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GRAFTON, Mass. – The Grafton Board of Selectmen will hold a public meeting at the new high school on Thursday, Jan. 3 beginning at 7 p.m. to answer residents' questions about the propane tank station being built on Westborough Road, 100 yards from the CSX line.
The station, which Jon Delli Priscoli – owner of the Grafton & Upton Railroad –is building, will hold four 120 foot tanks where propane, brought in from the main rail line, will be transferred to the holding tanks and then pumped to waiting tractor-trailers.
How much information the board of selectmen will be able to share might be limited. The town is in litigation with the railroad over the delivery of the tanks.
In December, the board of selectmen issued a cease and desist order to the railroad arguing that the federal pre-emption of rail activity has not been proven and until it has, all construction should pass through town and state permits.
A federal judge extended the cease and desist order until the case goes to trial on Jan. 14 in U.S. District Court in Worcester.
Comments (22)
Surprised the building inspector hasn't got involved with the signs, as most building inspectors deal with signage as part of their duties.
LM
How many times have you heard or seen "No Comment" because of pending litigation? Isn't that where the Town is now? I don't see to many pearls of wisdom coming forward to night, but maybe...
The first meeting regarding the GURR and their proposed expansion into the Propane business had more residents in attendance than an average fall or spring town meeting. Safety is a big deal.
I certainly understand the need for pre-emption back when railroads were first being built but does it seem odd to anyone else that a person could go buy up some old tracks, call it a railroad, buy some adjacent land and then "railroad" the towns into being able to do anything the want? To me, this is a separate business, not merely an additional activity by the RR.
I am happy someone took both the expense and the time to put up those signs and inform the public about what is going on around them. Lack of information and lack of participation is what causes most problems in towns.
@John B. It is my understanding that Osterman in Northbridge has much smaller tanks than what is proposed by the new business entity that the GURR is trying to expand into. From the descriptions I have heard / read, retail distributors like Osterman would be the likely customers of this Propane transfer station.
See everyone tonight.
Railroad preemption is still the law and in the end, the courts will follow the law.
Preemption may get muddy if the railroad has other investors in this propane business.
Who made the signs? A section of our community is seething and hemmoraging with concerns about safety and trashed property values, the case has escalated to a fed judge....and you guys want to get to the bottom of...who paid for the signs?
we all should be as pasionate as mikey. he obviously cares a whole lot more than everyone of us, and we should wonder too about property values cuz mikey is, and he is hemmmmmoraging about it. we need to be more like mikey.
Miguelito, I too live in North Grafton, close enough that if even one of these 80k gallon tanks blew up, my house would be among the missing. So I share your concerns. I was just CURIOUS where the signs came from.
See you at the meeting.
we need to get to the bottom of this sign issue! who put the signs up? who authorized these signs? are the signs safe? what are they made from? why is there a seal in town, and who pays to feed it? can these signs be reused in case the railroad wants to get nuclear storage containers?
Better question what happens to the signs after today?
Do the people who have them throw them away? Or do they end up on a side road somewhere?
Kind of like all those posters for the lost dog a couple months back... the dog was found and returned but yet the posters stayed up for a couple months.
Hope I see you all at the meeting tonight.
I just began looking for that dog last week, you mean to tell me he's already been found? Oh well, now I'm going after the person who's "Slapping the town Seal" I will not tolerate such cruelty to animals!
I saw a seal once. Saw a seal in South Grafton. Seal was sitting there near some tracks. Train tracks not seal tracks. Dont see a lot of seals in these parts. Maybe the seal I saw was in Sutton.
I concur. As a community, the residents of N.Grafton deserve town wide support in ensuring that this propane depot is a legal use for railway transportation and thus exempted from local authority.
Unfortunately, I think the railroad has the law on their side.
I have seen these signs around town & they are very well made, & with the town seal. They seem to be very effective at getting the message out about the Jan-03 meeting. I was a bit curious as to the "WHATS UP?" message though. It doesn't seem to be the type of wording that the town of Grafton would use for a public notification...?
Massachusetts General Laws ch. 268 sec. 35 - Unauthorized use of town seal; making or possessing badge of town officer
Massachusetts General Laws > Part IV > Title I > Chapter 268 > § 35 - Unauthorized use of town seal; making or possessing badge of town officer
Current as of: 2009
Chapter 268: Section 35. Unauthorized use of town seal; making or possessing badge of town officer
Section 35. Whoever, without being duly authorized thereto, prints, stamps, engraves or affixes, or causes to be printed, stamped, engraved or affixed to any paper or other article a representation of the seal of a town in the commonwealth, with intent to give to such paper or article an official character which it does not possess, or, without being duly authorized thereto, and with intent to assume an official character which he does not possess, casts, stamps, engraves, makes or has in his possession a badge or thing in the likeness of an official badge of a police officer, member of a fire department, or other officer appointed by a town in the commonwealth, or by any department of such town, shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars.
I see the marijuana has started to be dispensed in quantity
Who paid for and put up the signs?
I don't know did anyone get approval before slapping the town seal on the signs?
I'm also surprised the issue is not on Shrewsbury's radar, given its proximity ...
I hate to think of such a huge supply of propane existing in our town so close to one of our schools. Great target for terrorists . . . this isn't the place for business such as this and I only hope that something can be done about it at the Federal level. I suspect that this guy hasn't dotted all his i's or crossed all of his t's . . .
Very insightful there G_Town Man, this "new" idea of storing propane in tanks no less, and near a railroad, and a school, has rarely been tried in the U.S. I'm sure that when the "terrorists" get wind of this unique facility, they'll surely target it. What's next home heating oil in trucks?
A very good question. Maybe thats Osterman that lives next door. We just got to wait for the Federal Courts. See you Thursday at 7:00 P.M.
Osterman propane in northbridge has massive holding tanks. Likely the size the railroad is talking about.
Across the street is a house.
What rules does Northbridge have? What problems have they encountered.