The Walpolean

A big thank you to everyone who was involved in this!  We can all reap the benefits for years to come. – Lil

Farmland, fresh produce and local inspiration

A man’s love of the land helps keep young farmers in business

It could have ended up as a parking lot or a big box store – but instead, this rich farmland along the Cold River in Walpole will remain part of the area’s long agricultural history. Owner Perley Lund’s 9-acre field is a key parcel for John and Teresa Janiszyn, who rely entirely on a network of leased land to grow vegetables for their well-known farm stand, Pete’s Stand, on Route 12 in Walpole.

“So much farmland is being developed and paved over,” John said. “If we don’t all work together to do something about it, it’ll all be gone.”

The Monadnock Conservancy worked with Perley Lund to conserve his land with a conservation easement, which guarantees that the land will never be developed and can continue to be used for farming.

Perley’s love of the land and of farming is a big part of his motivation to protect his land. “People need to know where their food comes from, and to be able to enjoy fresh, local vegetables,” he said.  Perley expressed relief and gratitude about being able to protect his land, which has been in the Lund family since the 1940s. “It’s just the right thing to do — for the land and for the community,” he remarked.

Many generous supporters helped to make Perley’s vision a reality, including the State of New Hampshire’s Moose Plate grant program, the 1772 Foundation, the Thomas W. Haas Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, and the Russell Farm and Forest Conservation Foundation.

Eric Merklein wants to share his opinion as well as urge everyone to attend the Planning Board Meeting tomorrow night.  Even if Mr. Ruggiero may not be there, it would seem that concerned citizens should attend – Lil

The Ruggiero Trash situation is going to be a big item at tomorrow’s Planning Board meeting – Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 7:00 pm.

The Planning Board has received yet another request to postpone tomorrows hearing until next month.

This is the second time that this has happened, and many of us believe that the request for continuance should be denied. It is quite possible that Ruggiero’s attorney Tom Hanna will use this additional time to bring this matter to the NH Superior court before a decision is made.

It is my understanding that the Planning Board has the following options:

1- The Board can accept the request for a continuance and kick the can down the road until January.

2- The Board can reject the request and have an open hearing tomorrow.

If the Board does have the hearing as scheduled, they can accept the site plan as submitted and let them go to Zoning, OR they can deny the application.

By State regulation there is a time limit on this matter, and that time is now.

PLEASE NOTE:  It is public record that the plans as submitted to the Board are NOT COMPLETE, and the denial can be based solely on that fact.

Even if new plans have been submitted in the last week or two, there is NO time to review the new plans with any inelegant understanding of the new plans, and there is NO time to submit the new plans to another state agency for a third party review.

I believe that this is a bad project for Walpole and will have an enormous impact on the abutters to the location (chemical sprays at the very least).

This company has blatantly violated our ordinances, and will be more than happy to pay their attorney to take your town to court in order to force this project on to our backs – so they can haul trash from Mass. into Walpole for processing.

Please stand up for our town and attend tomorrow’s planning Board meeting.

The following letter came to me from DES via Tabatha Anderson.  Therefore, you might refer to it as gossip but please know that neither she nor I have altered the content so you can come to your own conclusion about the transparency on this issue. – Lil

CERTIFIED MAIL #7002 3150 0004 7244 4380

RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED

February 4, 2015

Joseph Ruggiero, Owner Letter of Deficiency

Ruggiero Processing Facility LLC WMD 15-004

P.O. Box 434

Saxtons River, VT 05154

Dear Mr. Ruggiero,

On February 22, 2012, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Waste Management Division (“DES”) granted Standard Permit #DES-SW-SP-12-001 to Ruggiero Processing Facility LLC (“Ruggiero”) for a collection, storage and transfer facility in Walpole, New Hampshire.

The permit Terms and Conditions specified that “The permittee shall file a ‘Notice of Intent to Operate’ pursuant to Env-Sw 1105.02, and receive written confirmation of receipt from the Department prior to beginning operation” (item 9) and that “prior to obtaining authorization to operate this facility the permittee shall comply with the financial assurance requirements for closure identified in Env-Sw 1403” (item 14).

Because Ruggiero did not file a Notice of Intent to Operate or comply with financial assurance requirements prior to operating as specified under Terms and Conditions (items 9 and 14) of the permit, DES had not been made aware the facility was, in fact, operating until DES staff visited the facility on August 28, 2014. The results of the subsequent inspection to determine Ruggiero’s compliance with other requirements under RSA 149-M and NH Administrative Rules Env-Sw 100 et seq. (Solid Waste Rules) are attached.

Despite having initiated operations a number of months prior, Ruggiero had not received approval to operate the facility, or any phase or portion thereof because Ruggiero had not filed a “Notice of Intent to Operate” with DES or assured financial responsibility for facility closure prior to commencing operation of the facility.

1. RSA 149-M and Env-Sw 1105.01(a)(2) require the permittee of facilities with a standard permit to assure financial responsibility for facility closure prior to commencing operation.

2. RSA 149-M and Env-Sw 1105.01(a) (5) require the permittee of a solid waste facility to file a “Notice of Intent to Operate” with the department and receive approval prior to commencing operation of a facility, or any phase or portion thereof.

In addition, the inspection revealed five violations pertaining to Signs and Postings, and requirements for recordkeeping and reporting.

3. Env-Sw 1105.05(a) and (b) require the facility entrance sign to include: facility name and hours, permittee name and number, waste types accepted and the unlawful dumping statement.

4. Env-Sw 1105.05(c) requires that there be a copy of the Operating Plan and the Closure Plan on site.

5. Env-Sw 1105.05(d) requires the posting of the permit’s cover page.

6. Env-Sw 1105.05(e) requires the posting of operator certificates.

7. Env-Sw 1105.07(b) requires the submittal of an annual facility report by March 31 for operations during the previous year.

8. Env-Sw 1105.06(a) requires the permittee to maintain records on the quantity, type, source and destination of all wastes accepted, with out-of-state waste listed separately.

On October 16, 2014 DES received a submittal that included a Notice of Intent to Operate, a Letter of Credit, and a Standby Trust Agreement from Ruggiero. After an additional submittal, which included a revised Standby Trust Agreement, DES approved the Notice of Intent to Operate on December 10, 2014. DES’s Notice of Intent to Operate constitutes approval for Ruggiero to commence operation of the facility and corrects violations 1 and 2 listed above.

DES requests that Ruggiero address violations 4 – 8 by March 6, 2015. If compliance is not achieved within this period, DES may take further action against including issuing an order requiring that the deficiencies be corrected and/or referring the matter to the New Hampshire Department of Justice for injunctive relief. DES personnel may re-inspect your facility at a later date to determine whether the facility has come into, and is maintaining, full compliance with the applicable rules. DES reserves the right to pursue monetary penalties for the deficiencies noted in this letter as well as any deficiencies noted in subsequent inspections of your facility.

If you believe that DES has cited these violations in error, or have questions regarding this matter, please contact Sharon Yergeau, Solid Waste Compliance Assurance Supervisor, at NHDES, P.O. Box 95, Concord, NH 03302.

The Solid Waste Rules are available from the DES Public Information Center ((603) 271-2975) or at http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/legal/rules/index.htm.

Sincerely,

Michael E. Guilfoy, Administrator, Solid Waste Management Bureau

cc: DES Legal Unit

ec: Melanie Doiron, Inspector, Solid Waste Compliance Assurance Section

In case you have forgotten or haven’t seen the Planning Board Agenda, this letter may refresh your memory. – Lil

In view of the discussions at the Zoning Board and Planning Board level, Sheila Lannon asked that I bring this article to your attention: Union Leader Article

Lil

“Could you post on The Walpolean a link to the article about the 5 Alarm Fire that happened last Wed., 9/9/15 in Salem, NH at the Construction Demolition Debris Processing Facility there.

Seeing as our local Boards, (Zoning and Planning), will be discussing the Ruggiero Processing Facility, LLC application to modify and expand the Commercial Business there on Industrial Park Drive, it might be helpful for the local residents to be made aware of the hazards and unnecessary risks the Town of Walpole, and more importantly, the residential neighbors and existing businesses in close proximity of the facility could be burdened

with.”

Sheila Lannon asked me to:

“Please let the residents of Walpole know that there is still time to submit Comments to DES Waste Management Division re: any concerns or comments they have about the Ruggiero Trash Collectors request to modify their current permit to Operate a Commercial Construction and Demolition Debris Recycling Facility, adding Municipal Solid Waste processing, (Household Trash/Garbage), on Industrial Drive in Walpole.

The deadline is this Friday, 8/28/15 at 4PM.

Comments should be emailed to: PAUL.GILDERSLEEVE@DES.NH.GOV and to: SOLIDWASTEINFO@DES.NH.GOV

(Please refer to the 8/19/15 and the 8/21/15 Walpolean posts for more information about this matter.)”

I received this letter this afternoon that seems appropriate and adresses a current topic, – Lil

Friends of Walpole:

We are concerned citizens of the Town of Walpole who want to bring to light an issue that we are all facing in regards to Ruggerio LLC, a company based out of Vermont.  For those of you who do not know who Ruggerio LLC is, they are a garbage hauling company who currently has a processing facility located in Walpole handling Construction & Demolition debris (C&D) and now wants a permit to handle garbage.  This company was approved for a permit back in 2013 in regards to handling C&D under the duress of the land abutters.  The nearby residents as well as members of the Town were assured that there would not be any Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) or garbage, as we know it, in the facility.  As it turns out, Ruggerio has now applied to the State of NH-DES for a modified permit to allow them to handle garbage.  If approved, they would double their garbage hauling capacity from 200 tons a week to 400 tons a week.  By doubling their capacity, the number of diesel trucks going in and out would increase twofold as well as the noise level doubling when they drop their metal containers weighing several thousand pounds.  As capacity increases, the obnoxious odors emanating from the garbage will be potentially overwhelming.  Once approved, Ruggerio would be allowed to maintain on site on any given day, 60 tons of recyclable materials, 12 tons of unprocessed garbage materials, and 60 tons of garbage.  That’s a total of 132 tons at any given time on any given date.  The NH Department of Environmental Services (DES) does not specify a length of time on these operations so our children’s children will be affected by these operations.

Ruggerio is originally from CT and moved to Vermont and has now chosen to bring their garbage into Walpole due to the regulations that were implemented this year as well as forthcoming regulations in Vermont.  They receive their garbage from areas where they have contracts such as Vermont and Massachusetts.  This garbage is being brought into our small New Hampshire town and will potentially make this operation bigger than the current Keene Transfer Station site.  This is due to the fact that they just purchased many more acres of land adjacent to their current site.  According to the application submitted to the State of NH, their intention as well as to the expansion for garbage is to create a composting site of unknown size due to the strict regulations that are being implemented in Vermont.  In regards to the composting site, the City of Keene originally had their own composting site but due to the noxious odors shut down the composting site.  Another issue that comes up the most people do not think about is the rodent population from the increase in garbage.  As silly as it may seem, Ruggerio advised the State of NH that the feral cats currently living around the facility would take care of the rodent population.  Do we really want to allow Ruggerio to bring this to our little town?  The Town of Walpole already has their own processing/recycling facility that handles all of our needs and is run by people we have known for years.

As residents of the Town of Walpole who have lived here for 20+ years as well as lifelong residents, we are bringing this issue to light so others can know what is happening in their town.  Do we want Walpole to be known as Vermont’s trash facility or as the New Hampshire village we know and love.

Let’s looks at the potential economic impact of allowing this to go forth.  We could be the town where all surrounding municipalities bring their garbage to.  Property values will decrease as no one will want to live in our neighborhood or even out town with a garbage dump in our backyard.  Let’s not forget Houghton Brook which is only 150 feet from their site and which will certainly be impacted by runoff from all kinds of liquids draining from the bottom of the dumpsters left on site.

On a final note, let’s discuss how Ruggerio LLC already built a pole barn on their current site without getting permission and a building permit from the Town of Walpole.  If they can do this without Town approval, do we really believe that they will follow the rules and regulations set forth by the State.  In the past Town of Walpole Meetings, it was brought forth that Ruggerio had some “issues” that needed to be corrected from a NH State Inspection but the details of what the “issues” were was not brought to light.  Ruggerio also stated that the pole barn was built to house the dumpsters which would be housing the garbage without even applying for the permit yet.  Are these the kinds of neighbors and businesses we want in our town?

For more information, please see the Walpolean Minutes of 8/11/15 and there will also be a petition about town requesting signatures for those who do not wish to see Walpole marred by a garbage dump.

Respectfully submitted by,

Richard & Karen O’Brien

Frank & Tabatha Anderson

Marina Coneeny asked that the following reminder be brought to your attention.  If you wish to have input, remember that the deadline is this Friday. – Lil

Following the public hearing held in the Walpole Town Hall on July 13, 2015, at the request of the public, the entire Market Survey, commissioned by the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority (NHHFA) was made available for review online.

The petition highlights the serious flaws in the project as noted in the survey, and will be submitted to the board for the NHHFA but the Friday deadline..

The project flaws, as well as the unsafe location on Route 12 for families with children, bring into question whether this allocation is the best use of NH taxpayer resources.

If you would like to read the entire market survey document, go to:

http://www.nhhfa.org/news/notices/AbenakiSpringsMarketStudy.pdf

The NHHFA is mandated to receive public comments only until Friday, July 24, 2015.

Please express your views on this matter URGENTLY by email to:

multifaminfo@nhhfa.org

For those who, like me, are awaiting the minutes from NHHFA, I wanted to let you know that I did check in again so that I could be assured that I was looking for them in the right section of the website.  The following response was received from Julian Morgan so we’d best not “hold our breath”.  – Lil

“The transcript of the hearing will be publicly available after the public comment period closes and when we’ve compiled all public comments and made them available to members of our Board.”