Maximize Social Security Benefits

Southborough Library

March 26^th 1PM

Free

Contact: Peter Martin

888-460-6910

Neary Book Week

Ice Cream Social

Wednesday, March 18

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Neary School Cafeteria

Join Neary families for a sweet treat,

then visit the Book Fair in the

school library.

Proceeds will be used for a fifth grade class gift.

Additional donations welcomed!

MICCA Performance Information

the MICCA Festival. All groups will be performing

at the King Phillip High School in Norfolk, MA.

performance will be Saturday April 4, 2009

at 2:30pm.

• The Orchestra’s performance will be

Sunday April 5, 2009 at 2:00pm.

performance will be Sunday April 5, 2009

at 4:00pm.

Change from the school SOS calendar on the Trottier Band

(Presented by: The Main Street Council)

A: Undergrounding is the process of burying overhead power, telephone and cable lines and removing the

utility poles which currently hold them.

A: “Undergrounding” the utilities along Main Street was called for in Southborough’s Master Plan. With Main

Street scheduled for a major State funded Road Reconstruction Project within the next 5 years, it was

determined that this would be the only time that undergrounding made sense. This initiative would

piggyback on the Road Reconstruction Project, minimize the disruption to the Main Street residents and

businesses, reduce the costs of undergrounding to the Town, and maximize the visual impact on

Southborough as a community once the entire project was completed.

A: The road project is not just a repaving. It is a major RECONSTRUCTION of the entire roadway which will

cause extensive disruption for both the residents and businesses in Southborough. It will involve excavating

the full right-of-way to a depth of over 2 feet, requiring thousands of truckloads of road material to be

displaced, and it will continue for over a two year period. In order for the town to meet the State

requirements, many utility poles will have to be moved to new locations. With undergrounding, these poles

will be removed PERMANENTLY and not replaced along the right-of-way or in the sidewalks.

A: Burying the utility wires underground serves many purposes. Some are purely aesthetic, some affect the

system reliability, and others provide financial benefits. Here are some of the reasons to put the lines

underground:

increasingly congested with additional lines and equipment. Utility company practices frequently

violate city and state ordinances. For example, double poles are left in place for more than the 90

days allowed, excess coils of cable are left dangling or tacked to a pole rather than being trimmed

off or secured properly, and debris is left on the street. Verizon has now added “orange” conduit to

the utility poles to make them appear even more unattractive and the wires are being placed even

lower on the poles. (Please view: recently completed new intersection at Richards Road and 85)

initial installation, with as few as one third the number of failures as are experienced with overhead

lines on poles. An overhead system is more vulnerable to storm related outages, having poles

downed by vehicles, and lines downed by tree limbs.

there will be little room available in the road “right of way” to accommodate the parking, sidewalks,

AND utility poles, so the poles will end up sharing the space within the sidewalk. (Please view:

recently completed new intersection at Richards Road and 85)

historic Common. Removing the utility poles and repairing the stone wall on the South Side of the

Common would certainly help mitigate the impact of the possible reduction.

hazards.

views along historic Main Street and downtown. A proof in point is that nine out of ten new

subdivisions opt for underground utilities even though they are initially more expensive.

discretion of the power company. This also contributes to the aesthetic issues surrounding overhead

lines. Without the utility poles, our Historic District of Southborough can again have a canopy of

trees on both sides of Main Street in time for our town’s 300 year celebration.

the areas of cost and duration of outages.

all town residents in the form of a minimal surcharge on their utility, phone, and cable bills. State

law mandates that this surcharge can be up to, but no more than 2% of your bill. A Feasibility

Study is being completed by landscape architect & design/engineering firm Beals & Thomas and civil

engineering firm Tighe & Bond to determine the actual cost to the residents of Southborough.

Undergrounding telephone and cable-television lines adds to the cost and will be included in the

study. Once the actual costs are determined, your Board of Selectmen will set the surcharge at ½%

to 2% of your bill depending on how long they decide the payment period needs to be.

under excavation for more than one year. Pairing the undergrounding work with the existing road

work will add some additional disruption to the residents but the overall results will be so dramatic

that the added inconvenience will seem minimal. Undergrounding on private property sometimes

entails digging trenches in lawns or gardens but will be necessary to complete the project.

the average time and cost to troubleshoot and repair each failure that does occur is significantly

higher. Estimates exist which suggest that the repair time is about 1.6 times longer and the cost

can be as much as 4 times higher. The impact of repair can also be aggravated if it necessitates

tearing up the road.

A: While undergrounding would eliminate all above ground lines, there would still be some equipment such

as transformers that would have to be located above ground on concrete pads.

A: Those currently mounted on the utility poles would have to be put on lampposts with the electricity fed

from underground. Many communities elect to use decorative poles, especially in historic districts with flag

poles or banners. Please take a drive through the parking lot of the Town House and take a look at the

poles in the center island. Imagine how those decorative poles would look along the Common and

Downtown.

A: This cost of connecting the wires from the street to the property owner is usually borne by the entire

community and factored into the entire cost of the project. Unlike a “sewer” assessment which directly

impacts the homeowners along the project, Undergrounding is considered a “betterment” that benefits the

entire community. Many communities feel that property owners along the Road Reconstruction and

Undergrounding route will bear the entire brunt of the extensive disruption to their neighborhood and

businesses and therefore should not be subject any additional expenses related to this extensive project.

These property owners would pay the same pro-rata share as the rest of the community.

A: No. Many towns have chosen to underground utilities in certain areas first. Southborough is planning on

undergrounding from the new Main Entrance to the Fay School to Park Street in conjunction with the State

Road Reconstruction Project. The second phase of undergrounding will be the downtown area from Park

Street to Newton Street.

A: The exact cost of the Undergrounding Project is being determined by a Feasibility Study funded by

private contributions to The Main Street Council and provided free of charge to the Town. This

comprehensive study is being completed by a Southborough architectural design firm Beals & Thomas and a

Worcester civil engineering firm Tighe & Bond. Once the Study is complete, the costs will be reviewed by

the Planning Board, the Board of Selectmen, the Advisory Committee, and the Capital Budget Planning

Committee to determine how the Town wants to proceed.

along public roads, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has provided a mechanism for the towns to collect

the necessary funds to pay the cost of the undergrounding.

which forces the utilities to cooperate with the communities in their undergrounding efforts.

The law also mandates that the electric and telecomm utilities collect a prescribed surcharge on the cost of

delivering their services. All rate-payers have to pay the surcharge (but not more than 2% of the bill) when

this funding method is used. The funds generated by the surcharge are collected by each utility and must be

used to pay that utility's costs of moving their infrastructure underground.

Significant savings can be achieved if the road is under construction and undergrounding is performed at the

same time.

A: Yes. Southborough’s Planning Board has already scheduled a Warrant Article for the April 13th, 2009

Town Meeting. This Warrant Article will not create a financial commitment by Southborough in any way, but

is only a first step in the process of moving this initiative forward.

A: Yes, but for a surprising reason: “underground” lines ARE subject to taxation, while lines “on poles” are

not taxes at this time.

A: Yes. Other towns in Massachusetts including Concord, Wellesley, Bedford, Norfolk, Duxbury, Nantucket,

Holden, Natick, and Needham have completed projects to bury wires. Other towns that currently have

projects underway include Shrewsbury, Chelmsford, North Andover, and Westwood.

The Town of Southborough seeks proposals from landowners to offer property for sale

to the Town of Southborough to be used for a municipal facility. Building(s), land and

site improvements will be for the sole and exclusive occupancy and use of the Town of

Southborough for a Public Safety facility, or for what other use deemed appropriate by

the Town. Proposals due April 3, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. to 17 Common Street,

Southborough, MA 01772. Full text of the Request for Proposals is available by

contacting Vera Kolias, AICP, Town Planner: (508)485-0710 or

Neary Book Week

Ice Cream Social

Wednesday, March 18

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Neary School Cafeteria

Join Neary families for a sweet treat,

then visit the Book Fair in the

school library.

Proceeds will be used for a fifth grade class gift.

Additional donations welcomed!

NEW!

RESUME WRITING SERVICE AND WORKSHOPS OFFERED AT THE SOUTHBOROUGH LIBRARY!

The Southborough Library has partnered with Pongo Resume to offer job seekers a free seven day paid subscription to Pongo’s online resume builder!

This website is accessible through the Library’s page on the Southborough web site:

BRUSH BURNING INFORMATION

· Written Brush Burning permits MUST be obtained in person annually at the Fire Station, 21 Main Street .

o Permits are available from now until April 30th

o Permits shall be issued to residents only (no landscapers or commercial permits allowed by regulations)

· Hours to obtain permits are:

o Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM

o Saturday 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM

· Permit fee for the season is $10.00

o Only checks made out to the Town of Southborough will be accepted

o Senior citizens 65 years of age and over are free

· Permit holders must call every day that you plan to burn, however, you can only call between 9:00 AM and 12 NOON for permission to burn.

o Burning can only be conducted between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM per Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection regulations [310 CMR 7.07 (3)(e)]. Burning may be denied due to environmental factors.

Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500 plus the cost of suppression or by imprisonment for not more than one month or both (M.G.L. c. 42, §13).

Massachusetts General Laws c. 111, § 142 A-E and 310 CMR 7.07 as well as 527 CMR 10.22 regulate all open burning activities.

DATELINE: SOUTHBOROUGH, MA; Protonex Technology Corporation (LSE: AIM: PTX and PTXU), a

leading provider of advanced fuel cell power systems announces that, as anticipated, it has received

confirmation of a $1,481,470 contract award from the U.S. Army to adapt its solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)

power systems for operation on alternative fuels. This program will focus on advancing 500 Watt to 1,000

Watt SOFC power systems that operate on high-performance liquid fuels, including alternative, bioderived

fuels such as butanol and bio-diesel.

Under the terms of this 24-month contract, Protonex will further develop and advance its existing SOFC

systems operating on liquid fuels such as butanol, bio-diesel, gasoline, and kerosene. This work will

focus on fuel processing, demonstration of high-power-density, mechanically robust stacks and

optimization of a complete generator—culminating in a demonstration of generator performance and

lifetime. At the conclusion of the program, two fuel cell systems will be delivered to the Army for further

testing and evaluation.

There is growing military and commercial interest in the use of alternative or renewable fuels to reduce

dependence on foreign oil. Solid oxide fuel cells, with their low emissions and high efficiency, are wellsuited

to generate electricity from these “green” fuel sources. Fuel-flexible generators capable of

operating on both traditional and alternative liquid fuels can provide highly efficient electricity generation

from both today’s transportation fuels and the biofuels of tomorrow.

Development of these small SOFC systems will provide the military with lightweight, extremely quiet and

fuel efficient systems that could be used in powering equipment during field operations as an auxiliary

power unit (APU), portable generator or field battery charger. In addition to being quieter than

combustion-engine generators and lighter than batteries, these fuel cell systems can efficiently process

high-performance liquid fuels to maximize the energy of the complete power system.

“We are pleased to have received this significant award,” commented Dr. Jerry Martin, Vice President of

SOFC Development for Protonex. “Clean and quiet power generators that operate on readily available

fuels are in high demand for military and commercial markets. This program will accelerate our SOFC