Politics & Government
Selectmen, Health Board Join to Address Ellingwood Construction
Framingham Board of Selectmen met the Board of Health Tuesday night and voted to create an action plan for issues with the Ellingwood Construction operation.
Framingham appeared beforeSelectmen Tuesday night to discuss the operation.
“There are issues and there are violations,” said Board of Health Director Ethan Mascoop.
Mascoop admitted the health board has been focused on and has not been able to devote enough time to the . Further complicating matters, the Board of Health shares jurisdiction with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which limits the board’s ability to take action on the situation.
Find out what's happening in Framinghamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The state has said Ellingwood needs to build a berm to separate his property from neighboring properties, and Ellingwood agreed to do so. However, the berm has not been built and the state has not issued a deadline for the berm.
Mascoop said Ellingwood told him he was reluctant to build the berm because he wanted to see what would happen with the investigation and does not want to build it if he will be forced to close anyway.
Find out what's happening in Framinghamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In a site visit on October 4, Mascoop noted Ellingwood is storing some of his asphalt, brick and concrete (ABC) product on an adjacent property that is a planned unit development area.
“I’m very troubled that he’s using property that’s not his,” said Selectman Charles Sisitsky.
Mascoop said he believes Ellingwood may be complying with the parameters of his site assessment within his own property, but could be exceeding those parameters by storing ABC product and loam on adjacent land.
Public comments were made by James Stewart and Marilyn Zimmerman, who both complained about traffic in the neighborhood from 18-wheelers driving to and from the Ellingworth property.
Selectman Ginger Esty cited concerns about well water contamination from the ABC, and also whether some of the material came from the town and was being sold back to the town after processing.
The Selectmen voted 5-0-0 to have the Board of Health meet with interim Town Manager Valerie Mulvey and the building department to come up with an action plan on the Ellingwood issue, and offered the possibility of hiring a consultant to speed up the process.
“Let’s get it done together,” said Chair Jason Smith.
