-
8/9/2019 Duxbury Reporter front page for March 26, 2010
1/1
GateHouse Media www.wickedlocalduxbury.com FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2010 44 Pages 4 Sections Vol. 23, No. 13 75
SEE PAGE 7
Business Profile
Mike Gill
SEE PAGE 4
CandidatesQuestions
Find out what they think
DATELINE . . . . . .21
FAITH . . . . . . . . .23
FILM TIMES . . . . .21
LIBRARY . . . . . . . .6
OPINIONS . . . . . .10
PUZZLES . . . . . . .22
SENIORS . . . . . . . .9
SCHOOLS . . . . . . .9
SPORTS . . . . . . . .13
INSIDE
THIS WEEK
Theresalwaysmoreonline
www.wickedlocalduxbury.com
Say noto Norwell
SPORTS
SEE PAGE 13
Priced right
SEE INSERT
SEE INSIDE
Progress 2010
Tee oneup, tie
one onGolf course operatorwants to serve
drinks on the green
By Matthew [email protected]
DUXBURY Golfers know whatthe 19th hole is; the managers oNorth Hill Golf Course are interestedin creating the 5-1/2th hole.
Representatives of Johnson Golf,which manages the course, wants per-mission to have a drinks cart servingalcoholic beverages out on the courseduring some events.
Johnson Golf has a license to serveliquor in the clubhouse.
Steve Follansbee, attorney forJohnson Golf, said the cart would onlybe used for league matches and out-ings, which he defined as charitableevents.
He explained that having on-coursedrink service would make North Hillmore attractive to groups planningsuch events.
However, given concerns raised bytown counsel Bob Troy, and their ownworries, selectmen decided to hold ofmaking a decision.
Selectman Jon Witten, who wasspending his last meeting as a select-men, was opposed to the idea.
Troy warned that the town, which
owns the course, does not have immu-nity from lawsuits if something hap-pens due to drinking on the course.
He also noted that once the cart lefta particular location, no one would bethere to observe who was consumingthe alcohol.
Johnson Golf, Follansbee said, pro-vides full coverage for liquor liabil-ity under its contract with the town.
Follansbee said the cart operatorwould be TIPS certified. TIPS(Training for Intervention Procedures)is a program that trains bartenders andwait staff in spotting intoxicated andunderage drinkers.
Its a public course, Witten said.Im dubious this is in the publicinterest.
I could use a cold beer sometimeson the course, Selectman ChrisDonato noted, who questioned how
Unionlabel
School bus driversjoin the Teamsters
By Matthew [email protected]
DUXBURY Feeling that they werelosing ground compared to their coun-terparts in neighboring communities,Duxbury school bus drivers decided todo something about.
That something was joining a union.And not any union theyre
Teamsters now.Driver and newly selected shop stew-
ard John Gaffney said he and his fellowdrivers decided to organize after watch-ing promised raises evaporate and tradi-tional benefits, such as a Christmasturkey, disappear. They felt, he said,that the companys own financial chal-lenges were being hoisted on them.
Maybe a Christmas turkey doesntsound like much, but it means a lot,Gaffney said. Were just trying to hold
the line.Many bus drivers, Gaffney said, are
working mothers.Weve been getting shorted for the
while, he said. We can only take somuch.
Besides, he said, while FirstStudent iscutting back what it provides its drivers,I dont think the town has cut back onwhat theyre paying FirstStudent.
The Duxbury School Departmentspent $957,528 on transportation dur-ing the 2009 fiscal year. It budgeted$1,010,888 for fiscal year 2010 and$1,046,796 for the upcoming fiscalyear.
The town charges $270 per student,with a $540 per family cap, to providebus service to any student in seventh
grade or up, and younger students liv-ing more than two miles from theirschool.
Duxbury has one more year in its con-tract with FirstStudent, according toSuperintendent Sue Skeiber.
Meanwhile, drivers who are union-ized, from such places as EastBridgewater, are getting raises.
The Teamsters have been involved ina national derive to organizeFirstStudent drivers, according to BrianMcElhinney, the vice president ofTeamsters local 653 in South Easton.
Besides Duxbury, they recently orga-nized Silver Lake and Pembroke dri-vers. The three groups all work out ofthe same lot, according to McElhinney.
They came to us, he said.
Silver Lake and Pembroke driversearn more than Duxbury drivers,according to Gaffney.
The process of organizing was pret-ty quick, McElhinney said, noting ittook about three months.
Go watch fishBay Farm students study Duxburys waterways
By Matthew [email protected]
Second of two partsDUXBURY The smelt are running,
but they arent getting very far.Not that they mind.Like their cousins, the herring, smelt
leave the ocean to spawn, workingtheir way upstream into fresh water.Unlike herring, they arent com-
pelled to fight their way upstream tothe ancestral breeding ground. For asmelt, any spot will do.
One of those spots is at the bottom ofthe Indian Creek fish ladder.
Which is why Bay Farm MontessoriAcademy middle school studentsfound themselves there as part of theirongoing study of Duxburys water-ways.
They carefully balanced on the rocksand searched for good spots to watchthe fish from both sides of the creek.
Counting the smelt is really a damprun for when the herring show up inthe next few weeks, John Brawley
explained. Brawley is a Bay Farmtrustee, oysterman and president ofenvironmental consulting firmSaquish Scientific.
Herring have returned to Duxburyrecently, Brawley said. After the con-struction of the fish ladder runningunderneath Tremont Street into Mill
Pond, the state stocked Island Creekpond with herring in the hopes the fishwould spawn. Last year was the first
time those fish returned to Duxbury.Armed with their eyes and equipmentpurchased through a grant from WoodsHole Oceanographic Institute, the stu-dents are learning about their commu-nitys connection to the water.
Theyre learning it, teacher MeaghanHathaway explained, by using, in the
words of Maria Montessori, founder othe educational movement that bearsher name, Their hands and minds, by
examining Duxburys waterways andbuilding a pair of rowboats.The day began in the classroom as the
students, led by Brawley, reviewed thelatest readings from their monitors. Thewater temperature has risen in recentweeks. And reasons are considered.
SEE DRINKS, PAGE
Out of the frying panBenefits restored to cafeteria workers, butprivatized food service being considered
Matthew [email protected]
DUXBURY The lunch ladies gottheir health insurance back, for now.
Cafeteria workers signed a new con-tract with the School Department thatrestored the hours they lost in October.
That reduction in hours meant a lose of
health benefits for them.The hours as a cost savings measure
after the department lost $128,000 in itsfood services budget last year, which issupposed to be self-sufficient.
However, the new contract runs out atthe end of the current school year, andthe health benefits are only beingrestored going forward. The workers arestill on the hook for their health carecosts dating back to October, accordingto Mary Critch, shop steward for theDuxbury cafeteria workers.
And then things get complicated.Duxbury schools are exploring the
possibility of turning the operation oftheir food services to a private vendor.
According to Superintendent SueSkeiber, requests for proposals were sent
out and three bidders responded.They were Aramark, Chartwells and
Whitsons Culinary Group. All threecompanies are major players in the
institutional food business, Skeiber said.There are only so many companies thatdo this, she noted.
Chartwells provides food services forthe Rockland Public Schools. Aramarkprovides East Bridgewaters food ser-vices.
The possibility of food services beingprivatized worried Critch, who called ita double whammy.
After having their hours cut and losingtheir benefits, many of the cafeteriaworkers went on COBRA, which allowspeople to purchase, for full cost, whatev-er health insurance plan they had previ-ously.
Under the towns health insurance
plan, according to Critch, the town pays75 percent of the employees healthinsurance costs.
PHOTO/DAVE MACCAFERRI
God Squad community team member, Father Sean Maher of Holy Family Parish, demonstrates the miracle of spinning a hula hoopwithout moving a muscle at last weeks Are You Smarter than a Duxbury Fifth Grader? event at the Performing Arts Center.
You can find more photos at www.wickedlocalduxbury.com.
HOLY HOOPS!
SEE TEAMSTERS, PAGE 3
Some of these girlshave put their hard-
earned lives into this
job. Its a blow.Mary Critch
SEE BENEFITS, PAGE3
PHOTO/DAVE MACCAFERRI
At a local fish ladder, Bay Farm Montessori Academy students look on as the data
logger is pulled from the water.
SEE WATERWAYS, PAGE
Town ElectionSaturday,March 26
8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
At DuxburyMiddle School
