3 Wellesley Town bylaws amendments now in effect

August 17, 2017 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The Town of Wellesley reports that the Town Bylaw Amendments passed by the Annual Town Meeting in April of 2017 have been approved by the Attorney General and are now effective.

Three articles were affected:

Article 46C, Historic Preservation Demolition Review:

This Article was adopted by the Town to assure the preservation and enhancement of the Town of Wellesley’s historical and cultural heritage by preserving, rehabilitating or restoring whenever possible, buildings that have distinctive architectural features or historical associations that contribute to the historic fabric of the Town.

This means that any home that was built in whole or in part on or before December 31, 1949 requires a Demolition Permit in order to be demolished. Buildings owned by the Town of Wellesley and dormitories and residence halls owned by educational institutions used to house students or staff are not considered Eligible Buildings for purposes of this Article.

2. Article 55, Revolving Funds

15 individual Revolving Funds were authorized including:

Council on Aging Social and Cultural Programs Fund: $100,000.00
Funds programs for senior citizens, under the direction of the Council on Aging.

Recreation Summertime Revenues Fund: $30,000.00
Expenditures for summertime and special event programs and activities, under the direction of the Recreation Department.

Street Opening Maintenance Fund: $225,000.00
Expenditures under the direction of the Department of Public Works for administrative services related to issuing permits for work conducted in the public way and for inspection of that work to ensure compliance with town standards.

3. Article 14, Permanent Building Committee wording was revised.

Wellesley Planning Department seeks Board Member

August 4, 2017 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley school superintendent warns families about dangerous “challenge”

July 14, 2017 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

Superintendent of Wellesley Schools, Dr. David Lussier, has sent out an email to parents warning about a deeply creepy “game” that has been making the rounds on social media for the past several months. In “The Blue Whale Challenge,” participants are encouraged to carry out a list of fifty tasks that start out with cutting, move on to desensitizing oneself to heights by, say, going to a roof and standing on the edge, and culminating in suicide. Throughout the tasks, the administrator, known as the “whale”, who does not participate in the tasks, is said to require proof through pictures and other occasional check-ins. The term blue whale comes from the phenomenon of beached whales, which is likened to suicide.

Although some reports of the challenge have been uncovered as a hoax, the family of a Texas teen says that it believes the sinister game led to its 15-year old son’s death. In addition, at least two administrators have been arrested in the past few months by police who have taken it all very seriously: an unrepentant Philipp Budeikin, 21, was arrested by Russian police earlier this spring, claiming that his victims were nothing more than biological waste and that he was simply cleansing society. In June, Ilya Sidorov, 26, a Moscow postman, was arrested in that city and reportedly told police that he had developed the “game.”

Ukraine, Portugal, Spain, Britain and France have also reported the existence of Blue Whale groups.

Here’s the letter from Supt. Lussier:

Dear Members of the Wellesley Community,

I want share information that school districts across the state have received about a dangerous social media app called, “The Blue Whale Challenge.” The Blue Whale Challenge is an app that instructs its participants (many preteens) to carry out increasingly dangerous tasks and self-harm over 50 days. Users are encouraged to tag friends on social media and ‘challenge’ them to participate in the game.

USA Today (May 25, 2017) reported on how it works – “Over the course of 50 days, an anonymous administrator assigns kids self-harm tasks. The challenges may start by asking kids to watch a scary movie and then grow increasingly dangerous to include acts like cutting. On the 50th day, the participant is supposed to commit suicide. The game can reach kids through social-media channels like Instagram, SnapChat, YouTube and texting.”

It’s very concerning because these apps are targeting a very vulnerable population. We would encourage parents to:

* ask your kids if there are ANY new games or popular challenges that they or their friends are hearing about or playing on social media or online

* search for hashtags like #BlueWhaleChallenge and/or photos of a blue whale on your kids’ social media accounts.

This message is not meant to alarm anyone, but rather to encourage parents to be proactive in protecting their children from potential negative influences on the internet.

Best regards,

David Lussier

Burn, baby, burn in Wellesley

May 18, 2017 by Deborah Brown 2 Comments

Once again, with the blessing of the Wellesley Fire Department and the Massachusetts Board of Fire Prevention, I collected a couple of helpers and set a corner of my yard afire. Without the almost pagan ritual of our annual burn, I just don’t know what I would do with that pile of thorny rose vines, tree branches, my old Palm Sunday palms, the Christmas tree, hedge clippings, and other woody debris that I’ve collected throughout the year. There’s the RDF yard waste area, of course, but I always seem to collect more yard waste on a weekly basis than I can cram into my car next to the recycling and the trash.

It’s easy to get an Open Air Burning Permit in Wellesley. You just have to follow a few common-sense rules. The Wellesley Fire Department requires that a garden hose be available at the site of the burning. Nobody wants to see the peony beds go up in flames accidentally, or worse yet, the woods.

Items allowed for burning are brush, cane, driftwood and forestry debris. No hay, leaves or stumps may be burned. The burn must be at a location greater than 75 feet from any dwelling. This rule is probably the most challenging for Wellesley residents, given the close proximity of homes to one another in many neighborhoods.

Permission to burn must be obtained each day that you wish to burn. Weather conditions are taken into consideration when determining if burning will be allowed each day, and burn hours are between 10am and 4pm.

That’s all there is to it. You sign your agreement to the rules, which must be done at the Wellesley fire station at 457 Worcester St., and you’re given a number. On the day you want to burn, you call the Fire Department, identify yourself by your permit number, and you will receive permission, or not. The OK is not a given. There are a few weather particulars that can stand in your way. If the cloud cover is too low, you’ll get a no. If it’s windy, it’s a big no. If it’s been dry lately, that’s another no. I really cut it close this year, doing my burn on the last possible day.

When the conditions are right, and the labor is willing, there’s nothing to match a good old-fashioned backyard burn. Here are my helpers, keeping in constant attendance, per regulations. They’ve just thrown on the Christmas tree. Once you’ve seen a Christmas tree go up in flames in your backyard, you’ll wonder why you ever had that potential fireball in your home.

If I tend my burn properly, I’m not left with a pile of ash to dispose of. It’s a matter of spreading the debris out with an iron rake as I go. Photo credit (accusation?), Bob Brown.

That’s that. The grass seed has been set out and in another month, God willin and the river don’t rise, this unsightly patch will be green again.

We aren’t the only pyromaniacs in town. According to a fire department representative, this year 37 households in town applied for a permit and 47 requests to burn were granted.

Researchers seek Wellesley residents willing to dedicate their yards to science

May 16, 2017 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

The following is from the Woods Hole Research Center (thanks to the Grow Green Wellesley campaign for letting us know about it).

Dear Current Wellesley Resident,

We are researchers from the Woods Hole Research Center who are interested in understanding how people manage their yards and lawns in the Boston metropolitan area. This research is part of a larger project that involves universities and cities across the United States. Specifically, we are exploring how homeowner yard management affects the wildlife and plants living in the yard.

We would like to include your yard in our study. Our sampling would entail surveying the vegetation, soils, bugs, and birds in your yard, for which we would need access to your front and back yard. Here is more information about our project and the type of sampling we will do. Be assured that the study information will be kept confidential, and no information will be released that can be linked to you.

Thank you very much for your time, and we hope you are interested in participating in this research. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call or email our project manager, Margot McKlveen at 508-444-1543, or [email protected]

Sincerely,

Christopher Neill, Senior Scientist
Woods Hole Research Center
[email protected]