Railroad owner to remove smelly poles in Upton

							                                                                                                 

 


Railroad owner to remove smelly poles in
Upton




Melissa Ostrow/Daily News correspondent
Hundreds of utility poles lay on the side of Maple Avenue in Upton, near the railroad tracks.
By Krista Perry/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News
Posted Jul 14, 2009 @ 10:36 PM



UPTON —

The telephone poles stored on Maple Avenue, which have been stinking up the neighborhood since April, will
be removed by the end of the month, Grafton-Upton Railroad owner Jon Delli Priscoli told selectmen last night.

The railroad has a contract with Cox Industries, the poles' manufacturer, to keep them at Maple Avenue until
one of Cox's customers is ready to have them shipped.

The poles are treated with pentachlorophenol, a pesticide and wood preservative, and diesel fuel, and have a
sweet but unpleasant smell, neighbors have said.

Though a detriment to the railroad's finances, Delli Priscoli told selectmen, he was happy to be a "good
neighbor" and work with the town.
"The reason this worked out was the relationship with the town and Board of Health," Delli Priscoli told
selectmen. "They were up-front with me ... this could have worked out to be a detriment to the town if they
hadn't been."

In late June, Delli Priscoli sent a letter to Cox Industries ordering the company to put a lid on the odor to the
satisfaction of the railroad and Board of Health by today, or the poles would have to be removed from the
property by July 30.

"Sometimes what is right is not always good financially," Delli Priscoli said. "We did this without pressure from
the Department of Environmental Protection or Board of Health."

Delli Priscoli maintained the poles were not an issue from a health standpoint.

"The odor was a nuisance," he said.

Selectmen commended Delli Priscoli for wanting to keep a good relationship with the town.

"I know it can be difficult, when people sling arrows and throw stones, to keep a professional demeanor, and
you've always done that," said Selectman Robert Fleming.

Town officials and Delli Priscoli first tried to lessen the smell in June by moving the poles to a different location
on the property. That did not solve the problem.

Richard Lackey, vice president of Cox Industries, could not be reached for comment last night. However, he
has said moving the poles will be a tough financial undertaking for Cox.

"We expended the funds to make (the first) move from one location to the other, and now we would have to
attempt to locate another yard in some vicinity in the Northeast conducive to serving the client, so that search
will cost money," he said in an interview last month. "And we will absorb the cost of shipping (the poles) and
unloading and reloading when the customer needs (them)."

Town officials have said federal railroad laws prevented them from taking quick action on the problem.

Throughout the four-month ordeal, Board of Health Chairman Al Holman maintained that the town should work
in partnership with Delli Priscoli to solve the problem.

"I think it is an excellent resolution and indicates they want to be a good neighbor," Holman said last month.

In other business, selectmen voted to make interim Council on Aging Director James Gardner the permanent
director.
Also, Ken Glowacki asked selectmen to petition to the postmaster to make mail delivery on Main Street a
walking route instead of delivering in a mail truck.

Glowacki had petitioned at May's annual Town Meeting to remove all the mailboxes on Main Street because he
said they were "an eyesore" and interfered with pedestrians on the sidewalk.

Selectmen agreed to write the letter.

"I'm a proponent of this," Fleming said. "It makes sense to me."

Krista Perry