What's more, her reaction to her previous exploits makes it clear that she is unqualified to edit anything.
OK-- can I just say something? I want to thank all of you for your interest in this issue, it was very difficult, as you have all seen.
The day of the meeting I worked 13 hours, had been to three meetings on the same issue, Jones Crossing, who was planning to put a 32 unit 40B (low income housing) subdivision in a very small, very wet property that had previously been rejected by BoH for 8 units. I had in the morning presented the plans -- bad plans, ie: homes with detention basins in their front yards, a road abutting the wetlands (State and local bylaws are 100 feet away from wetlands) and a LOT of other issues. Additionally, they had already done some work very poorly and were under an Enforcement Order from the Conservation Commission to repair the work they did and didnt do.
The first meeting I presented to the Town Department Heads the issues at hand under Enforcement, that I got the Department Heads to not issue any permits until they got it all cleared up -- this was an unprecidented move for the Commission; the second meeting, I tried to assist the new Conservation Chair to understand the issues, unfortunately she was not getting it, as she felt (her words) she didnt know the stuff and didnt get what she should be doing -- I offered to assist her in every way I could.
The third meeting was with Conservation and all scheduled hearings, et all. I had by that point been working 13 hours, 9 hours the day before... only odd because I was supposed to be a part time employee.
By the time Jones Crossing was up I was pretty tired, as you can imagine. Mr. Jones, for those of you who have never worked with him is very argumentative, intimidating and angry person. The discussion was that he was denying that he did anything wrong (per the Enforcement Order) no one on the Commission responded at all and out of the blue, Mark Melican said I was being disrespectful. THis shocked me, and while I never called Mark Melican anything, I did say "son of a bitch" as in "I'll be darned, damned etc, they finally got to me." I didnt call him anything and am surprised that he thought I did and reported me to the Town Manager (who had been trying to get me fired for a year or so -- this gave him his reason). YOu should know that MArk is a big tough contractor guy and would never be considered "delicate."
What wasnt written in the paper was that I also also said, Mark, how can you say this, you never even come to the meeting to know what is going on. I also said to the CC -- dont you realize I got the whole Town to stand behind us on this. I also said Why doesnt anyone say anything (so did the engineer for Jones)? The Chair was new and didnt realize she was supposed to stand between the applicant and the Commission, however she knows it now. And yes, I walked out. It was not right, and I did apologise to the Commission for it, but I was exhaused and pretty burned that my Commission wasnt doing their job.
It will be amusing to watch what happens in Lancaster as the natural resources are of great importance to the residents (per revent OSRP survey), and the Town powers seem bent on getting big business in, with zoning changes that greatly improve the atmosphere for clear cutting the vast open lands of the Town. The Conservation Agent position hours were not funded by the Town and were due to run out in January under my watch (which means I would have been out anyway), so whoever they hire to replace me will probably be cut, if they fill the position at all. Bottom line -- take your business to Lancaster, they have a lot of natural land with no protection. The Commission is made up of a number of people who think they know something but unfortunately dont... and will not take the time to learn it... and I thought every one of them was my friend. Sad.
Oh, and PS-- Yeah I am a pretty strong woman, and it does rub a lot of people the wrong way.--J.
Re: More interesting info on Ms. Griggs
OK-- can I just say something? I want to thank all of you for your interest in this issue, it was very difficult, as you have all seen. The day of the meeting I worked 13 hours, had been to three meetings on the same issue, Jones Crossing, who was planning to put a 32 unit 40B (low income housing) subdivision in a very small, very wet property that had previously been rejected by BoH for 8 units. I had in the morning presented the plans -- bad plans, ie: homes with detention basins in their front yards, a road abutting the wetlands (State and local bylaws are 100 feet away from wetlands) and a LOT of other issues. Additionally, they had already done some work very poorly and were under an Enforcement Order from the Conservation Commission to repair the work they did and didnt do. The first meeting I presented to the Town Department Heads the issues at hand under Enforcement, that I got the Department Heads to not issue any permits until they got it all cleared up -- this was an unprecidented move for the Commission; the second meeting, I tried to assist the new Conservation Chair to understand the issues, unfortunately she was not getting it, as she felt (her words) she didnt know the stuff and didnt get what she should be doing -- I offered to assist her in every way I could. The third meeting was with Conservation and all scheduled hearings, et all. I had by that point been working 13 hours, 9 hours the day before... only odd because I was supposed to be a part time employee. By the time Jones Crossing was up I was pretty tired, as you can imagine. Mr. Jones, for those of you who have never worked with him is very argumentative, intimidating and angry person. The discussion was that he was denying that he did anything wrong (per the Enforcement Order) no one on the Commission responded at all and out of the blue, Mark Melican said I was being disrespectful. THis shocked me, and while I never called Mark Melican anything, I did say "son of a bitch" as in "I'll be darned, damned etc, they finally got to me." I didnt call him anything and am surprised that he thought I did and reported me to the Town Manager (who had been trying to get me fired for a year or so -- this gave him his reason). YOu should know that MArk is a big tough contractor guy and would never be considered "delicate." What wasnt written in the paper was that I also also said, Mark, how can you say this, you never even come to the meeting to know what is going on. I also said to the CC -- dont you realize I got the whole Town to stand behind us on this. I also said Why doesnt anyone say anything (so did the engineer for Jones)? The Chair was new and didnt realize she was supposed to stand between the applicant and the Commission, however she knows it now. And yes, I walked out. It was not right, and I did apologise to the Commission for it, but I was exhaused and pretty burned that my Commission wasnt doing their job. It will be amusing to watch what happens in Lancaster as the natural resources are of great importance to the residents (per revent OSRP survey), and the Town powers seem bent on getting big business in, with zoning changes that greatly improve the atmosphere for clear cutting the vast open lands of the Town. The Conservation Agent position hours were not funded by the Town and were due to run out in January under my watch (which means I would have been out anyway), so whoever they hire to replace me will probably be cut, if they fill the position at all. Bottom line -- take your business to Lancaster, they have a lot of natural land with no protection. The Commission is made up of a number of people who think they know something but unfortunately dont... and will not take the time to learn it... and I thought every one of them was my friend. Sad. Oh, and PS-- Yeah I am a pretty strong woman, and it does rub a lot of people the wrong way.--J.
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/lancaster-ma/TF5QUHQBIRT7HACCO/p2#c36
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