Folks just remember Lightning's legal advice has the same value as what you paid for it, Nothing! View Comment

As a handicapped patient person, I like to give "GrayGhost" my observations. It was not easy for getting a permit "application" signed by my doctor. In fact it was he who insisted on me getting a plaque because of my severe cardiac disease that puts me at great risk in very warm or cold weather walking. Plates and plaques are issued by the Registry and filing an application. Looking at me I do not have a missing limb or wheel chair so you might think I and others like me are abusing the system and committing fraud. The think that I agree with you on I see many times teens and young twenties with obvious no handicap parking and jogging from a spot. Studies have shown the biggest abusers are not the "marginal handicapped" but family members of the plaque holder using the spots when the card or plate holder is not with them. Many places like Gillette Stadium have a security guard look at the plaque's picture to make sure they're in the car because of family abuse. In addition it has been found that because you don't need a license to get a plate or plaque at renewal time the Registry just mails them out. Cases have been prosecuted where people have been using plaques/plates years after the handicap person has been dead for years. I don't know why the pictures have the option of being covered so you can't see if the plaque holder is in the vehicle. The reason was because of privacy, like you can't tell from a limp, crutches, wheel chair that a person is handicapped, at that point their is no privacy need! Another indication of stupid regulations that lead to abuse! By the way I call the police or flag them down when there is not a plate or plague on a vehicle. I use to drop my grand children off a pre school, one "gentlemen" without a plate/plaque use to us an HP spot, after leaving a note I finally parked my car behind him and blocked him in for a half hour, when I came out he was glaring at me and I said I didn't realize you had a stupidity handicap. For the next 2 years I never saw him violate the spot again! View Comment

I agree with both of Zuri's comments and LDR. Compared to Westboro and Shrewsbury our roads are plowed narrower and not down to payment. Watched trucks go around late Saturday, yesterday and today and plowed the same edges NO effort to widen the streets. As to more taxes we paid for trucks to ride around in circles after the snow stopped on OT with no effort to widen the streets. So I don't want to hear about taxes. We paid already and many of the contractors put in paid hours with no snow pushing! View Comment

First I'm a dog owner, have been for the past 30 years. My kids & grand kids all have dogs and they come over to play with ours. So I'm not against pets. I am a veteran. Here is an example of the selectman "Shoot, ready, aim". Instead of asking the town health, building and senior center managers for input they approve this proposal. Anything else would be studied to death! Service animals are already exempt under state laws so we are only talking about a house pet I am sure that the State, and Feds have reams of regulations and requirements on an "Animal Shelter". I can see it costing the town thousands for special heating, water supply with floor clean up drains, special flooring and who knows what more. The seniors and veterans are entitled to more respect, than having animals urinate, and defecate in their facility. Seniors have to walk, hobble or wheel chair from their side of the building, to the far end of the municipal center because there are no funds for updating the bathrooms in the senior center for handicap accessibility, but we as taxpayers might have to spend thousands for a facility that might get used maybe once or every other year for an emergency. If the Grafton Emergency Management Center can't find a place for a day or two for a house pet or derive a sensible plan they are in the wrong "business". No one is going to die because they won't leave their pet or make sensible arrangements with a friend or relative. loisma58: Scare tactics has no place in reasonable discussions. Folks, something is wrong with our priorities if we have time to approve policies without reasonable thought and research and are able to let someone sneak in 4 120 foot gas tanks into town unbeknownst to our selectman! Alan C View Comment

To: Liberal This facility will store 36 Trailer Tanker Trucks (9000 gal each) of propane. These trucks are ones you see at gas stations delivering gas. We are a civilization run by rules and checks and balances. If you go to build any permanent structure in any town or city you must get a building permit. Using your logic a building permit is for revenue, not so. A permit gets a review that the structure meets the town rules for the land residential, commercial etc or a exemption is requested. The permit process reviews the plans for structural integrity, building standards usually set by government or industry standard groups. The structure and site plan is reviewed for set backs and impact on surrounding properties. It is reviewed for safety and fire standards. When given the go ahead the project is reviewed by appropriate inspectors, building electrical, plumbing and fire for compliance with plans and standards while it is being built and upon completion. These inspectors are independent of the developer and are not as in this case hired and paid for by the developer. If there are special unique issues they are dealt with before the permit is issued. Items like the cost for additional training and firefighting equipment the municipality will incur to protect its citizens and the property owner. Will the roads in and out of the facility take the strain of the number and weight of the vehicles that will use the roads daily, is the road wide enough for two large trucks to pass each other safely. Are there any dangerous turns or blind intersection they will encounter. These trucks will be going on residential not commercial streets in and out of the facility. Price Chopper in Shrewsbury had to upgrade the South Street Route 9 intersection at their expense not the town or state's expense for the addition traffic. Grafton was not given detail plans, operation loads and volume, envirmental impact etc. Other than an overall layout of the site with no detail specifications and as of last Thursday under orders by the Federal Judge has not been given to the town. When Harvey's Transfer Station was expanded in Westboro, Harvey worked with the towns, Westboro and Hopkinton, to make sure they would be a good neighbor. They did not show up one day and say tomorrow we are expanding and opening a massive trash recycling facility, screw you. This Railroad owner is is quoted in the papers to have said Grafton is going to see a nuclear explosion and I will bury you, or something close to that. He has rights but so do the citizens of Grafton. He can't use a Federal Law as he interprets it for building a business that the law was not intended for. This is not a simple load and unload facility for the railroad business but a Storage facility not covered by the law. If he was just transferring propane from tanker railroad cars to trucks for delivery why does he need four 120 foot 80,000 gallon tanks. Wouldn't a siding with a hose and pump from the tanker cars to the trucks suffice? I respect Liberals but not when the speak without knowing the facts. This not just a F'n propane terminal. View Comment

I am curious are they building a transfer facility or are they building a storage facility. A transfer facility would in my opinion maybe hold a week or two of propane. 4 large tanks will hold a lot of gas. Is that amount of capacity 2 weeks supply of say 2 to 3 months. The later would make it a Storage facility not a transfer station allowed as a function of the railroad I don't believe a "Storage" facility is a function of a railroad. Has anybody asked what the turnover rate of this volume of LP gas? View Comment

As a member of the Board of Directors of FOGE, I would like to clarify our donation. FOGE made the donation from our funds to the Senior Center Tree. ie The Senior Center received a generous from FOGE. Thanks Happy Holidays. Alan Cohen View Comment