Westport
in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Friday, February 04, 2011
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Three generations
now work the stone at Albanese Monuments.
Westport
Highway Department at a Crossroads.
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Three generations
now work the stone at Albanese Monuments. EverythingWestport.com Thursday,
February 03, 2011
The ROMEOS, an active, retired men's social
group in Westport who get together each Thursday for lunch and lively debate,
sometimes invite guest speakers to keep up-to-date on community
happenings. ROMEO members are well
known for their involvement in town politics; many are former selectmen and
others have either served or are serving as town committee chairmen. Albanese stopped by and visited with the
Westport ROMEOs on Thursday, and gave a brief presentation of her husband
William's business that he started in 1954. She was a teacher at the Westport
Middle School for 20 years before retiring and joining him, working part
time. "Part time didn't last too long,"
Albanese laughed. "With a family-run business it's shoulder to
shoulder." The ROMEOs were surprised to learn that a
business, relatively untouched by modern technology and the passage of time,
does have to keep up-to-date on ever-changing cemetery regulations that can
be different from town to town, and cemetery to cemetery. "There are city, town, Catholic,
Jewish, veteran, private cemeteries, for example, that can each have
different regulations as to stone size, type of marker (flat or monument),
whether accessories like flags and vases are allowed (not allowing them
minimizes vandalism), the planting of bushes and perennials, and even if a
picture can accompany the marker." The number of graves, or people buried in
the plot also can determine in some cases the size and style of the monument. One germane point that kept cropping up in
her talk was the importance for "preneed" discussions with the
clients when preparing for their final expenses. Leaving burial and marker
decisions to children or other family members can be costly, can lead to
uniformed decisions, and even family disagreements on what the deceased would
have wanted. "Your children shouldn't have to make
those decisions," Albanese said. "Sympathy and guilt also play large
part in overspending on funerals and burial expenses, and markers are no
exception," Albanese said. "Deciding in advance can keep expenses
in line, and can actively involve beforehand the person preparing for their
eventual passing. They can decide upon the inscription, graphics, the
marker's size and material type, design, lettering and affiliations, all
things that may be unknown to others who may have the task left to
them." Three generations now work the stone at
Albanese Monuments. "We
have always been a family-run business, and now we have our children and
their children working in the company. Our business provides services to a
region that spans a rather large area - from Provincetown to Boston to Rhode
Island. Westport has only a few town-operated and private cemeteries, but
that's not the case with other towns and cities. Our clients during their
bereavement aren't concerned with cemetery regulations; it's incumbent on us
to be prepared. Having family you can depend on really helps."
Westport
Highway Department at a crossroads. EverythingWestport.com Friday,
February 04, 2011
A more serious situation was averted as the
driver was only swinging around in a driveway. The stress of a miserable
month of cold and ice is taking its toll on the aging fleet of the town's
snow removal equipment. Photo
by Bill Burns/special to EverythingWestport.com As
far back as 2009 the town was warned in a report from the accounting firm of Roselli, Clark & Associates about the "need for
a major Capital Improvement upgrade" to town equipment and vehicles. Chapter 90 funding has withered on the
vine. And
the town can no longer depend on the state's Chapter 90 funding, which has
suffered under serve cutbacks due to state revenue declines. This state-run municipal program provides
up to 100 percent reimbursement for approved projects like road construction,
including highway department equipment. "We
have been fighting for money for the last seven years," said Jack Baughan, chairman
of the Capital Improvement Planning Committee, and a member of the Finance
Committee. "Now we're seeing the consequences of not replacing a worn-out,
tired fleet of town trucks and equipment." Baughan's committee once again
has recommended funding of the Highway Department's request for $905K to
acquire two new 10-wheel dump trucks, including a plow and sander for each;
four one-ton 4x4 pickup trucks with plows; four 11-foot power plow
attachments, two John Deere tractors; one new Elgin street sweeper; two
dual-wheel one-ton dump trucks; one compressor; and $5K of diagnostic tools. "Sisson
has done a great job in maintaining his old and tired equipment," said
Baughman, "but the day of reckoning is here." Highway
Surveyor Sisson faces a difficult reelection this April as four challengers
have taken out papers to challenge him. And his ongoing efforts to get a
vendor paid for the repair of a much needed dump truck has been thwarted by
the Town Administrator and Board of Selectmen. Adding to his woes is one of
the more severe winters Westport has experience in years. "We
have been supporting the Highway Surveyor's requests over several years because
the department's equipment is aging,"
said committee chair Baughan. "Last year
the funding request was rejected by the Board of Selectmen. In previous years
the funding article failed at the ballot box due to a lack of town-wide
support to spend the money." Those
votes and decisions may be coming home to roost as trucks continue to break,
and repair costs continue to climb. And the mounting problem is further
exacerbated by reduced Chapter 90 funding. "The
Capital Improvement Planning Committee's job is to make a recommendation to
the Finance Committee," said Baughan. "The Finance Committee then makes a recommendation
and presents that to the Board of Selectmen. If the Selectmen approve, an
article is added to the Town Warrant and presented at Town Meeting." After
running that imposing gauntlet, the article, if approved at Town Meeting,
goes on the ballot. Sisson
may be waiting for his money for a long, long time. Right now, he's got an
election to win, and taxpayers continue to shovel, avoid potholes and
grumble. © 2011 Community Events of Westport. All rights
reserved. EverythingWestport.com |
