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Will Do Nothing

More than a few worried Westbrook citizens contacted me regarding the Blight Committee’s secret list of targeted Westbrook properties. None were listed.

There are however several Westbrook property owners who will never be concerned by this overreaching tool perfect for harassing neighbors, political enemies, etc., at public expense. Section 2 of the proposed ordinance “Scope of Provisions” excludes “agricultural lands” and “commercial properties whose activities including storage or processing of material and equipment related to their business.”

We have few farms in Westbrook—one is run by Selectman John Hall and another by Clinton Nurseries by the high school. Now farms are not considered by most as blightable unless you are downstream or down wind of their “deposits”. In the case of Clinton Nurseries, it continues to discharge drainage water onto town and school property, converting it into wetlands and therefore unusable for the purpose the town unknowingly bought the land for.

Storage or processing of material is a very limited description and apparently describes the Hallahan solid waste business on Willard Avenue. The chairman of the Blight Committee is Dennis Hallahan, father of the owner, Chris Hallahan. This property is located in a residential neighborhood. It accepts and processes massive amount of construction debris for resale, including the entire former Baldwin Bridge! The state does not require solid waste be tested for toxic waste.

There is no blight in Westbrook. Blight is used to describe a spreading economic condition resulting from failed and empty factories to empty homes owned by no one. Voting for this ordinance will do nothing for the town except tax-paid harassment of it’s citizens.

Jeff Kriete

Westbrook