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ANOTHER MISSED OPPORTUNITY
DID YOU
KNOW…
Now that the
voters at the annual town meeting failed to rezone the old
Plymouth Rubber property on Revere Street, the question on
everyone’s mind is what is going to become of the ugly eyesore.
Voters had an ideal opportunity to have the new owners tear down
all the old, decrepit buildings and clean up and remove all the
contaminated soil these buildings sit on. But in their haste to
stick it to Napleton, the property’s new owner, voters foolishly
let that opportunity slip through their fingers and the town got
nothing, not even the generous $5.5-million mitigation package
the owners offered the town or all the additional tax revenue
the attractive new project of about 400 residential and retail
units would have generated. It is too bad.
The property
is still zoned as industrial, which means the owner can recoup
some of its investment by either selling or leasing the property
for some sort of industrial/manufacturing business, and just
what kind of industry it will be is dependent on what companies
are looking for space in the middle of a town that really
doesn’t want them. With the present poor economy, it might not
be easy to attract an industry to the property, which will
probably mean the Plymouth Rubber property will unavoidably
become a group of vacant, rundown, decrepit buildings. If a new
industrial tenant is found, how big will it be? What will be its
business? Will it be clean and quiet? And how many employees and
cars will Revere Street and the town have to deal with?
Speaking of
town meeting, the voters overwhelmingly agreed to put the
$4.5 million operational override question on the ballot for
today’s election. If it is approved in the election, it
will result in a permanent tax increase.
Congratulations to Massachusetts State Trooper Jeff Russell
of Canton who was awarded the prestigious Mark S. Charbonnier
Award during Law Day at the Quincy District Court. Trooper
Russell was cited for assisting the Central Falls, Rhode Island
Police Department in capturing the people who murdered a man
whose body was found in Foxboro. Trooper Russell works out of
Norfolk County District Attorney Bill Keating’s office and is
the son of retired Canton Firefighter Dick Russell and his wife,
Nancy.
Have you
noticed that Canton has become a veritable United Nations of
restaurants? In addition to all of the fast-food and chain
restaurants that feature what is known as “American Cuisine,”
you will see several others that should satisfy your hunger and
tastes, such as Greek restaurants, Italian restaurants and a
plethora of Asian restaurants, including several Chinese
restaurants and eateries serving Thai food, Japanese food, and
Vietnamese food; and we will soon have a Korean restaurant,
which is going to be located in the former Chinese Buffet at
Cobb’s Corner.
Bay Road
is still closed to through traffic since a collapsed
culvert, which caused a large sinkhole, was discovered a couple
of weeks ago. The Stoughton Superintendent of Public Works said
there is no timetable set for allowing traffic to again use the
normally heavily traveled road, and repairs may take some time.
Drivers can still use Bay Road between Plain Street and Walters
Way, and from the Easton town line to Castle Drive in Sharon.
According to
a report from the Warren Group, the Massachusetts housing
market is still struggling and dropped nearly 11 percent in
March. However, in Norfolk County, the median rose by 1 percent
for the same time period.
A new
feature of the sluggish housing market is that 15 brand new
residential units at Blue Hill Commons, which were built by
Vazza Associates at 2102 Davenport Avenue, off Royall Street,
are being auctioned off. Minimum bid price range is $275,000 to
$321,000.
A report
from the University of Massachusetts estimates that the state’s
economy actually grew at an annualized rate of 3.2 percent while
the nation’s economy grew only 0.6 percent, primarily because
the state’s high-tech and health care sectors have offset
declines in housing and consumer-related industries.
An evening
of dinner and dancing to benefit the Alberts Family will
be held Saturday, June 14 from 7 to midnight at the Canton Town
Club. Longtime UPS driver Paul Alberts, who has made
deliveries all over Canton for many years, has been battling
multiple myeloma. Tickets are available at Terban Health Club.
Cost is $40 per person. For more information, call Howie at
781.344.8947.
Finally, it
looks like the Red Sox may move their Florida spring
training and Grapefruit League site from Fort Myers, most likely
to Sarasota, in 2009 or 2010. Sarasota proposes to build a new
stadium for the Sox, which will hold approximately 12,000 fans
—much more than the 8,000 that the Fort Myers City of Palms
Stadium holds. The Sox have the option of quitting the City of
Palms lease before the December 31, 2009 deadline.
Money is
always there, but the pockets change.
That this is all for now folks;
see you next week.
Joe DeFelice can be reached at
manaboutcanton@aol.com
May 15, 2008
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