Winter Storm - Community Notice

January 2-3, 2014

Winter Storm - Community Notice

Issue Date: January 2, 2014 Issue Time: 2:40 PM

Next Community Notice- Mid-Morning January 3, 2014 as needed; unless conditions significantly change

Falmouth is expecting a seasonal storm. Public Safety and Public Works Departments have inventoried and secured necessary equipment and staffing and made necessary preparation in anticipation of this seasonal storm event. Officials have coordinated with MEMA and Regional Emergency Operations Center and accordingly offer the following information:

Sheltering: Residents and visitors are recommended to shelter in place. Preparations should be made prior to sunset for all necessities including vehicle fueling to weather the storm through at least mid-day on Friday. *Please take care to check on elderly family and neighbors.

All Town Facilities are expected to open for regular business hours.

Warming Facilities: The Main Public Library on Katharine Lee Bates Road is available as a warming station for those residents or visitors that may have lost power during the storm. Friday Hours 9:30am – 5:30pm
Council on Aging/Senior Center- Dillingham Avenue – 8:00am – 4:00pm

Weather Conditions: Conditions are expected to worsen after sunset through the early morning hours of Friday, January 3, 2014. Cape Cod and Falmouth may continue to see snow through mid-day on Friday. Concerns include limited visibility and high winds with blizzard conditions, snow drifts, and frigid temperatures following the storm. Snowfall is expected to be light and fluffy reducing the scope of potential power loss.

Road Conditions: Roads and Sidewalks have been pretreated in anticipation of both the snowfall and very cold weather to follow. Roads will be slippery and black ice may be a hazard for drivers even after the snowfall subsides. Drivers are requested to remain off the roads through mid-day on Friday avoiding any non-essential travel to allow the road crews to the clear the roads after the storm has subsided.

Coastal Structures: The storm is likely to peak during an astronomical high tide with an estimated 1’ storm surge. Properties on the coast should take necessary precautions.

Town Hall/Town Facilities: Will be open for regular business hours.

STORM RELATED CONTACTS:
Number.................................................................................Hours
FOR EMERGENCIES 911......................................................24/7
Police Department non-emergency - 508-457-2527...............24/7
Fire/Rescue Department non-emergency - 508-495-2501......24/7
Department of Public Works 508-457-2543.......................7:30AM-4:00PM
NSTAR: 1-800-592-2000
Verizon: 1-800-Verizon (837-4966)
Comcast: 1-800-Comcast (266-2278)

The Injunction

For those who haven't seen it, this is the injunction ordered by Superior Court Judge Muse.

Because of the ongoing litigation, I cannot comment on it.

Veteran's Day Observances

The Town of Falmouth will hold its annual Veteran's Day observances on the lawn at the Falmouth Public Library at 11am today.

Please join us as we remember our veterans.

Consensus, dissent and decisions

Not only is the word "consensus" overused, it turns out that dissent is a better way to come to a decision.

Not too long ago, a Harvard Business Review blogger noted that, "When group members are actively encouraged to openly express divergent opinions they not only share more information, they consider it more systematically and in a more balanced and less biased way. When people engage with those with different opinions and views from their own they become much more capable of properly interrogating critical assumptions and identifying creative alternatives. Studies comparing the problem-solving abilities of groups in which dissenting views are voiced with groups in which they are not find that dissent tends to be a better precondition for reaching the right solution than consensus."

This shouldn't come as a surprise. The post mentions a few well known individuals and organizations that suffered as a result of consensus. Nor does it take long to come up with a few examples of our own. Consensus is sometimes the result of groupthink, and that led to the Challenger accident.

Closer to home, we attempted to resolve the wind turbine issue using consensus. The Wind Turbines Option Process (WTOP) did achieve consensus amongst its members, but that group had no authority. Although the selectmen - in a show of solidarity - adopted the recommendation to shut down the turbines, the taxpayers weren't part of the consensus. We all know how that turned out.

We often lament the gridlock in Washington, D.C., but in truth, it is far better for us than consensus. Consensus brought us the Patriot Act and the NSA's domestic spying. And, of course, the Chinese government loves consensus.

Social media and communicating with the public

A recent announcement that Twitter will be introducing an "Alert System" reminded me of an item on the board's agenda last month. Back on August 26, the selectmen had a policy discussion which included talk of social media as a potential communications medium.

Some folks watching the meeting apparently interpreted the discussion to mean that the town was considering abandoning its use of the reverse 911 system in favor of Twitter.

Not so.

First of all, the town as an organization hasn't even decided whether or not it will use Twitter, Facebook or any other social media.

More importantly, if the town does decide to establish social media accounts, they wouldn't replace the current methods for informing the public of an emergency situation (e.g., reverse 911, the movable electronic billboards, web site updates, etc). The idea behind establishing such accounts would be to suppliment these other methods.

As cellular phones become less and less expensive and cellular service becomes more reliable, more and more people have dropped their traditional telephone service - a.k.a., the "land line." This makes reverse 911 calls less and less effective for getting information out in a hurry.

On the other hand, the increased use of "smart" phones - cell phones such as the Apple iPhone and the Android phones from Samsung, Motorola and others - means that it is becoming easier and easier to reach people using social media.

For example, the most recent use of the reverse 911 system was back on September 1 when an elderly man with Alzheimer's went missing. I don't have Twitter, but friends in Falmouth and Mashpee had multiple posts about this all over Facebook - which is where I first learned about it. A reverse 911 call went out, but we were out of our house at the time.

The biggest benefit of social media is that it is opt-in. The town wouldn't need to keep track of emails or phone numbers. Anyone - whether they live in Falmouth or not - could simply follow the Twitter feed or Facebook posts to keep abreast of breaking information such as boil water orders or missing persons.

Because this information is distributed via the Internet, you don't even need a smart phone to stay informed. A home computer and Internet connection will work just as well. Even when the power goes out in stormy weather, cable and/or phone are often still working.

Finally, while reverse 911 is useful for urgent issues, using it for everyday announcements like meeting cancellations or road closures is both problematic and expensive. Wouldn't you like to know that a road is closed before you get there? A Twitter "tweet" or Facebook post would let residents and visitors know this, helping them find other routes before they get stuck in traffic.

That is what the social media discussion is really all about - informing the public.

Evidence

On February 28, 2011, the neighbors of the town's wind turbines sat in the selectmen's meeting room for hours. They waited patiently while one agenda item after another was discussed. When the board finished its business, they asked to be heard.

The board's meetings are televised live, and the home audience watched as one neighbor, Neil Anderson, approached the selectmen's table at the front of the room. Coming so soon on the heels of the December, 2010 Panama City school board shooting, many expected the worst.

What the home audience couldn't see was that Mr. Anderson was not violent. Throughout that evening, Mr. Anderson sat quietly in the back of the room - sleeping. Every time I looked in his direction, his eyes were closed, or he was nodding off, clearly struggling to keep them open.

This man was exhausted.

Following this week's decision by the Board of Selectmen to operate the turbines only 16 hours per day, a resident emailed me. He said, "Emotion again trumps Evidence."

With all due respect to the scientists and doctors who claim that there is no evidence, I've seen it for myself.

Until the Board voted to curtail the turbines' operation, several town boards and employees had been receiving volumes of emails and phone calls every day the wind blew.

Afterwards, the complaints dropped off dramatically.

Some folks have questioned why the Board of Health (BoH) hasn't done anything. Unofficially, I'm told that this why. The BoH had nothing concrete to work with other than sleep deprivation, and when the selectmen turned off the turbines at night, that issue went away.

In essence, the problem was solved.

Likewise, many have asked why - if the turbines are such a problem - the state hasn't stepped in to do something. Again, the turbines' operation only exceeded state noise standards during the dead of night. If the turbines aren't operating at that hour, there is no exceedence and there is no problem, so the state doesn't need to act.

The science behind "wind turbine syndrome" isn't settled yet, and it may be years or decades before it is. Whether or not infrasound - or some other mechanism - is the problem, is as yet unknown. On Monday, many speakers called for more studies, and I agree.

However, in the interim, I have to make decisions based on the information I have before me.

And so I did.

Facts don't back more gun control

Not long after the Loganville, Georgia mother had grabbed her children and her husband’s gun, the stranger forced his way through the front door. He rummaged around the house, finding his way to the closet where they were hidden. Police were on the way, but she and her children were cornered. Five of her six shots hit him, but he got out and drove away.[1]

One hundred years ago, “Big Tim” Sullivan took advantage of community outrage after the Gramercy Park murder-suicide. A corrupt New York state politician of Tammany Hall fame, Sullivan was more interested in protecting his thugs than the public. His new law, the Sullivan Act, required a permit to carry a concealed weapon, but it allowed local authorities to reject an application, giving Tammany Hall the ability to decide who would be armed. A year after it became law, robberies had climbed by 40 percent and murders by 18 percent.[2]

Cries for more gun control are rarely grounded in fact. Recent letters have called for banning automatic weapons and 600-rounds-per-minute AK-47s, yet federal laws passed in 1934, 1968 and 1986 made these guns illegal decades ago.[3]

The “assault weapons” many talk of banning are just rifles with one or more “military characteristics” like barrel shrouds. They look like military weapons, but function like the rifles and shotguns used by hunters, firing only one bullet when the trigger is pulled. Barrel shrouds protect your hands from getting burned; putting one on a rifle doesn’t make it any more dangerous than putting pinstripes on my Prius will make it go faster.[4]

Our police do a fine job. In recent years, they’ve had to deal with shrinking public budgets, pay cuts and mandatory overtime, but they still serve and protect. However, they cannot be in all places at all times. Across the country, the average police response time varies between five and ten minutes.[5][6] Sheriffs from South Carolina to Wisconsin acknowledge this, recommending that the public learn how to defend themselves – with guns.[7][8]

With few exceptions, most states have relaxed their gun control regulations over the past few decades. Gun control activists want us to believe that every shooting on the evening news is a result of this. Yet, as gun ownership has risen, crime has fallen.

Economist John Lott studied every county in the US and found that when more law abiding citizens are armed, violent crime falls.[9][10] Some question Lott's conclusions, but it's been verified again and again. In Virginia, the Richmond Times-Dispatch found that a 63 percent increase gun ownership was accompanied by a 27 percent decrease in violent crime.[11] CBS News reported that gun sales in California rose by 36 percent, yet gun injuries fell by 28 percent, and gun deaths fell by 15 percent.[12]

One of those exceptions, Massachusetts, implemented some of the strictest gun laws in the nation in 1998.[13] The new laws are so onerous that legal gun ownership plummeted by 84 percent. As New York learned in 1911, criminals prefer disarmed victims. Before 1998, violent crime in Massachusetts had been falling. Since 1998, gun-related assaults have increased 59 percent; gun murders have risen 79 percent.[14][15][16][17][18]

New York state recently limited firearms to seven rounds. Governor Patrick wants to follow their lead, but the facts don't support this additional infringement on our constitutional right to self-defense.[19] When you need six shots to stop one assailant, seven won’t be much good if there are two of them. The governor’s bodyguards will be exempt. The rest of us will be hiding in our closets, hoping the police arrive in less time than the national average.

(This also appeared as an op-ed in the Monday, February 11, 2013 edition of the Cape Cod Times)

For those interested, these links provide references for the facts provided:

[1]Cops: Mother of two surprises intruder with five gunshots

[2]Kachalsky v. Cacace

[3]National Firearms Act (NFA) - History of the National Firearms Act

[4]The Truth About Assault Weapons

[5]Criminal Victimization in the United States Tables: Table 107

[6]Response times- city to city

[7]Sheriff tells women to get guns to ward off attacks

[8]Sheriff David Clarke's radio ad says 911 not best option, urges residents to take firearms classes

[9]An interview with John R. Lott, Jr. author of More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws

[10]John Lott: More Guns, Still Less Crime

[11]Gun-related violent crimes drop as sales soar in Va.

[12]As Calif. gun sales go up, number of gun-casualties goes down

[13]Welcome to Massachusetts! A Practical Guide to Living in the State

[14]Violent Death Reporting

[15]Injury Fatalities to Massachusetts Residents 1998

[16]MAVDRS Violent Death Report 4-19-12

[17]Weapon Related Injury Surveillance System (WRISS)

[18]WRISS Data Overview: Gunshot and Sharp Instrument Wounds, 1994-2009

[19]An Act To Strengthen and Enhance Firearms Laws in the Commonwealth

The Milton Turbine Decision

The Patriot Ledger reports ("Judge says Milton must limit operation hours for proposed wind turbine") that the town of Milton must restrict operation of a wind turbine because the town, violated “taking” provisions when Town Meeting voted in 2010 that a turbine could be built on town-owned land “as of right.”

Interestingly, Falmouth built it's wind turbines using similar logic, i.e., that the turbines were a municipal use on municipal land.

The Milton decision was the result of binding arbitration (the dispute was over lease terms, so a Superior Court judge ordered arbitration) so it's uncertain as to how this would affect the lawsuits pending against Falmouth. However, the municipal use parallel does make one wonder...

Frank W. Putnam, III, 1935-2013

Frank Wendell Putnam III, 77 of State Road, Kittery, Maine, and a former Plainville, MA resident, died February 1, 2013 in Portsmouth Hospital, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was the beloved husband of Jane Sheldon Chevers Putnam.

Born in Acton, MA, on November 3, 1935, he was a son of the late Frank W. Putnam II, and the late Norma (Palmer) Putnam. He was a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he received his Bachelor of Science Degree. He also received an Associate Degree in Fire Service Magna Cum Laude from Wachusett Community College. He had been a member of Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity while at UMass.

At one time an active member of the Masonic Fraternity, he had become a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason. His lodge affiliation was with Star Lodge, Brunswick, ME.

Active in high leadership within the Boy Scouts of America, he had earned his Eagle Scout Award with Troop 1, Acton, MA. He was a Silver Beaver Award recipient, and had served as a Commissioner at Pine Tree Council in Brunswick, ME.

Frank was a tank commander in the U.S. Army's Yankee Division, and later served in the Army National Guard. He retired as a Captain.

Beginning his firefighting career in Acton, Frank served as a volunteer firefighter with his father and uncle Everett. Later, Frank was employed as a Civil Service Firefighter with the US Government at the Brunswick Naval Air Station, retiring from the Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod. He went on to serve as the Fire Chief for the community of Lincoln, RI. He was a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

He is survived by his dear children, Brent Victor Wendell Putnam and his wife Rebecca Putnam of Falmouth, MA, Rory Stevens Woodbury Putnam and his wife Olida Putnam of Windham, ME, and Heather Sheldon Goliber and her husband Christopher of Ponte Vedra, FL. He was the loving grandfather of Brigitta, Katarina, Andrew, Kaytlen and Victoria.

Relatives and friends are invited and may call at the RJ Ross Funeral Home, 135 South Street, Route 1A, Wrentham Centre, on Thursday from 4-8 PM. His Funeral Service will be Friday at 10 AM in St. Barnabas Church, 91 West Main Street, Falmouth, MA. Burial will follow in the Massachusetts National Cemetery, Bourne, MA.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Pine Tree Council, Boy Scouts of America (131 Johnson Rd, Portland, ME 04102, or http://aplacetogive.scouting.org/magento/index.php/give-local-pine-tree.html ) or the USO ( https://www.uso.org/donate/ ).

Arrangements are in the care of the RJ Ross Funeral Home, Wrentham Centre.

Merry Christmas!

And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." - Luke 2:10 Merry Christmas, Falmouth!