To Build or Not to Build
Where is the retirement community? On Cross Street (between routes 129 and 38) at the former Yentile Farm site, realtors are still selling town homes and garden style units, but Wilmington Town officials are now questioning a lack of progress on the Yentile Estates project by builder Franchi Equipment Company, Inc. Currently, all that the potential homeowners have to show for their investment is a building lot that remains empty and barricaded by large rocks and old utility poles and phone calls that go unanswered.
Yentile Place - an active adult community, according to its advertising- was originally scheduled to have some living units completed back in December of 2006. That was pushed out to April, (or “late Spring 2007 as stated on the website), but ground has yet to be broken as of mid-June.
Realtors at RE/Max First Choice of Marlborough are still eager to sell the units. One realtor said that the construction delay was because they were “held up with permit problems” with the Town of Wilmington and that there would be groundbreaking in a couple of weeks. Another, Don Donaldson, hesitated slightly saying “Groundbreaking would be coming up shortly. I would not go so far as to say it will happen in a couple of weeks.” They would comment on nothing further and calls to the head of their office, Sue MacDonald, went unanswered and messages unreturned.
Carole Hamilton, Director of Planning and Conservation for Wilmington, made it absolutely clear that the delays are not related to permits and that the Town is waiting to hear the construction schedule from the builder. Hamilton was told at one point that the builders were putting together a new financing package for Yentile Place, but as of mid-June has heard nothing further about the status of the project.
On Monday, June 11, 2007, Hamilton sent a letter to the builder, David Franchi of Franchi Equipment Company Inc. informing him that the Planning Board requests his presence at their July 17 meeting at 8:45pm. The Board has requested information regarding a financing source, a construction schedule and a time frame for the affordable unit lottery, all be presented at the mid-July meeting.
Environmental concerns were also cited in the letter sent to Franchi because replication planting has not been done, and requests from the Conservation Agent to stabilize exposed soil have been ignored.
The Planning Board is disappointed in the lack of progress on the project and is also receiving complaints from individuals who have made deposits on units that have not been delivered on time.
In a separate matter related to this project, at least one potential buyer has been unable to get their very sizeable deposit back, despite following the cancellation guidelines written in their purchase and sale agreement.
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“They just won’t reply to anybody. They tell me to deal with my attorney, but they won’t even talk with him,” said the buyer who wishes to remain anonymous. Despite dozens of attempts to reach them, the contractor and his attorney are not responding to the buyer by letter, phone, or e-mail.
The realtor, RE/Max First Choice, of Marlborough, has also been unsuccessful in helping to rectify this situation for the buyer. “They say that they will speak to the builder, David Franchi, and get back to you with information,” said a relative of the anonymous potential buyer, “but then they don’t call back with any information.”
According to an unrelated realtor, on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) the unit in question still shows as being sold. The potential buyer’s realtor told them that they leave units marked as “sold” on the internet to get new financing for the project and to make the project more attractive for potential buyers. The realtor also told them that the new financing company would pass papers on May 1st.
Phone calls to builder, Dave Franchi, of Franchi Equipment Company, and Project Manager Brian Card, of FCM Builders Inc., seeking comment have gone unreturned. Both companies share one Marlborough address and phone number.
According to the Better Business Bureau of Massachusetts website, there have been two complaints filed against FCM Builders Inc. in the last 36 months. The more recent one was “1 regarding failure to honor a contract or agreement”, and the BBB file was closed because they received no response from FCM. The prior complaint was “1 regarding improper or inferior repair” and this was “administratively closed”.
The disappointed potential buyer is very frustrated with the process and said: “The way they are doing business is very unfair to people who have put their trust in them and they won’t do what they promised – or give the money back!”
To see part two of this story go to: http://ontherisewriting.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD. All Rights Reserved.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Chasing Their Dreams
Chasing Their Dreams… “One Step at a Time” is the aptly named fundraiser/awareness event that will take place at the Tewksbury Memorial High School track on Sunday, June 24th. All parents and children are encouraged to join this “Kids Fun Run” and celebration of dreams.
Donations will benefit St. Jude’s “Who Just Dream to Live” and The Lia DiFronzo Fund. Lia is a 6 1/2 year-old Tewksbury girl suffering from a rare form of leukemia.
Registration starts at 9:00 am and the Run starts at 10:00 am. Each child who enters the fun run will receive a yellow star. Their dream will be written on the star and the star will be placed on the child’s back. Children may then choose from a 100meter, 200meter or 400meter run. Upon completion of the running, the children will receive a special certificate that has been personalized by their parent or guardian.
“As we move through the fast paced life, we will sometimes overlook our children’s creativity and talents that are bottled up inside of them. These little people are amazing. Many kids are only involved in structured activities and forget how to think ‘outside’ the box. Now is the time to give them the space and support to create and dream,” said event organizer and Julann Briggs, of Tewksbury, in a flyer promoting the event.
Tewksbury resident Chris Stone is helping Briggs set-up and run this event. She emphasized that the purpose of this day is to get parents to listen to their kids and to encourage their children to have dreams. They don’t need to be big dreams; it could be riding a bike or it could be bicycling in the Olympics…what is important is that children have dreams.
In a flyer circulating via e-mail, Briggs explained the goal of the Chasing Their Dreams event: “To allow your children to create and express ideas with no resistance and full understanding. For parents to understand how important their listening and support can change a child’s outlook and attitude to communicate. When we listen, we understand! When we support, we allow creativity! Let your child express their thoughts and keep an open mind. Our children are more amazing than we can possibly imagine and they have ideas and dreams that are important to them. We all can support our children more, and when we do, they will feel important and they will be heard.”
To the parents, event organizers send this message: “From now until the day of the celebration, explore with your child all possibilities and ideas they can create and express with your support. See if they want to dance, fish, paint, take a trip, write a book or a song, the possibilities are endless when we listen.”
In helping this project come to life, any contributions, participation, ideas, and support will be appreciated. Donations may be brought to the event or can be sent to Lowell Five Bank where a special account has been set up. Please make checks payable to “Chasing Their Dreams.” For more information please contact Chris Stone at 978-851-7780 or Julann Briggs at 978-804-1629.
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD All Rights Reserved.
Donations will benefit St. Jude’s “Who Just Dream to Live” and The Lia DiFronzo Fund. Lia is a 6 1/2 year-old Tewksbury girl suffering from a rare form of leukemia.
Registration starts at 9:00 am and the Run starts at 10:00 am. Each child who enters the fun run will receive a yellow star. Their dream will be written on the star and the star will be placed on the child’s back. Children may then choose from a 100meter, 200meter or 400meter run. Upon completion of the running, the children will receive a special certificate that has been personalized by their parent or guardian.
“As we move through the fast paced life, we will sometimes overlook our children’s creativity and talents that are bottled up inside of them. These little people are amazing. Many kids are only involved in structured activities and forget how to think ‘outside’ the box. Now is the time to give them the space and support to create and dream,” said event organizer and Julann Briggs, of Tewksbury, in a flyer promoting the event.
Tewksbury resident Chris Stone is helping Briggs set-up and run this event. She emphasized that the purpose of this day is to get parents to listen to their kids and to encourage their children to have dreams. They don’t need to be big dreams; it could be riding a bike or it could be bicycling in the Olympics…what is important is that children have dreams.
In a flyer circulating via e-mail, Briggs explained the goal of the Chasing Their Dreams event: “To allow your children to create and express ideas with no resistance and full understanding. For parents to understand how important their listening and support can change a child’s outlook and attitude to communicate. When we listen, we understand! When we support, we allow creativity! Let your child express their thoughts and keep an open mind. Our children are more amazing than we can possibly imagine and they have ideas and dreams that are important to them. We all can support our children more, and when we do, they will feel important and they will be heard.”
To the parents, event organizers send this message: “From now until the day of the celebration, explore with your child all possibilities and ideas they can create and express with your support. See if they want to dance, fish, paint, take a trip, write a book or a song, the possibilities are endless when we listen.”
In helping this project come to life, any contributions, participation, ideas, and support will be appreciated. Donations may be brought to the event or can be sent to Lowell Five Bank where a special account has been set up. Please make checks payable to “Chasing Their Dreams.” For more information please contact Chris Stone at 978-851-7780 or Julann Briggs at 978-804-1629.
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD All Rights Reserved.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Room For Improvement, part one
Television cameras will be rolling into Wilmington on June 1st as Channel 7 News Boston films its latest segment of “Room For Improvement.” The Finn family’s 25’ by 5’ enclosed front porch at the front of their 1920’s era home has been selected for a makeover.
Last fall, homeowner Kristen Finn e-mailed Channel 7 with pictures of her worn down and rarely used front porch. In December she was contacted and told her room had been chosen for a spring segment of “Room For Improvement,” and this spring Channel 7 sent designer Melanie Murphy, of Redecorating By Melanie, to recreate the old porch into a usable space for this family of four.
“It’s a very surreal thing right now,” said Kristen Finn who went on to say that she hopes the room will be “welcoming, warm and cozy and at the same time have a garden feel to it.” Finn and her husband Jay want a space where they can spend time with their children Ashlyn (age 6) and Patrick (age 10).
Designer Murphy is ready to face the challenge. This will be the sixth segment of “Room for Improvement” that Murphy has filmed since joining the team in 2005. The homeowners gave her a budget of $2000. Her design team also includes an installer and a painter, Charlie Prokop from Custom Painting of Chelmsford, who is donating his time for this project.
According to Murphy, the biggest challenges in this project were “the fact that we had to put down a new floor and it needs a lot of TLC (tender loving care) and to freshen it up so the whole family can use it.” She went on to explain that the Finn family has already had a new floor put in and that will not come out of her design budget.
The floor weighed heavily on the Finn’s mind too. When asked what would she not want to see in her new room, she replied: “anything would be an improvement to what it was. I trust Melanie – the only thing is to not have the floor back!”
The rest of the details of the design cannot be released right now because, as part of the television segment, the reveal of the final design is filmed to show the homeowners’ reactions.
Since the first segment of “Room For Improvement” aired on July 14th, 2005, there have been more than 40 segments filmed all over the Boston area, and these can be viewed on the Channel 7 website. Each one is a couple of minutes in length and includes some background with the family, the work done to the room, and the final reveal.
Many segments are already lined up for the remainder of the year. Murphy currently has five more upcoming projects, some of which include a nursery, an office with a Red Sox baseball theme, and the waiting room in the Children’s Hospital Radiology Department.
The Wilmington segment of “Room For Improvement” will air several weeks after the on-site filming on June 1st.
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD All Rights Reserved.
Last fall, homeowner Kristen Finn e-mailed Channel 7 with pictures of her worn down and rarely used front porch. In December she was contacted and told her room had been chosen for a spring segment of “Room For Improvement,” and this spring Channel 7 sent designer Melanie Murphy, of Redecorating By Melanie, to recreate the old porch into a usable space for this family of four.
“It’s a very surreal thing right now,” said Kristen Finn who went on to say that she hopes the room will be “welcoming, warm and cozy and at the same time have a garden feel to it.” Finn and her husband Jay want a space where they can spend time with their children Ashlyn (age 6) and Patrick (age 10).
Designer Murphy is ready to face the challenge. This will be the sixth segment of “Room for Improvement” that Murphy has filmed since joining the team in 2005. The homeowners gave her a budget of $2000. Her design team also includes an installer and a painter, Charlie Prokop from Custom Painting of Chelmsford, who is donating his time for this project.
According to Murphy, the biggest challenges in this project were “the fact that we had to put down a new floor and it needs a lot of TLC (tender loving care) and to freshen it up so the whole family can use it.” She went on to explain that the Finn family has already had a new floor put in and that will not come out of her design budget.
The floor weighed heavily on the Finn’s mind too. When asked what would she not want to see in her new room, she replied: “anything would be an improvement to what it was. I trust Melanie – the only thing is to not have the floor back!”
The rest of the details of the design cannot be released right now because, as part of the television segment, the reveal of the final design is filmed to show the homeowners’ reactions.
Since the first segment of “Room For Improvement” aired on July 14th, 2005, there have been more than 40 segments filmed all over the Boston area, and these can be viewed on the Channel 7 website. Each one is a couple of minutes in length and includes some background with the family, the work done to the room, and the final reveal.
Many segments are already lined up for the remainder of the year. Murphy currently has five more upcoming projects, some of which include a nursery, an office with a Red Sox baseball theme, and the waiting room in the Children’s Hospital Radiology Department.
The Wilmington segment of “Room For Improvement” will air several weeks after the on-site filming on June 1st.
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Where Have All The Children Gone?
It is an absolutely gorgeous weekend. It is seventy degrees, the sun is shining...people write songs and poems about days like this when we hope that winter is finally behind us. So where have all of the children gone?
We drive around town and they are not out in their yards playing or riding bikes or scooters or climbing trees or playing tag or...so where have they gone? How can they not be outside?
I know they are here somewhere. They come out in large groups when they hear the familiar sound of "The Entertainer" blasting from the speakers of one of the two ice cream trucks that frequent our neighborhood. They call that the "ice cream song." They never miss the ice cream truck. I know they are here somewhere. They purchase their ice cream and disappear again.
But then again I realize that aside from a few people doing yardwork, I haven't seen many grown-ups outside around town either. Have our lives truly become so busy that we don't have time to enjoy an amazing Sunday afternoon after a long cold winter indoors? Are the grown-ups glued to televisions and computers like many of their kids? Maybe the kids are simply following the role models before them? And we wonder why obesity is on the rise in America. Did your children play outside today? For that matter, did you?
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD. All rights reserved.
We drive around town and they are not out in their yards playing or riding bikes or scooters or climbing trees or playing tag or...so where have they gone? How can they not be outside?
I know they are here somewhere. They come out in large groups when they hear the familiar sound of "The Entertainer" blasting from the speakers of one of the two ice cream trucks that frequent our neighborhood. They call that the "ice cream song." They never miss the ice cream truck. I know they are here somewhere. They purchase their ice cream and disappear again.
But then again I realize that aside from a few people doing yardwork, I haven't seen many grown-ups outside around town either. Have our lives truly become so busy that we don't have time to enjoy an amazing Sunday afternoon after a long cold winter indoors? Are the grown-ups glued to televisions and computers like many of their kids? Maybe the kids are simply following the role models before them? And we wonder why obesity is on the rise in America. Did your children play outside today? For that matter, did you?
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD. All rights reserved.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Mom On A Mission - The First Entry
I did it! I finally took the huge first step that has been holding me back for several months. It turns out that I didn't need to learn html and all of the technical jargon overnight. All that I really needed was to take that first step and put my own blog out there for the world to see.
My vision for this blog is to discuss many of the challenges that face parents today and women today. Some of these are challenges that, because of today's technology, were never faced by our parents or grandparents. Other challenges involve parents wanting our children to grow up surrounded by some of the same experiences and life lessons that made us who we are. I know there will be rants and raves about things such as children today spending too much time with technology and not enough time with nature or things we can do with our children to make our childhood memories a more sensory experience for them, to bring our photo albums to life, etc. There will probably be some book suggestions, ideas for old fashioned fun, links for useful educational resources, and links for fun with our children.
Perhaps equally as important will be exploring the roles of parent, spouse, and friend and my quest to regain my own identity after losing myself in the fully consuming but wonderful role as mom. I know I'm not alone in this...it sneaks up on us without us even realizing it. If you've ever found yourself at a party and someone asks "so what's new with you?" and you have only potty training or sports or report cards to turn to then I want to hear from you. How did you break out and find your individuality again or how are you facing the struggle now? Watch here for an upcoming blog on this subject.
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD. All Rights Reserved.
My vision for this blog is to discuss many of the challenges that face parents today and women today. Some of these are challenges that, because of today's technology, were never faced by our parents or grandparents. Other challenges involve parents wanting our children to grow up surrounded by some of the same experiences and life lessons that made us who we are. I know there will be rants and raves about things such as children today spending too much time with technology and not enough time with nature or things we can do with our children to make our childhood memories a more sensory experience for them, to bring our photo albums to life, etc. There will probably be some book suggestions, ideas for old fashioned fun, links for useful educational resources, and links for fun with our children.
Perhaps equally as important will be exploring the roles of parent, spouse, and friend and my quest to regain my own identity after losing myself in the fully consuming but wonderful role as mom. I know I'm not alone in this...it sneaks up on us without us even realizing it. If you've ever found yourself at a party and someone asks "so what's new with you?" and you have only potty training or sports or report cards to turn to then I want to hear from you. How did you break out and find your individuality again or how are you facing the struggle now? Watch here for an upcoming blog on this subject.
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD. All Rights Reserved.
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