By Angeljean Chiaramida
When MassHighway held its public hearing on the proposed Eastern Marsh Trail, they had a pleasant surprise, according to Planning Board Chairman and recreation trail enthusiast Bob Straubel.
"There were a lot of proponents at the hearing, but no one was there to speak against it," he said.
The trail would run from Mudnock Road to the Merrimack River, Straubel said, and if all goes well MassHighway will fund building the $2.3 million recreation trail.
With the pubic hearing completed, Straubel said the next phase is filing with the Salisbury Conservation Commission in July. The hope is to complete that leg of the project in time to go out for bid on the construction by the end of September. The project will use federal funds funneled through MassHighway, Straubel said, and the construction funding must be obtained by the end of the state's fiscal year, which is Sept. 30.
If all goes well, construction will begin next year.
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The construction of the Salisbury Square CVS ran into a problem with petroleum-contaminated soil at the site recently, but according to town officials, everything is being done correctly to handle the situation safely.
The new CVS is on the site of a former full service gas station, owned by Paul Tobacco, located beside Town Hall at the corner of Lafayette and Beach roads. Other petroleum products are suspected to have been stored on the site prior to that, according to Salisbury Public Works Director Don Levesque.
Although developer Scott Mitchell did take soil samples through borings prior to starting, when contractors started to dig they found areas where soil was contaminated with petroleum products, Levesque said, and with town engineer Joe Serwetka on site regularly to monitor the project, town officials became aware of it quickly.
Levesque said all proper precautions are being taken and Novis Environmental personnel are on site to remove the soil correctly. The soil is being taken to a hazardous waste disposal site out of state, he added.
"It's good that we found this contamination because it gets it out of there," Levesque said. "They're also continuing to test so they find all the (problem) soil and it will be removed. They're doing everything correctly; this is costing Mitchell a lot."
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The town's May 30 Community Service Fair at the Hilton Center was a great success, according to Selectman Jerry Klima.
"Lots of people came," Klima said. "At the end of the fair I canvassed all of the organizations. They were all happy that they participated and want to do it again next year. Many organizations got significant numbers of new members or volunteers."
The Salisbury Beach Partnership, Salisbury Beach Betterment Association, Salisbury Historical Society and Council on Aging all found new members. A good number of high school students researched community service opportunities as well. The town created a booklet of all town organizations that is available at the library, the Council On Aging and Town Hall.
The fair was organized by Klima, COA Director Liz Pettis, Town Planner Lisa Pearson and the Historical Commission's Bev Gulazian, who've met and agreed to do it again next year.
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Pollen making a mess of your car's beautiful paint job? Too tired to go out and scrub it yourself?
Salisbury Cub Scouts of Pack 37 have a remedy. The Scouts will hold a car wash Sunday, June 29, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Lacey's Truck Equipment on Route 110.
The basic wash and towel dry is only $6 and supports the Scouts' activities.
For more information on the car wash or the Scout troop, contact Debra Metivier at 978-465-3457
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Council on Aging News.
r The Salisbury Council on Aging Telephone Reassurance and Friendly Visitor Program is available for those who don't get out often, are homebound or a bit lonely. The program has a friendly person call or visit several times a month to share conversation, memories and interests. Callers can also make regular phone calls, read, write notes and help with personal correspondence, initiate handcrafts or play games and cards.
The group brings trained volunteers to the homebound elderly and the disabled. Those who are lonely or isolated, as well as those who are sick or frail, but not in need of constant care or medical attention can benefit from socialization and conversation either at home or in a nursing home.
Those interested in the program should call the Salisbury Council on Aging at 978-462-2412.
r Salisbury's Sparhawk High School students Lizzie Menard, Lucus Flach, Emma Elwell, Doni Ward and Jack Clay participated recently in Helping our Neighbors Community Service Week under the direction of Cherie Hoyt, Daniela Currie-Gutierrez and Lilia Gutieriz at the Salisbury Council on Aging Hilton Center.
The students designed and painted two wall murals in honor of all the volunteers who participate in the Senior Center.
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Salisbury will be holding a public meeting to review studies and proposals to address flooding and marsh restoration at Town Creek.
The meeting will be held in the Colchester Auditorium on the second floor of the Salisbury Town Hall at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
The culvert in the rail bed across Town Creek has restricted tidal flows in the Town Creek marsh for more than 100 years and this has caused severe degradation of the marsh. And the rail bed breached during coastal storms in May 2005 and April 2007, closing Bridge Road for days.
Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management and the town cooperated on engineering studies of the flooding and tidal flows in the area. The results of the studies will be presented at the public meeting. Proposals to address the problems at Town Creek will also be presented and discussed.
The meeting will be telecast live on Channel 18, Salisbury's community TV channel.
Angeljean Chiaramida covers Salisbury for The Daily News. She can be reached at 978-462-6666, ext. 3271 or by e-mail at achiaramida@newburyportnews. com.
