Chelmsford

Behavioral, mental health center to open in 2023

September 20, 2022 by pkzadmin

BILLERICA — The Middlesex County Restoration Center, a proposed crisis-diversion facility, is closer to being realized, said members of the commission who have been working since 2018 to develop the innovative mental and behavioral health intervention project.

Town Manager John Curran hosted Monday’s roundtable, chaired by Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, at which he and U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan (MA-3), along with other commission representatives and partners, announced a $1.65 million federal investment for the center. This money is in addition to the $5 million in American Rescue Act Plan money that the commission was awarded earlier this year.

The funds will be used to open a mental and behavioral health center next year that will offer wrap-around clinician-based services in lieu of traditional arrest-and-incarceration policing strategies. Although the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office has been the driving force behind the project, the facility will be run by clinicians and medical professionals. No location has been selected, but Greater Lowell, MetroWest and the southeastern part of Middlesex County are under consideration.

Calling the Restoration Center a “model for crisis diversion,” Koutoujian bluntly offered that “we can’t arrest our way out of this problem. For far too long, law enforcement has had to shoulder the burden of the mental health crisis response in the commonwealth. You shouldn’t have to come to jail to get good treatment; you should be able to get it out in the community.”

He referenced statistics that show that an increasing number of individuals are entering the criminal justice system with unaddressed and undiagnosed behavioral health issues.

“Jails have become our de facto mental health treatment facilities,” Koutoujian said. “Rikers Island in New York, Los Angeles County jail, and Cook County jail in Chicago, are the largest public health providers in the entire country.”

The mental health crisis is increasing in the commonwealth, despite world-class area hospitals said Koutoujian, a problem that has been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic and an ongoing substance abuse epidemic.

“In January 2019, 11% of my incarcerated population had a diagnosed mental health condition,” Koutoujian said. “Today that number is 44%. In fact, 40% of those who come into the Middlesex Jail and House of Correction have to be medically detoxed. The acuity level of the individuals we encounter in our care is actually much higher.”

Trahan secured nearly $8 million in federal money for Third District projects, including the Restoration Center, part of the comprehensive government funding package signed into law by President Joe Biden in March.

She spoke to the how the Center will reimagine modern policing and the community response to mental health and substance abuse issues, joking that Koutoujian buttonholed her with the idea for the center right after she entered Congress.

“The sheriff, co-chair Danna Mauch (President and CEO of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health), and I (along with state Sen. Cindy Friedman, D-Arlington) worked hard to secure this community project funding,” Trahan said, “because we recognize that now, more than ever, we need to invest in mental health and substance abuse treatment and prevention programs in our communities.”

Law enforcement was represented at the panel by Billerica Police Chief Roy Frost and Chelmsford Lt. Todd Ahern, both of whom have been at the forefront of reinventing the community policing model, effectively anticipating the need for the kind of behavioral services the Center will provide.

Frost was instrumental in establishing the Police Mental Health Collaborative and Jail Diversion program for Billerica that recognized the significant increase in mental health issues, and diverted appropriate cases to mental health services rather than the enforcement side of the justice system.

Ahern serves as the Chelmsford police department’s Wellness, Mental Health and Outreach Program officer.

Billerica and Chelmsford are also part of a regional Front-Line Initiative, a regional police mental-health collaborative with the police departments of Tewksbury, Dracut and Tyngsboro.

Frost, who took over the top job in December 2021, called mental health a unique form of illness that requires unique policing tactics such as de-escalation and stabilization to keep both the community members and the officers safe.

“Many times, these crimes that happen, that we respond to, they’re the result of a mental health or substance abuse crisis,” Frost said. “We know that unless we address the bigger issue of whatever is going wrong with this person, that it’s going to continue. To have a place like the Restoration Center focusing on that issue of mental health will be very helpful to Billerica and other communities.”

Ahern called the center part of an evolutionary process over the last ten years in trying to respond to mental health challenges in modern policing.

“We’re going in the right direction,” Ahern said. “The center is the big missing piece, and it’s going to make our job a lot easier.”

There are state-level plans to create crisis intervention centers to build out on the restoration center model, Koutoujian said.

“These are smaller models, without all the resources our pilot will bring, but we’re building up a network of mental health care.”

Eventually, the goal is to reorient behavioral health care away from the criminal justice system of incarceration or by depending on hospital emergency room care, which state Rep. and commission member Ken Gordon, of Bedford, said is inefficient and expensive.

“This is a real win-win,” Gordon said. “It’s a way to address problems of people who are interacting with the police or health care system because of untreated mental illness or substance abuse issues.”

Koutoujian agreed saying that, “This is the future not just in policing, but also in behavioral health.”

Westford Starbucks baristas on strike, claim manager refuses to address growing concerns

September 2, 2022 by pkzadmin

WESTFORD — After unanimously voting to unionize their store in early June, baristas at the Westford Valley Marketplace Starbucks are now on strike, demanding their manager address months’ worth of concerns.

The strike comes after two Starbucks partners — what the company calls their employees — discovered they were fired from the Westford store on Wednesday, allegedly without proper notice. Baristas also claim upper management refuses to listen to complaints, intentionally cuts their hours in retaliation for them unionizing, and understaffs the store.

Fifteen of the store’s approximately 20 employees are staging the strike, which started Friday and will end on Sunday at 4 p.m. The store remained closed into Friday afternoon, although several baristas noted their manager Daniel Sardella and district manager Gordon Pundrothu were seen inside that morning, turning on machines and “pacing around” as if they would open.

There is now a sign printed on the door, stating the store is “temporarily closed.”

Austin Gryglak, who helped organize the location’s unionization effort back in March, issued a letter of notice to Sardella and Pundrothu early Friday morning before arriving at the picket line around 5 a.m. Gryglak said Sardella claimed he hadn’t received it.

Gryglak said their “No. 1 store complaint” when Sardella became manager in April was maintaining a consistent schedule. In order to qualify for benefits, Starbucks baristas must work at least 520 hours in a six-month period between Jan. 6 and July 6. That equates to about 22 hours a week.

But Gryglak said management has “slowly taken hours, week over week,” which compromises their benefits eligibility and also leads to “unsafe conditions,” as trash piles up in front of emergency exits and too few people are on staff to deal with it.

“I’m not sure why (Sardella) thinks these things won’t come back to bite him when we sit down and talk about all the communication he sends out,” Gryglak said. “Every concern is put on the back burner in favor of just making sure we get through the day.”

Sardella said he did not have a comment regarding the strike and directed The Sun to Starbucks media relations. Pundrothu did not respond to multiple requests for comment, nor did the company.

Madison Connors, 17, of Chelmsford, has worked at Starbucks for over a year, but over the past few months, she said it’s become harder to connect with customers because management “purposefully will understaff shifts.” When there are too few baristas in the store, Connors said they’re not able to talk to customers, which makes their “customer connection scores” drop as a result.

“We’re working so hard to get through the orders that we’re drowning in,” she said.

Kylah Clay, a Boston Starbucks Workers United partner, said Starbucks corporate is going “scorched earth” by relentlessly punishing unionized stores and employees.

“This has been a really inspiring movement that’s really, truly run by workers,” Clay said. “I think with these stores continuing to build their power and continuing to take action, we are slowly shifting the power back into our hands.”

A Boston Starbucks location, at 874 Commonwealth Ave., is currently leading the longest strike in the company’s history, having closed its doors for 47 days and counting.

Clay said Starbucks Workers United can pay eligible, striking baristas 70% of their wages for up to two weeks. In Massachusetts, partners have run their own fund that covers the remaining 30%, Clay added.

Victoria Coyne, who also spearheaded the union effort, said the two partners who were fired are college students who would return to work on their breaks and times they are home from school. Though that store policy didn’t align with overall company policy, Coyne said college students routinely were kept on payroll.

Both Coyne and Gryglak said they see the firing as direct “retaliation” for unionizing the store.

“Since we unionized, there’s a lot of policies that we followed in the store very loosely that are now being followed more strictly, which is considered retaliation against us unionizing,” Coyne said. “We’ve lost a substantial amount of people.”

Barista Kylie Jacobs, 17, of Chelmsford, said management is being “extremely unfair” by cutting hours and not listening to their concerns. As a senior in high school, Jacobs said she feels as though she’s made to work more during the school year than during the summer.

While picketing on Friday, Jacobs said she and her colleagues are hopeful that something will be done.

“This strike is really good because now (Sardella) has to talk to us, because he knows that he’s not going to have a staff if he doesn’t,” Jacobs said. “I think that now he’s aware that we’re serious about this, and we’re not going to just back down.”

Drought leads to water restrictions for many, but some outliers remain

August 16, 2022 by pkzadmin

The front lawn of Billerica’s Town Hall is a thick green carpet, watered daily by an automatic sprinkler system. Under normal circumstances, passersby might appreciate the beauty of the verdant oasis on Boston Road. But in July, the state issued a critical drought declaration, which required the town to institute mandatory water restrictions on nonessential outdoor water use by its customers.

Mary Leach, a Billerica resident for 20 years, says the town’s lush lawn sends the wrong message during the area’s water emergency.

“I love a green lawn as much as the next person, but during an extreme drought I am willing to let the lawn go dormant,” she said on Wednesday. “When people go by Town Hall, and see a beautiful green, they are getting the wrong message.”

The town declared the water restrictions on July 21, because of “deteriorating river conditions and supply.” The notice informed residents that “no nonessential outdoor water use was allowed,” and it advised customers to conserve water inside their homes, as well.

A drive around Billerica showed wide compliance with the outdoor water restrictions. The Billerica Public Library’s front lawn was brown and crunched underneath when walked on. A librarian, who asked not to be identified, said she didn’t mind that the town wasn’t watering the grass since she thought to do so was “wasteful.”

Aug. 16, 2022 – This sign was on display on Main Street in Pepperell, near the rotary, and was letting residents know about the water levels. JOHN LOVE PHOTO
The Nissitissit River, seen from Hollis Street in Pepperell, was very low on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022. JOHN LOVE PHOTO
Aug. 15, 2022 – The parched front lawn of the Billerica Public Library on Concord Road. As of July 21, Billerica has been declared a Level 3 Critical Drought, which means no nonessential outdoor water use is allowed, and water customers are advised to conserve water inside their homes. MELANIE GILBERT/LOWELL SUN
Aug. 15, 2022 – The browning grass on Talbot Oval off Talbot Avenue in Billerica shows the impact of the ongoing and areawide drought conditions. As of July 21, Billerica has been declared a Level 3 Critical Drought, which means no nonessential outdoor water use is allowed, and water customers are advised to conserve water inside their homes. MELANIE GILBERT/LOWELL SUN
Aug. 15, 2022 – The parched front lawn at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church on Talbot Avenue in North Billerica. As of July 21, Billerica has been declared a Level 3 Critical Drought, which means no nonessential outdoor water use is allowed, and water customers are advised to conserve water inside their homes. MELANIE GILBERT/LOWELL SUN
Aug. 15, 2022 – The Dracut Landscaping crew cutting a lawn off Boston Road. Employee Keith Kapalot, right, of Lowell, said some customers have switched to every two weeks because the grass isn’t growing in the drought conditions. As of July 21, Billerica has been declared a Level 3 Critical Drought, which means no nonessential outdoor water use is allowed, and water customers are advised to conserve water inside their homes. MELANIE GILBERT/LOWELL SUN
Aug. 15, 2022 – A sign on Boston Road headed eastbound over the Concord Rover in Billerica. As of July 21, Billerica has been declared a Level 3 Critical Drought, which means no nonessential outdoor water use is allowed, and water customers are advised to conserve water inside their homes. MELANIE GILBERT/LOWELL SUN

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Across town, at the Talbot Oval, a public park on Talbot Avenue, two scraggly green-stemmed bushes looked out of place in the midst of a parched landscape. The same was true at Saint Andrews Church on Talbot Avenue, where the formerly green lawn had long ago faded to earth tones. Parishioners there said the brown grass was “sad but necessary.”

Town bylaws list exceptions to the mandatory restrictions including “irrigation of public parks and recreational fields by means of automatic sprinklers outside the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.”

Town Manager John Curran referenced those bylaws when asked why the town wasn’t abiding by the same rules set for its residents.

“The bylaws do allow the town to maintain park areas for public use and safety,” Curran wrote by email. “The town’s water intake is not close to historic lows at this time. We will continue to monitor the situation and reevaluate accordingly.”

In June, during the public discussion over the proposed Talbot Mills Dam removal project, Curran, who has been manager since 2010, had a slightly different take on the town’s water supply. He spoke against the dam’s removal arguing that it would jeopardize Billerica’s drinking supply by lowering the surface water available to pump through the water intake structure located about a mile upstream from the dam.

“The town has an interest in the water intake issue,” Curran said at the June meeting. “It’s our only water supply. It supplies water for 42,000 people in a 26-square-mile area. During the day, it’s probably more like 75,000 people. We take some 4 million gallons a day out of that river. We want to make sure the town’s water supply is protected.”

Photos of the dam from June, compared to images taken this past Monday, show how much the water flowing over the dam has slowed.

Aug. 15, 2022 – Talbot Mills Dam on the Concord River in North Billerica. The granite block wall and rock base are exposed due to the low flow from the ongoing and region-wide drought conditions. MELANIE GILBERT/LOWELL SUN
June 21, 2022 – Talbot Mills Dam on the Concord River in North Billerica. There is an upcoming public meeting about a project to remove it. What appeared to be a mother duck flew from the river below to above the dam. Three other ducks did not attempt to follow, and instead swam back to sit on rocks at far left. JULIA MALAKIE/LOWELL SUN
June 21, 2022 – Talbot Mills Dam on the Concord River in North Billerica. There is an upcoming public meeting about a project to remove it. JULIA MALAKIE/LOWELL SUN
Aug. 15, 2022 – Talbot Mills Dam on the Concord River in North Billerica. The granite block wall and rock base are exposed due to the low flow from the ongoing and region-wide drought conditions. MELANIE GILBERT/LOWELL SUN
Aug. 15, 2022 – Talbot Mills Dam on the Concord River in North Billerica. The granite block wall and rock base are exposed due to the low flow from the ongoing and region-wide drought conditions. A fisherman casts his line into the slow-flowing water. MELANIE GILBERT/LOWELL SUN
Aug. 15, 2022 – Talbot Mills Dam on the Concord River in North Billerica. The granite block wall and rock base are exposed due to the low flow from the ongoing and region-wide drought conditions. MELANIE GILBERT/LOWELL SUN
Aug. 15, 2022 – The Mill Pond Reservoir in Burlington, a main water source for the town of Burlington, has decreased water levels due to the ongoing and regionwide drought. The green and brown areas used to be covered by water. COURTESY MARY LEACH
Aug. 15, 2022 – The Mill Pond Reservoir in Burlington, a main water source for the town of Burlington, has decreased water levels due to the ongoing and regionwide drought. The green and brown areas used to be covered by water. COURTESY MARY LEACH
Aug. 15, 2022 – The Mill Pond Reservoir in Burlington, a main water source for the town of Burlington, has decreased water levels due to the ongoing and regionwide drought. The green and brown areas used to be covered by water. COURTESY MARY LEACH

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Billerica gets its water from the Concord River, one of 8,000 in the state, which is formed by the confluence of the Assabet and Sudbury Rivers, and flows through the towns of Concord, Carlisle, Bedford and Billerica until it meets up with the Merrimack River in Lowell.

A water intake structure collects the surface water and conveys it to a water treatment plant that then funnels the clean, potable water to area households and businesses. Although that process is continuing without interruption, the drought has created increased concern and awareness as water levels continue to drop.

Jill Griffiths, a water resources engineer and ecologist with Gomez and Sullivan, an environmental and engineering restoration firm working on the dam removal project, said the low water levels are in line with their modeling predictions regarding the safety of the water supply.

“Water levels were found to be consistent with modeled drought conditions predicted earlier this year,” she wrote by email. “The minor drop in water levels anticipated due to dam removal upstream of the Fordway Bar/Pollard Street Bridge will not impact the capacity of the Billerica raw water intake, even during drought conditions.”

The drought and water level problems aren’t unique to Billerica or the Concord River. According to the state’s Drought Management Task Force, “the Commonwealth is experiencing decreasing levels in some reservoirs, dry streambeds, ponding, and diminished extent of streams in many watersheds leading to lack of flow.”

As of Aug. 9, fully two-thirds of the state was in a critical drought status. Many towns near Billerica, such as Chelmsford, Dracut, Westford, Burlington and Wilmington, are also under mandatory water restrictions.

The Nashua River, which is the watershed for a wide swath of communities from Pepperell to Fitchburg, is experiencing severe lows, according to Jessica Veysey Powell, a watershed scientist with the Nashua River Watershed Association.

“The drought is across the state, and it’s at a high level,” she said by phone from her Pepperell home. “We’re experiencing a lot of the same things as Billerica.”

Veysey Powell said the U.S. Geological Survey agency measures data points across the watershed using stream gauges.

“We have three gauges. One is on the Squannacook River, which a big tributary to the Nashua, and that’s in West Groton,” she explained. “The stream level there is at the fourth percentile meaning only 4% of the time has it been running as low as it is now.

“It’s a similar situation on the North Nashua in Fitchburg where we have another gauge. It’s in the second percentile,” Veysey Powell said. “Both of these measurements are much below normal. The third gauge is in Pepperell, and that’s at the 17th percentile.”

Veysey Powell, who has been working with wildlife and wetlands for more than 20 years, said that though the Nashua River is below normal, it is still usable for small motorboats, canoes and kayaks. It’s the smaller tributaries, or even rivers like the Nissitissit and the Squannacook, she said that are quite low and can’t be navigated by watercraft.

“It’s in those bodies in particular that we are worried about water quality now with the drought,” Veysey Powell said. “And that’s because as the water levels go down, any pollutants that are in that water such as E. coli are going to get concentrated.”

Additionally, as the water levels go down, the temperature in the water goes up.

“Hot water contains less oxygen,” Veysey Powell said. “There are negative impacts that are happening on the fish and the invertebrates that are trying to live in these waters.”

Although data is still being collected to measure the drought’s wide-ranging impacts, Veysey Powell believes that, “If we had not had any water restrictions in place, it would be a more dire situation.”

Back in Billerica, the Dracut Landscaping crew was cutting the desiccated lawn of a customer on Boston Street. The yard matched the look of hundreds of area homes as residents largely seemed to be abiding by the outdoor watering restrictions.

Keith Kapalot, of Lowell, paused during his weed-whacking duties to comment on the drought’s impact on the landscaping business. “There’s a lot of dead lawns. It’s like straw, it just flies everywhere. The only thing that grows, are the weeds,” he said with a laugh.

Up at Town Hall, water restrictions or not, the sprinklers were soaking the ground with precious water every morning, keeping the landscape a vibrant green.

Bobcat sightings rise in Chelmsford

August 5, 2022 by pkzadmin

CHELMSFORD — Most outdoor cats are tabbies that eat Fancy Feast, but one cat lurking around the Chelmsford area — though equally adorable — may not be so friendly.

Residents, local wildlife officials and researchers have recently reported more frequent sightings of bobcats, cats native to the United States that are about twice as large as the typical house cat. Bobcats are commonly mistaken for mountain lions, but while bobcats live in Massachusetts, research shows that mountain lions do not.

Jon Morris, the K-12 science coordinator at Chelmsford Public Schools, captured a bobcat on one of the 14 trail cameras he set up across the district’s four schools in May. In the woods between Route 3, Harrington Elementary School and the football field, a trail camera photographed what appears to be a bobcat moving quickly through the brush in the early morning hours of May 17.

The bobcat’s been pretty elusive otherwise, Morris said, but he was excited to see the camera picked one up and showcased a “gorgeous animal” that’s part of the local ecosystem.

“Based on the images, the health of the animals is very interesting, like the bobcat was very, very healthy, I think is the best way to describe her,” Morris chuckled. “It’s not something a lot of people think about in this area. Some people think it’s a raccoon that’s really big.”

A wild cat prowls the wooded area between Route 3, Harrington Elementary School and the football field in Chelmsford around 1:30 a.m. on May 17, 2022. The photo was captured by one of 14 trail cameras set up by Jon Morris, K-12 science coordinator at Chelmsford Public Schools, in May. (Courtesy of Chris O’Donnell, Chelmsford Public Schools)
A deer looks into a trail camera in the woods surrounding Parker Middle School in Chelmsford on May 21, 2022. The photo was captured by one of 14 trail cameras set up by Jon Morris, K-12 science coordinator at Chelmsford Public Schools, in May. (Courtesy of Chris O’Donnell, Chelmsford Public Schools)
A fisher cat jumps through the woods between the McCarthy Middle School and Chelmsford Public School’s Central Administration offices. The photo was captured by one of 14 trail cameras set up by Jon Morris, K-12 science coordinator at Chelmsford Public Schools, in May. (Courtesy of Chris O’Donnell, Chelmsford Public Schools)
An animal, likely a coyote, stands in the woods near Parker Middle School in Chelmsford on May 9, 2022. The photo was captured by one of 14 trail cameras set up by Jon Morris, K-12 science coordinator at Chelmsford Public Schools, in May. (Courtesy of Chris O’Donnell, Chelmsford Public Schools)

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Several people took to Facebook to share some of their encounters with bobcats and reported spotting the animal on Grandview Road in Chelmsford and Dunshire Drive and Coolidge Street in North Chelmsford.

At Chelmsford Animal Control, officers including Mark Cianci are seeing “an uptick” in calls and social media posts from residents about a plethora of wildlife, but notably bobcats. On average, Cianci said the office receives 40 calls a week but does not keep a call log on which animals are reported.

Cianci said “it’s not unusual” to see bobcats this time of year, as it’s the end of the birthing season, after which the parents teach their young how to hunt so they can survive on their own.

That increase in sightings may also be due to the housing market in town, Cianci said, with many residents moving in and out of the area who may not be familiar with the wildlife here. Development projects also are “eating up a ton of habitat,” forcing many animals into residential areas, he added.

Nevertheless, Cianci said there still exists a wide variety of critters, big and small.

“We do have everything,” Cianci said. “We have bobcats, fisher cats, coyotes, foxes, bears, deer. You name it, I’ve seen it in Chelmsford.”

Over the past few months, the schools’ trail cameras have identified a number of other animals, including coyotes, fisher cats, white-tailed deer and chipmunks. Morris said he has been fascinated by the “diversity of the species in such a small area.”

The cameras picked up several deer close to school start and end times, Morris said, which may cause parents to worry about their children’s safety around the other animals nearby. But Morris said it’s important to always keep a safe distance, as they do not pose a real threat from far away.

“We have to remember they are wild animals and that we have to respect their space,” he said. “It’s something that we can learn to live with as opposed to constantly fear.”

Cianci said he advises residents to secure their trash, accompany pets outside and “admire the wildlife from a distance.” He also said he reminds people that they’re living in the animals’ habitat and not the other way around.

While he is interested in knowing when and where bobcats are sighted, Cianci said animal control will not trap or move any wildlife unless they pose a danger.

“We want to know if an animal is aggressive for no reason, if it’s acting odd,” Cianci said. “Just a sighting of a bobcat in a yard, we don’t really pursue.”

If a bobcat is acting “drunk-like” — unsteady on its feet, needlessly aggressive or unusually lethargic — it could indicate the animal is sick, Cianci said, and animal control would get involved. Other concerning behaviors include frothing at the mouth, hair loss, walking in circles and biting at the air.

The Chelmsford schools camera project is part of a larger documentation effort through Snapshot USA, and Morris said he hopes he and his students can send their research and photos to contribute to a nationwide database.

Though the trail cams are relatively new, Morris said he plans on disseminating the images he captures to residents via social media on a routine basis. He said the cameras are a way for everyone to learn about and appreciate the animals in their own backyards.

“Hopefully, we can get more than just the few images that we have of one and really start to say, ‘Hey, this is what this animal is, and this is what it’s actually doing and it’s OK, it’s allowed to do these things,’” Morris said. “As an educator, I think that all of these images and especially the bobcat, is just a huge opportunity for the kids to learn but also the community to learn as well.”

Trash concerns continue to pile up

August 5, 2022 by pkzadmin

LOWELL — An anonymous email tip to The Sun suggested that Waste Management drivers, who provide trash disposal service to city residents, were frustrated with the company’s low pay and working conditions, and were planning a walkout.

“Lowell’s trash is about to pile up,” said the unsigned message received Wednesday. “Waste Management’s drivers are planning a walkout Friday over low wages and long, unfair hours.”

Friday morning, a reporter drove to the company’s Londonderry, New Hampshire location, from which drivers’ stage to run their routes. Waste Management office staff declined to speak on record, although they expressed surprise at the news of a walkout. The lot was filled with personal vehicles and largely empty of the distinctive dark green and yellow trucks.

The Houston, Texas-based, $15 billion company, describes itself in company literature as “North America’s environmental solutions provider.” Founded in 1968, the company’s portfolio includes transfer stations, landfills, recycling plants and direct service to residential, industrial, corporate and municipal customer services.

The city is one such municipal customer. In 2019, it signed a $28.4 million contract that expires in December 2024. Then-City Manager Eileen Donoghue’s memorandum to the members of the City Council hinted at pre-pandemic difficulties already facing the waste management industry.

“Each party was faced with particular challenges that are a product of the current solid waste and recycling industry which have resulted in escalating costs to provide services,” Donoghue wrote.

The contract also included a penalties section, giving the city the ability to “levy penalties against the contractor for various levels of service deficiencies. The City now has the ability to track services and penalize the contractor based on poor performance.”

Just more than a year later, COVID-19 hit in the spring of 2020, and service industries like Waste Management were impacted by staffing shortages.

By August 2021, midway through the initial phase of the pandemic, complaints to city councilors started piling up about spotty trash service, with Donoghue triggering the fine clause in the contract, and levying $46,000 against the company for delays in household curbside pickups.

Even Waste Management’s leadership acknowledged how the pandemic was affecting operations.

Director of Public Sector Solutions for Waste Management James Nocella told the council in January 2022 that COVID-19 infections had resulted in “about 10% to 15% of the workforce absent on any given day.”

Donoghue also reported that the fines were up to $78,000 and the law department was continuing to assess fines where appropriate, under the contract.

This summer, trash service was again on the agenda, with Councilors Rita Mercier and Erik Gitschier being the most vocal with their constituents’ concerns.

City Councilor Vesna Nuon’s July 12 motion requesting that City Manager Tom Golden address the problems with citywide household trash pickup service is still pending Golden’s response.

The issue came up again with Mercier’s emergency motion at the July 26 council meeting, for Golden to address the rat problem in the Highlands neighborhood near the Department of Public Works yard on Middlesex, which she attributed to the ongoing trash service problems.

The anonymous message suggested that Waste Management “can’t keep employees while other companies pay more. Several drivers already interviewing. Good luck if they leave over $2.”

More ominously, the unsigned message said that, “Chelmsford, Westford and other towns also will be impacted when we walk for a day. Wait ’til trash and recycle piles up over low base wages.”

On Friday, several trucks rolled through Lowell neighborhoods, using the mechanical-arm can-retrieval system that only requires one driver to staff operations without having to leave the vehicle. The metal arm extends from the body of the truck, clamping around the can of fragrant trash, lifting it in the air and dumping the contents into the truck bay, before setting it back down and moving onto the next house.

When asked about the alleged walkout, one driver said that he has just returned from a two-week vacation, so he didn’t know anything about it.

A new driver, part of a two-man crew picking up yard waste, said that while the walkout was news to him, he did know that “Waste Management is having trouble getting drivers.”

Another driver when asked about the walkout said that “maybe it will, maybe it won’t still happen” but that he thought Waste Management needed “to take the issues with pay and long hours seriously.”

Golden did not respond to a request for comment on the ongoing trash issues raised by the councilors or residents, and efforts to reach a corporate representatives for Waste Management were not immediately successful.

Teamsters Local 25, based out of Charlestown, did not respond to a request for comment on whether any organizing activity is taking place with Waste Management drivers.

With so many uncertainties, one thing remains sure, that there will be trash on Lowell city curbs next week.

Jenny Raitt brings listening skills, track record to NMCOG

August 3, 2022 by pkzadmin

LOWELL — In the alphabet soup of local, state and federal agencies, perhaps only the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments has a key role defined as that of convener, which is government speak for listening, engaging and collaborating.

NMCOG is one of 13 regional planning agencies within the commonwealth, and serves the communities of Lowell, Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Pepperell, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro and Westford.

Since her July appointment as the new executive director of the public organization, Jenny Raitt has been doing a lot of convening, holding listening sessions with all nine of NMCOG’s partner communities.

On Tuesday, she held a listening session with Lowell leadership, including City Manager Tom Golden, Director of Planning and Development and Assistant City Manager Christine McCall, and others. City Councilor Daniel Rourke is a member of the NMCOG board, which is made up of three members of each community: a chief elected official, a planning board member and an alternate.

Projects that the agency has worked on previously have included the widening of Route 3, the creation of the Bruce Freeman Trail and the creation of the Nashua River Trail in Pepperell and Dunstable.

As the previous director for planning and community development for Arlington, Raitt managed a $2.5 million budget and several grant programs including the Community Development Block Grant. She implemented the town’s Master Housing Plan, the Arts and Culture Action Plan, Net Zero Action Plan, Connect Arlington Sustainable Transportation Plan and the town’s 2022 Housing Plan.

In an exclusive interview, The Sun sat down with Raitt at her Church Street offices to discuss NMCOG’s role, her goals for the agency and insight into how the organization can build on its work over the past six decades.

SUN: What’s your “elevator pitch” for what NMCOG does?

RAITT: We’re a regional planning agency on a suite of issues, such as transportation, economic development, housing, environmental planning and municipal services for the Greater Lowell area. But our main purpose is to support our partner communities. We are the go-to place where local leaders can learn about and get the tools they need to take next steps for their projects. That’s absolutely what the agency can do and has done.

SUN: What is your background for this work?

RAITT: I graduated UMass Amherst with a major in urban planning and documentary studies, and from the New School in New York with a master’s in nonprofit management and urban policy. In addition to other positions, I served as the director for the department of planning and community development in the town of Arlington for the previous 6 ½ years.

SUN: What has changed since you were in school?

RAITT: My whole trajectory has been local housing, community development and planning. But I think the difference between school work and real-world work is how you get things done.

The most important “how” part is co-creating and inviting other people to the process to be a stakeholder in the work. And that’s what I’m looking to do here both internally, and as we grow and evolve in our work in the region.

SUN: What hasn’t changed since you were in school?

RAITT: What hasn’t changed is that a lot of our laws, such as zoning, programs and rules are still the same, for better or worse. And in some cases, I think there could be changes that would better reflect the future that we all want to have, and frankly, could better reflect the role of a regional planning agency. Having regions working together is really critical in light of those challenges.

SUN: In your listening sessions, what common themes are you hearing?

RAITT: I’m still working my way through the communities, but definitely infrastructure such as water, sewer and transportation. I think of environmental issues as being part of infrastructure, which we need to think about it as being resilient. If we’re going to build or rebuild things, it’s all about resiliency.

Housing is another theme. Everything from regional homelessness to looking at rental and homeownership opportunities, as well concerns about different scales of development including commercial development.

Municipal stability is another concern. We need to continue to find ways to keep the communities working together and engaged for greater efficiencies and collaboration.

SUN: What kind of support does NMCOG provide partner communities?

RAITT: Often, towns and cities just call us, but we also reach out actively to our communities. We have the perspective of what’s going on more broadly in the region, and we also have the expertise to help at the local level. So, if there’s only one town planner, we can provide support to writing or redrafting zoning. Our work is supporting people who are working in the community — that’s what we do here.

SUN: What are some of the “tools” in your toolkit available to your partner communities?

RAITT: We use a lot of information technology tools such as geographic information system mapping, which can create visual maps of things like heat islands relating to climate resiliency. We can help analyze data. We can connect local communities to broader regional goals, advocacy, funding and cultural economic development opportunities.

SUN: Where does your funding come from?

RAITT: Part of our funding comes from an assessment on our local communities. We receive funding directly from MassDOT (Department of Transportation), and technical contracts from the Department of Fish and Wildlife. We also received Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funding.

SUN: Is there one issue that equally impacts all of the NMCOG communities?

RAITT: We’re going to go through an administrative change at the state level. That brings with it new opportunities, new resources and new guidance on a lot of the work that we’re doing especially at the regional level, but definitely applicable to our municipalities.

A new governor has a really interesting opportunity to firm up the housing and economic development and planning work that is happening across the state.

We’re in a really important position to help our communities work through that and be their resource, the convener, as well as their guide.

SUN: Any last thoughts you would like to share with our readers about NMCOG?

RAITT: All of our meetings are open to the public. In my listening sessions, I’m hearing that NMCOG has been a very reliable partner to work with. I’m excited for my new role, to meet lots of people and to build on a great foundation to take our work to the next level.

Chelmsford

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