Here’s what I wish I could tell you coming out of this afternoon’s “information session” on the St. Aidan’s project.
I wish I could tell you that the people supervising asbestos removal at the site (i.e., the developer and the Town’s health department) were eminently capable to handle the removal of 7,500 square feet of material [...]
The Boston Archdiocese will begin removing asbestos in advance of demolition of a garage on the site of their housing project at St. Aidan’s. What. you were expecting the seven days mandated in a settlement agreement stemming from a resident lawsuit?
Not gonna happen.
Lots of bizarre moments (even by Brookline standards) from this afternoon’s meeting. [...]
Here’s what the Town of Brookline and the Boston Archdiocese will likely say at this afternoon’s information session on asbestos removal at their St. Aidan’s joint venture. They’ll say that residents have confused wetting asbestos (a generally accepted practice) with the “wet method”, a controversial practice of hosing buildings down while demolishing (in order [...]
It’s hard to escape the parallel between Brookline town government’s handling of environmental protection at St. Aidan’s and the Bush Administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina. Both are miserable failures.
And the ethic shared by the two — selective appropriation of resources — is also hard to miss. Though I can’t say that the Bush [...]
“A writer’s life is a highly vulnerable, almost naked activity. We don’t have to weep about that. The writer makes his choice and is stuck with it. But it is true to say that you are open to all the winds, some of them icy indeed. You are out on your own, out on [...]
Question: Isn’t this St. Aidan’s asbestos story a bit overblown?
Answer: Well, if you think removing 7,500 sq. feet of highly toxic material from the exterior of a 150 year building (in a densely populated area) is no big deal, than you ought to work for the Town of Brookline. Neighbors are concerned [...]
This just in from the Town’s planning director, Jeff Levine:
In order to provide a chance for residents to better understand the
[St. Aidan's demolition] process, there will be an information session at 5:30 pm. on Monday, March 31st, in the Auditorium on the Second Floor of the Old Lincoln School, 194 Boylston Street (Temporary Town Hall.) [...]
If there’s anything I lack, it’s a political sense. But even I can see that the prospects for a Prop 2.5 override passing in Brookline are getting shakier by the day. Today’s Herald features an interesting chart which can be interpreted to show that when economic conditions worsen, voters are likely to say [...]
Sitting through last night’s meting of Brookline’s Citizen Complaint Panel was like watching an episode of HBO’s remarkable series “In Treatment.” In the series, patients visiting the therapist are both resistant to, and woefully in need of, treatment (as is the therapist).
Such was the drama when Brookline Police Chief Daniel O’Leary took a seat [...]
Tomorrow’s TAB has a story in on the St. Aidan’s asbestos debacle and features this passage:
[Town Planning Director Jeff] Levine said the town was “closely monitoring the project” and believed POUA [the Boston Archdiocese] has “every intention of complying with state, local and federal requirements, and also some additional agreements.
“I think there has been [...]
