Time to Thank Kevin Meehan
Yes, it is time to thank Kevin Meehan. He has stepped up to the plate and hit a home run with his plan to organize a group of people to build as much as they can of a new Police station. This is in perfect keeping of how Mendon has built municiple buildings in the past. The Senior Center,Highway Barn and current Police Station were all built by local people using common sense and no "prevailing wage". Its prevailing wage that is the parasite that kills municiple building budgets. Recognizing the division between the "no builds" and the "go builds" he also knows that he is the poster child for the "go's" and the target for the "no's". (He had the audacity to replace the trash heap that was Fino Chrysler with a state of the art building and dealership and build another one and maybe even a third, he turned a dilapitated strip mall into something of which we can all be proud. Imagine the nerve he had to invest millions of dollars in Mendon. ) He hopes this new Police Station project will bring people together thru everyone from both sides participating in the process. Some people will just take the tax break they will ultimately get by not having to spend as much as they will have to someday and say "Thanks!", others will and are already challenging the ethical conflict possibilities. Can anyone really imagine that Mr. Meehan would look for relief from a $50.00 speeding ticket when he gives thousands and thousands of dollars to local charities every year and will spend hundreds of thousands of his own money to the building fund. The Finos were in business here for decades and to my recollection never gave anything back ,quite to the contrary, they raped the land on Rt 16, violated town ordinances in the process and we said "Thank You very much, here's a check for millions of dollars.
Welcome to Mendon, Kevin Meehan! I probably won't agree with everything you do but so far you have earned the right to piss me off a little!
Welcome to Mendon, Kevin Meehan! I probably won't agree with everything you do but so far you have earned the right to piss me off a little!
posted by Gary Smith @ 6:13 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I am concerned about plans to have Mister Meehan build Mendon's police station. I'm not saying this isn't a great thing that Mister Meehan is doing. I am saying that I have some concerns. If we can address these issues, I'd support this project.
I'm afraid that there will be little oversight of the design and construction phases of the project. How do we know the station will meet the town's needs? Will the town have control over the design of the station? Will the town have control over the implementation? The last thing we need is another municipal building that doesn't serve our needs.
There may be an appearance of impropriety when a man with permit applications (building permits, business licenses) pending before town boards (Planning Board, ZBA, Conservation Commission, BOS) is involved with a project like this. These permits are worth significantly more than a speeding ticket. And please note that I said appearance of impropriety.
I suppose my main concern is public visibility. I would be very uneasy if this project was done with no public over-site. Perhaps the Public Safety Building Committee could be helpful here.
Have we explored the legal issues here? If a town is obligated to pay prevailing wages on a public project, do those requirements apply to third parties like Mister Meehan? I'm concerned that this could be viewed as an (illegal) effort by the town to skirt the state prevailing wage requirements.
Is there a problem with insurance liability? If one of Mister Meehan's workers is injured on the job, is the town liable?
And finally, I don't like the fact that the voters of Mendon have not been asked about this. The police station did lose in the ballot box (I did vote for it). I think we shouldn't presume that the only reason it failed was cost. If people voted against it for other reasons, doesn't this discard their vote?
Tony, So far I have only heard 2 people voice the concerns you mentioned and they would be you and Mr. Meehan. Your questions are perfectly appropriate and will hopefully be answered by the Town. This is simply a good deed that Mr. Meehan is doing. What does he get out of it? The same thing he gets whenever he does these "public good" projects, good will and good PR. As a local business man I can tell you that spending money on advertizing is Ok but spending money that directly helps the people you are doing business with has much more impact. Mendon will do well to embrace Mr. Meehan and welcome his help. I do not know him as a man to ask for favors but rather a man that gives them. At it's core it's all about selling cars. The previous dealership did a moderate business without investing anything in the town. I imagine Mr. Meehan hopes to do an outstanding business by helping us in any way he can. It's what good business men have always done and hopefully will continue to do.
Your questions are perfectly appropriate and will hopefully be answered by the Town.
Yes, they will hopefully be answered by the town. However I've not seen anything to make me believe that will happen. The Board of Selectmen appear to be taking a hand's off approach to this. They seem willing to wait for the completed building to be handed over.
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