West Boylston Arrogance
Exposing Arrogance and Corruption in West Boylston MA 
    
Home   WB Corruption   Sewer License & Permit Scam   What's Going On Around Town    Master Plan    Sewer Taxes & Prop 2 1/2   Fire & Police  
 Home Sweet Home     WB News & Updates  Think About It    WB 40B Developments      Smorgasbord     
FORUM - Voice Opinions Here
      
Room Service or No Room Service, That is the Question   
RML Girls Sound Off As Kirit Gets Trash Talked by BOS  
 

 
AUDIO CLIP COMING VERY SOON
Kirit Malaviya owns the Reservoir Motor Lodge, now located at 90 Sterling St, has recently been charged with 28 building code violations and has been threatened several times with suspensions. In a matter of weeks, he has fixed 25 of those violations, according to West Boylston building inspector, Mr. Mark Brodeur, during the June 4th selectmen's meeting. The remaining 3 violations are the most intensive to rectify. 

        2006 Tax List: 86 Sterling St, $607,400 valuation 
        2007 Tax List: 86 Sterling St, $583,700 valuation 
        2008 Tax List: Becomes 90 Sterling St, $609,100 valuation 
 

        Why the address change?  

Considering steps need welding, and mold problems in the rooms, it is clear many of these problems did not happen overnight, and probably not since Mr. Broduer became building inspector. If that is so, why didn't the previous building inspectors do the job they were paid to do, as to not let the condition of the motel get to its current state of disrepair. Those previous inspectors were Richard Breagy (resigned and rehired by Leon Gaumond) and Matt Mulvey - of the failed Tivnan Dr project.  

No one will dispute that building code violations need to be addressed and ownership has a proven record of running a loose ship, but when the Gimme Girls sat before selectmen on June 4th, more "taxing" issues were brought to light, and those issues were not followed up by selectmen.   

> The first "plaintiff", Jamie, has decided she does not feel like paying rent, and didn't. She had pictures of mold in her room, and stated the kids pictured were students of hers. That makes her a teacher. Question - where does she teach, and how much does she make. A teacher's salary information is public record and that record should be made known. 

If Jamie, the teacher, is not paying rent, why hasn't she been evicted yet? 

> The next person stated her kid goes to school at Quabbin Regional, a 50 mile round trip from the Reservoir Motor Lodge. How much does that cost taxpayers/ homeowners to transport her 8th grader to Barre 5 days a week?  
 
        FY2006 Out-of-District Transportation Expenditure
        West Boylston        State Average        Percentage
          $3,020.13              $1,361.53           221.8% higher 


She said she is paying $250 per week rent. That is a $1,000 month. There aren't any $1,000 aprtments anywhere to live so she's living full time in a moldy cheap motel? It doesn't make sense.

> The third and final person has a special needs child. If her child is school age, how much is that costing taxpayers? She claimed her phone was disconnected even though she didn't pay her phone bill.  

What about the rest of the 20 families living there - are they on any type of program? (Section 8, 689?), and what is the total tax burden WEST BOYLSTON RESIDENTS are saddled with as they reside in the Reservoir Motor Lodge?       
 
If the motel is in such terrible shape and/or has health code violations - shut it down. For some reason, selectmen don't seem to want to do that. Why? 
How much tax money has been spent on education costs (transportation, special ed), Emergency response - and how many calls regarding full time "residents", etcetera. Are these calls for people on any sort of welfare program? The problem is if they leave town, then there is no manufactured low income housing "need" in West Boylston, and that goes against the agenda of the town administrator and the rest of the Section 8 (and 40B) agenda crowd.  

Mr. Phillips stated he wants motel management to ensure the resients eat properly. Mr. Rucho stated the selectmen should not act as motel management.  Mr. Rucho is correct. Selectmen manage the town, not motel room service, and it is certainly not their concern where people choose to live and what they eat.   

If the Reservoir Motel does get shut down, what happens to it? 
Something is starting to smell more fishy than moldy.          
  
 
 

 MAY 17th 2008   Click Here for Revolving Accounts Update       

Helen C. Mixter Building - a timeline of town hall
A Lot of Talk, but No Action (or repairs) 
January 5th, 2008
>1960 - Helen C. Mixter building constructed

>1997 - Kang Architects, of 410 Boston Post Rd, Sudbury MA, completes survey of Mixter building, stating "renovations were recommended, including an entirely new roof structure, new roofing, exterior walls, and windows, and a new HVAC and electrical systems."

>2005 - Town manager Leon Gaumond forms Municipal Building Committee

> March 15th, 2006 - Town manager's blog: ". . . the board of selectmen has approved an evacuation plan for the building . . . The hope is that the Town's services will be able to be relocated to an alternate location in May." 

>August 2006 - Board of Selectmen vote against moving town hall to 100 Hartwell St  

> September 28th, 2006 - Telegram & Gazette reports "voters at the Oct 16 town meeting will be asked to approve funds for a study to determine the costs of building a new town hall and renovating other town and school buildings. 

> December 7th, 2006 - WB Banner reports (Goals Approved) that "Gaumond also expects major progress from the Municipal Building Committee in 2007, including the possibility of bringing a major capitol proposal for five town buildings to the May semi-annual town meeting."   

> October 11th, 2006 - Planning Board meeting minutes: "Mr. Vignaly noted that there has been little information available from the Municipal Building Committee and no public hearings have been held to get input from members of the community."

>April 12th, 2007 - WB Banner reports (Teens Charged with Vandalism) that "Town hall employees came in on Monday to find more leaks coming from the roof than usual . . . the reason: skylights, between four and five, had been kicked in. At least two were totally destroyed, and several others had the outer dome broken, ruining the seals and allowing water into the building . . . the damage is estimated at around $1,600."   

> August 23rd, 2007 - Town manager's blog: "Two years ago, I appointed a Municipal Building Committee to review the options for municipal buildings in West Boylston. . . The original hope was to bring forward a full report to Town Meeting in October and to seek design funds for this project. However, it is clear after the last Municipal Building Committee meeting that there are too many loose ends for that  to realistically occur this October." 
The Municipal Building Committee was able to contact Lamoureux-Pagano about basic plans and cost estimates for a new town hall.  

> December 26th, 2007 - Board of Selectmen discuss abandoning Mixter Town Hall.  

In summary, town hall has had a roof problem for 3 years, the overall problem for 11 years, spent money on studies, and has formed a committee to study doing studies (Kevin McCormick is both the chairman of the Selectmen and Municipal Building Committee), yet nothing gets done.         


Mixter No Fixer?:
Mismanagement Comes to Fruition (again) 

December 27th, 2007:
Going, going, and just about gone is Helen C. Mixter Town Hall, thanks to mismagement over the past few years. As Mixter's roof has finally caused town hall to abandon the building as of January 15th, 2008, selectmen held an emergency meeting December 26th to figure out what to do next.  

There are Telegram and Gazette articles on this website regarding the studies town hall have had done over the past couple years - they knew the roof was going to cave in sooner than later, so why didn't they just fix it? Money used to conduct studies to determine roofs leak when there are holes in it could have been better spent on actual repairs.

Where is all the money going? The "Sewer & Prop 2 1/2' page has information from the State and other official statistic centers regarding the high tax burden West Boylston faces - roughly 29% higher property taxes per valuation than the state average, 58% higher sewer rates (bills) based on ALL towns that have sewers, and we are one of only a few central MA towns that have the CPA property tax surcharge, yet . . . 

Our town buildings are falling apart - Kevin McCormick closed the town pool after 55 years of operation due to neglect and lack of maintenance, we're spending just over half of what the rest of the state spends on school building maintenance based on per pupil expenditures, and now Mixter building is being abandoned. This is the record of the Board of Selectman, led by Chairman Kevin McCormick. 
In the article below (right hand column), town manager Leon Gaumond expected "major progress from the Municipal Building Committee in 2007". So what was that major progress? What has the committee actually accomplished? 

For three years they knew the building was going to collapse, but never fixed it. Instead, the selectmen and town manager have talked about anti-barking collars for dogs, where to put mulch at intersections, how big a sign should be at Huntington Square, exercise programs for town employees, the need for more 40B subsidized housing, increasing taxes as school employees get 90% of their benefits paid for, changing zoning by-laws, and cutting deals with former employees (Matt Mulvey) for a solid waste transfer station.    

Taxes are fast approaching - to borrow a phrase, Asymptotic to Infinity.
The town is in debt, there is effectively no town hall, the pool has been closed due to neglect, and town hall spends little on school building maintenance. Where is our money going?       
 
...     



June 27th, 2007

Illegal Aliens Swept In Central MA
T&G Reports Illegal Aliens From Several Countries and MA Towns 
(many from "10%" 40B of course)


On June 26th, 2007 the Worcester T&G reported that 36 illegal alien criminals have been arrested and the communities they live in have at least a higher percentage of 40B than West Boylston, many well above the "required" 10%. 40B is different than Section 8 housing, as that number would dramatically increase the overall number of subsidized housing. 

Those communities are (and 40B% as of June 2007) are Fitchburg 10.4%, Gardner 15.9%, Leominster 8.4%, Lowell 13.3%, Milford 7.0%, Shrewsbury 6.5%, Southbridge 6.6% - very high Section 8 population, Uxbridge 6.0%, Northbridge 7.7%, and Worcester at 13.6%.  
 

December 1st, 2007 
CPA Election Results EMail @ 7:47pm   
This Needs to Be Explained Since Polls Close at 8pm  
The CPA 2% Property Tax Surcharge passed by 7 votes of 846 Ballots Cast, or 0.827% of ballots cast. The voting machine used for this vote was a different voting machine than was used in state reps election. The model was ES-2000 by LHS Associates, in Methuen MA.

Total ballots cast: 846    CPA Votes: 825   Vote: 416 (50.42%) - 409 (49.58%)

It should be noted that a vote difference of 0.5% can trigger a recount. We just fell short of a recount - just 3 votes, just like all the 40B exemptions we just fall short of. 

How can town hall post election results 13 minutes before the polls close? It comes down to a clock issue. The logical explanation would be Daylight Savings Time, that the computer clock may not have been reset to the correct time. But, as everyone knows, computer clocks are automatically reset at DST. 
The next question is where did the email/ post originate from - town hall or the server they use, Virtual Town Hall, located in Portland Maine. If it came from the Virtual Town Hall and their server (a business that does websites for over 80 MA communities alone), you would expect their clock to be correct.  

On May 24th, taxpayers voted 1,273 - 280 (82% -18%) against a Prop 2 1/2 override, but this tax increase had these results? That's a big percentage swing in the mood of taxpayers between April and May. Town hall must explain in detail - with evidence, how election results were posted 13 minutes before the polls closed.

...    
               

                            Chart to show basic math   
.                                ..  

 
.

April 19th, 2007

Town Administrator and Selectman Phillips Write Support Letters For Dr. Tashjian's Proposal 
Town administrator and Selectman Phillips use official town seal in February 2006  
Read December 2006 WB Banner article below about Bird Flu quotes from town Administrator

                                   
Click Here for Tashjian Support Letters

NOTE: The letters have been encrypted (original source), therefore, they are unable to be printed. 


 
Two Articles Regarding DPW Absenteeism  
 
Here are the news reports from the
Telegram & Gazette and the WB Banner.
 

. .                  

 

.                                             
 

2007 Ideas by Town Administrator - 
                         Bird Flu & Pandemics Mentioned


Below is an excerpt of the December 7th, 2006 issue of the WB Banner regarding some of the ideas and issues town administrator Leon Gaumond wants to accomplish for town officials in 2007. 
 
.                

Selectman DiPietro Pushes Better Access
Sidewalks & HP Main Issues
Selectman DiPietro wants better sidewalks and Handicapped Parking available at the Post Office. First, the Post 

Selectman Increase Snow Removal Budget
Dec 6, 2006: WB Selectman increased the snow removal budget by $50,000 during their selectman's meeting last night, even though there has yet to be one flake to hit ground so far (as of today's date)
December 14th, 2006 - still warm and sunny and possibly 56-58 degrees this weekend.


Charter School Seeks to Plop on Industrial Park Plot
Should West Boylston allow a school (non-profit organization) to move into the Industrial Park on Hartwell St? Click HERE for story. WB Superintendent Thomas Kane said "the charter school population is primarily urban". What does he mean by 'urban'.

At least Planning Board Karen Pare' reralizes the Industrial Park should be for Industrial purposes. 

.                                   

Evangelista/ Teague 40B Project Approved

details to come . . .

.        

UPDATE: February 15th, 2006
Here is a copy of the town manager's master plan of 2005, easily found on the internet. It was found by searching "40B housing in west boylston ma". This pdf file name www.westboylston.com/Town_Admin/MasterPlanPdfs/chapter%2010%20WB_MP%draft%208_19_05-11.pdf  
.