innovating new technology to bridge
the gap between in vitro assays and in vivo results and then translating
those results into cures for
human disease. Caliper’s portfolio of offerings includes
state-of-the-art microfluidics, lab automation & liquid handling,
optical imaging technologies, and discovery & development outsourcing
solutions. For more information please visit
www.caliperLS.com
. ~ Contributed content. File
photo by Robert Falcione
Jack Yaggy Hits Rare
Hole-in-one, and with witnesses!
Today,
September 8, 2009, while preparing for tomorrow's first match with
Holliston, Sophomore Jack Yaggy had a Hole In One on the 216 yard, par
3, 5th hole at Hopkinton Country Club. The score was attested by Junior
Matt West, And Sophomores Sean Carnes, and Kyle Missaggia. It was
witnessed by Assistant Coach Bryan King.
According to Head Coach Dick Bliss, "This is the first
time that has happened in my 30 years of coaching." Contributed
content.
Soccer Against Norton
September 8,
2009 — Hopkinton hosted Norton this afternoon. Above, number 17 appears
to defy gravity as a Norton opponent plans to cut him off. The score
was 1,1. Photo by
Jason Kenney.
Now is a Good Time to Have the Chimney
Cleaned
Miss your Stove
Shoppe? Call Emener Stove Shoppe
Center Trail
Grand Re-opening
Please join The Hopkinton
Trails Club for the Center Trail Grand Re-opening on Sunday, September
13, at 2:00pm. Irene Del Bono from the Massachusetts Office of Energy
and Environmental Affairs will be the featured speaker. The ceremony and
reception will be held at the Michael Carter Lisnow Respite Center at
112 Main Street, Hopkinton (Red X on map). A ribbon-cutting ceremony at
the trail entrance will officially reopen the trail, followed by a hike
from the Main Street entrance to Chamberlain Street and back. The public
is invited and refreshments will be served.
What Steven Spiegel and...
...Susan Spiegel did on their summer vacation. And in addition to
visiting the Galapagos, they were
among the winners of a photo contest and will see their photos on the
Galapagos Conservancy 2010 Calendar.
Susan's albatross, below, will be the January photo and Steve's blue
footed boobie, above, will be the August photo.
"The
News Starts Here!"
9/16
7:30pm 
The
Hopkinton Police Department would like to alert the community,
especially senior citizens, to a threat of fraud. The following scenario
was reported in a neighboring community to the Town of Hopkinton.
square
feet of Commercial/retail space.
September
10, 2009 — The Hopkinton Department of Public Works received
THE
NEARLY TEN YEAR OLD MILFORD-HOPKINTON SEWER DEAL IS IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY
OF BECOMING A REALITY AND HOPKINTON IS TO BLAME, THE ISSUE WAS DISCUSSED
BY FINANCE COMMITTEE MEMBER BOB DIVITA AND TOWN COUNCIL GERRY MOODY.
WMRC HAS LEARNED HOPKINTON WANTS TO RENEGE ON IT’S AGREEMENT TO PAY
INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS TO MILFORD OF $3.7 MILLION DOLLARS AND INSTEAD PAY
ONLY $1.4 MILLION, AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE DEAL IS THAT HOPKINTON WAS
TO REIMBURSE MILFORD FOR THE ENTIRE COST OF THE SEWER CONNECTION AND
SPECIFIC IMPROVEMENTS TO THE SYSTEM AS WELL AS 1.6 TIMES MILFORD’S
INDUSTRIAL RATE FOR UP TO 500 THOUSAND GALLONS OF WASTEWATER A DAY,
HOPKINTON IS BACKING DOWN SAYING THEY NO LONGER HAVE THE $3.7 MILLION
AND ALL THEY HAVE IS $1.4 MILLION. THEY SAID THE TOTAL GALLONS A DAY HAS
BEEN REDUCED FROM HALF A MILLION TO 204 THOUSAND, ALTHOUGH THERE IS
NOTHING THAT PRECLUDES THEM FROM APPLYING FOR A LARGER AMOUNT IN THE
FUTURE. HOPKINTON OFFICIALS, ACCORDING TO SOURCES IS SEEKING MILFORD’S
ACCEPTANCE OF THE $1.4 MILLION VERSUS THE $3.7 AND THAT MILFORD SHOULD
VIEW THAT AS BETTER THAN NOTHING THREATENING TO GO ELSEWHERE IF THE
LOWER AMOUNT IS NOT ACCEPTED. THE INFRASTRUCTURE WORK WAS DONE AND IT
DOESN’T REALLY MATTER IF ONE GALLON OR 200 THOUSAND FLOWS TO MILFORD THE
WORK HAD TO BE DONE. LAST WEEK MILFORD SEWER COMMISSIONERS VOTED TO
REQUIRE HOPKINTON TO COMPLY WITH THE ORIGINAL TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT AND
THE $3.7 MILLION DOLLAR CHARGE., THE BALL IS NO IN THEIR COURT AND
MILFORD WILL NOT CHANGE IT’S MIND. 
Pursuant
to the Presidential Proclamation for September 11, 2009, the American
and Commonwealth Flags will be flown at half-staff at all state
buildings from sunrise to sunset on Friday, September 11, 2009.
BENGALURU,
India. - September 9, 2009 EMC Corporation
(NYSE: EMC), the world leader of information
infrastructure solutions, today announced that it
will invest an incremental USD $1.5 billion in India
over the next five years (2010-2014), a threefold
increase to previous investments made by EMC in
India over the previous five years. Today also marks
the inauguration of EMC's new state-of-the-art LEED®
Gold green certified facility that joins together
research and development (R&D) and EMC Global
Services organizations from four separate locations
across two cities into one campus to form a
centralized Centre of Excellence (COE) in India.
This represents one of EMC's largest R&D centers
outside the United States.
The
Zoning Advisory Committee will hold a public forum on Monday,
September 21, 2009 at 7:00 PM in Room 216 of the Town Hall,
at which time it would like to hear ideas that Town Boards, Committees,
organizations or the general public have with respect to desired changes
to the Zoning Bylaw and/or the Zoning Map. Zoning bylaws generally
regulate the use of land, buildings and structures. This is an
opportunity to propose changes to the land use of specific areas in
Hopkinton, and other ideas with respect to land use regulation. The
Committee invites you to the hearing to present your ideas and
suggestions.
The
West Main Street Tank is now off-line for scheduled cleaning and
painting. With the tank out of service water flow patterns and flow
direction will change, possibly causing some disturbance to the buildup
of minerals on the inside of the water mains. This may take several days
to work its way through the system. If you continue to experience
discoloration please give us call so we can try to flush out the
affected areas.
FY 2010 budget, Khumalo is forging ahead with presenting options for
doing just that. Selectman Michelle Gates expressed concern with
consolidating administrative duties for the myriad town departments
involving land use under a proposed new Director. However, the rest of
the board gave Khumalo their full, and at times, enthusiastic support
for bringing this plan forward for a full vetting. 
HOPKINTON,
Mass., September 8, 2009 -- Caliper Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALP)
today announced that Kevin Hrusovsky, President and CEO, will present at
the UBS Global Life Sciences Conference in New York City, on Tuesday,
September 22, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. EDT.
