This should be interesting. $370K for this land. According to Mr. Ross, we are going to peel off three one-acre lots and sell them for $60K each. We will have to pay for moving the right of way. And pay for any development (it may be flat, but you do not just plop down lines for a soccer field). And to whom are we going to sell these lots? If you do not like the current bidder, just make sure you aggressively enforce the zoning and inspection rules. Let the owner sell and we start collecting property taxes because he is going to get it re-zoned to OLI (otherwise, why whould he buy it?) To quote another (recently re-elected) Selectman, we are "leaving money on the table". View Comment

Mr. H...So what you are saying is we should actually pay TWICE for our bags. First buy a good sturdy trash bag, and then buy the flimsy PAYT bags. And the taxes keep going up. Oy...I'm getting dizzy. View Comment

Spl01519: Just a small point. Paying for trash pickup USED to be part of our property taxes. But, as a recently re-elected Selectman once said "that is a luxury". So, now we pay for the trash bags, which funds the trash pickup (and the property taxes keep going UP). Ohh...I have another headache. View Comment

Do I have this right?. If you commute to BOSTON, by train or car, you get a tax break. But if you commute somewhere else, such as Lexington (IBM), or Burlington (Nuance, and many others), you get no break. In fact, that tax break is subsidized by the non-Boston crowd. What if you commute in the other direction, such as Springfield or Worcester? Is this fair? Geez...where is my Representative when we need to make this right. What? He is? McGovern is our rep? And he is sponsoring this inequality? I have another headache. View Comment

My gosh. $370,000 just to purchase land for a soccer field. And then more money to put in the field. What a waste! We already have lots of space available for new soccer fields, including the Perrault and Pell lands. We need businesses and business tax revenue, so why are we doing this? Is there something wrong with the current bidder (Troiano)? If there is something wrong, is it a secret? View Comment

Scratch: you make an interesting point. I noticed from previous polls that the online results differ from the actual results. I wonder if the online poll actually motivates supporters to show up at the polls, which in turn changes the results. As the old radio show used to say..."We'll soon find out" View Comment

Ok. another problem I have to solve. Geez...so many problems. Hmmm...let's see now: we spend $380K for soccer fields (plus the cost to build the fields, line, supervise, fence) on questionable soils, which generate no revenue, but give the kiddies more room to run around. OR, a business wants to buy the land, open a business, generate tax revenue and maybe a few jobs, at no cost to the town. Ok...I have the answer: the business wins out on this one. If you need more soccer fields, put them on the new Perrault land, or up in the Pell tree farm. Problem solved. Back to my nap. G-day mate! View Comment

This is great! Wine, alpacas, chicken...all on the Common. This will make Grafton the envy of Central Mass. View Comment

Rumor has it that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas both got their start as GCTV producers. Of course, that is only a rumor. View Comment

Many thanks to the LWV for sponsoring this event. It is really useful for the candidates to try to answer written citizen questions, with no advanced prep. Those questions were clearly thought out. The candidates did a fine, passionate job at answering. Too bad we could not cover all the questions for the BoS candidates. As for the BoS debate, perhaps the most intriguing issue was expressed by Mr. Spinney in his opening statement: having the BoS take back its Executive responsibilities, rather than deferring to the current TA/ATA. Very interesting. What would change if this were to occur? Both the Planning and BoS debates hit an important point for the Town: bringing in commercial development to offest the burdens of strictly residential development. That's a tough job. It was pointed out that we need an easily available inventory of available buildings and lots. Plus a list of acreage that could potentially be re-zoned. Didn't our ATA manage such a task in a previous job in New Jersey? Several candidates commented positively about the "Summits" that brought all the boards, committees, and administration together. This is good news. I wonder if these are open to the general citizenry. GCTV interviewed several candidates...will these interviews be re-broadcast? View Comment

The BoS and Planning Board broadcast their meetings. I find these to be quite informative. Now it is time for the Finance Committee to sign up to broadcast their meetings. Lights, camera...action! View Comment

This is really good to see. Area towns working together. Very smart. Unfunded mandates are odd little beasts. Well intentioned, but someone has to pay the bill. Regionalizing building inspections, conservation efforts, and Board of Health activities would seem to make some sense. We already have regional cooperation among area fire departments. And we have some purchasing cooperation (fuel, road salts). I wonder if we could realize similar cooperation among area Police departments. After all, we do have the SS Grafton. Maybe we could trade it for something equally useful, such as a barbecue pit. Ha...just being humorous here. Note: I see Kevin, our Asst TA, in the photo. Was anyone else from Town Govt there? Also, I see that Dan Morgado was at the meeting. Gee...why can't we get a TA like Dan? View Comment

Lets hope that ALL information relevant to the meeting is made available two weeks BEFORE the meeting, and not published at the last minute on the day of the meeting. View Comment

Pave it! Put up a parking lot. Several strip malls. Maybe a truck stop. Oh boy. View Comment

$11M? wow. Help me with this: The DPW takes care of roads, parks, and cemeteries. Water and sewer are separate functions. Trash is totally outsourced. The recycling center and brush dump are just fine now. So, what does the DPW need? Covered parking for vehicles, storage for maintenance equipment, repair facilities (although repair could be outsourced to one of the many Route 20 truck repair centers), plus storage space for materials such as road salt. Office space is just fine right now at the Municipal Center. If we look around, we find Northampton working on a $17M facility for a much larger operation ($20+M annual budget). Medfield is working on an $11.5M facility that includes significant offices and space for 40 vehicles. Amesbury is developing a $6M facility that matches Grafton's requirements. We absoluteley do not need an architect to design this garage. We could investigate pre-fabricated structures for significant savings. The staff needs a facility that is safe, clean, and sufficient to do the job. This should not come remotely close to $11M. View Comment

Just take the money out of the pepper account. HA...I'm so funny. View Comment

Oh come on now...this joke is getting a bit stale. Illegal alien for 49 years? INS couldn't find him for 20 years? Drunk driver working in a liquor store? Ran over a guy and he gets his license back? It IS a joke,isn't it? It has to be a joke. Please tell me it is a joke. Please. My government isn't this incompetent. The RMV isn't this out of touch. The Governor will surely step in, make the right decision, deport the guy, and we'll be done with it. Won't we? Please? View Comment

HA HA....good one. An April Fools joke. Very funny. Very contemporary. A mix of local and national political humor. Clever. Very witty. How droll. Ha...really had me going there for a moment. What? Wait...it's not a joke? It's real? Are you freakin' kidding me? That's it...I will NEVER shop in that store again. Not that I ever went in there anyway. Noooo...Not me..not a liquor store. Except maybe that one time I needed Grafton garbage bags. Yeah...that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. View Comment

I posit that the apparent slowdown in student population growth is due to the slowdown in the housing market. Fewer new homes coming onto the market and fewer existing houses turning over adds up to a slower population increase. That may be ok for Grafton, since it certainly does look like we are over-building. Of course, you have to look at the middle school class sizes to recognize that grades 9 thru 12 could easily be operating at that 900 figure in four years. Yes, some will leave Grafton for SJ or BVT. But, we will more than compensate for that loss with all those very tall kids who will choose Grafton for superior high-schooling years. View Comment

Abolish Town Meeting? And replace it with what? An all-powerful TA and BoS, with Executive sessions for conducting the serious business? A School Committee that lets us vote on a budget that has only one big line item? Oh wait...that's how it works now. Nevermind! View Comment