Gas tanks raise neighbors' ire; Highfields developer seeks to store 6,000 gallons.Byline: Donna Boynton GRAFTON - Elliot Trail residents are concerned about the safety of six 1,000-gallon propane propane, CH3CH2CH3, colorless, gaseous alkane. It is readily liquefied by compression and cooling. It melts at −189.9°C; and boils at −42.2°C;. tanks that a local golf course is planning to install behind the clubhouse. John Magill and E. Osterman Gas Co. are seeking a license from the Board of Selectmen SELECTMEN. The name of certain officers in several of the United States, who are invested by the statutes of the several states with various powers. for the underground tanks to power the clubhouse at Highfields Golf Course, which Mr. Magill is developing. The Board of Selectmen opened the public hearing on the plan Tuesday night, but continued the hearing to make sure appropriate notification was made to abutters. Mr. Magill said his initial plan was to tie in to a natural gas line that runs through Hassanamesit Village. He said he owns the easement easement, in law, the right to use the land of another for a specified purpose, as distinguished from the right to possess that land. If the easement benefits the holder personally and is not associated with any land he owns, it is an easement in gross (e.g. and had permission from the Sewer Department to run a gas line near an existing sewer line Noun 1. sewer line - a main in a sewage system sewer main main - a principal pipe in a system that distributes water or gas or electricity or that collects sewage , but did not have permission from the homeowners association to connect through the development. As a result, Mr. Magill said the propane tanks were his only alternative. Elliot Trail residents living adjacent to that area of the golf course say the underground tanks pose a threat to their homes, and pressed Mr. Magill and the gas company to seek other alternatives. Peter Iacobucci, representing Osterman Gas Co., said the proposal is straight-forward: six 1,000-gallon tanks to be placed underground between the clubhouse and 18th green, near the parking area. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. an attachment to the license application, the tanks will be installed on a concrete slab Concrete slab A shallow, reinforced-concrete structural member that is very wide compared with depth. Spanning between beams, girders, or columns, slabs are used for floors, roofs, and bridge decks. and will be 5 feet apart. The tanks will be covered by topsoil, but will have domes that will be exposed for access for refills. The design and plan meets the requirements for the Fire Department, and the area will be fenced in, according to Fire Chief Michael Gauthier. He said the tanks must be at least 50 feet from the neighbors. Mr. Magill said the farthest tank is 125 to 150 feet from the nearest house. Mr. Iacobucci said that having six 1,000-gallon tanks is safer than having one 6,000-gallon tank. He said 6,000 gallons is required to meet the energy requirements of the building. However, Raul Nunez, of 26 Elliot Trail, a retired Chevron engineer, called the plan a "tank farm," which is inappropriate for a residential area. Mr. Nunez said, based on his expertise, the proposal is more appropriate for an industrial area, and his family and neighbors are being put at risk so the property owner can save money. Mr. Nunez said the plans submitted to the board "look like they were put together over lunch" and provide no specific details regarding safety, vandalism The intentional and malicious destruction of or damage to the property of another. The intentional destruction of property is popularly referred to as vandalism. It includes behavior such as breaking windows, slashing tires, spray painting a wall with graffiti, and protection, corrosion protection and leak (programming) leak - With a qualifier, one of a class of resource-management bugs that occur when resources are not freed properly after operations on them are finished, so they effectively disappear (leak out). This leads to eventual exhaustion as new allocation requests come in. protection. Mr. Nunez urged the selectmen to rethink re·think tr. & intr.v. re·thought , re·think·ing, re·thinks To reconsider (something) or to involve oneself in reconsideration. re and reject the proposal, saying he did not have the same arguments against one 6,000-gallon tank. "For the sake of ambiance am·bi·ance also am·bi·ence n. The special atmosphere or mood created by a particular environment: "The noir ambience is dominated by low-key lighting . . . and cooking with gas, you are increasing the risk to my safety and my neighborhood," said Mr. Nunez, who offered to work with Mr. Magill and Osterman to devise a better alternative. Mr. Iacobucci said the location is as safe as it can be, and the tanks and design meets all the necessary standards. He said it is not uncommon to have underground propane tanks at private residences. "Osterman is the most respected company around for propane," Mr. Magill said. "I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how to get anything safer than what we are proposing." The selectmen held off on making a decision after some Elliot Trail residents said they were not properly informed of the proposal. Mr. Magill said it was unclear to him that he was required to contact abutters, and a list should have been provided to him through the selectmen's office. The selectmen asked Town Administrator Natalie T. Lashmit to determine if a list was provided and to make sure appropriate notifications are made. NAME: GRAFTON SELECTMEN |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion