Bill Thoms

There is a homeless encampment located on a wooded knoll accessed via the Addison Gilbert/Seacoast parking lot. No one was there when I discovered it but it has been recently occupied. There are tents and a significant amount of trash—bottles, cans, food containers, etc. This would be a good project for a boy scout troop—to go up there are collect trash. Also, the people at the Grace Center may know who is camping out there.

Dead tree fallen in roadway

Thank you for the recent roadside mowing. However, more is needed for traffic and pedestrian safety in this area with no sidewalks. For example, the bend by Folly Pt Rd is a blind curve and the site of accidents. Also, in front of 1178 Washington St where brush is reducing visibility. Some property owners don't or can't clear the roadside in these areas and, after all, it's a public roadway with thru traffic. Please send the brush cutter out here to finish the job.

Beaver activity in swamp at intersection of Washington & Langsford.
New dam-building activity in the last two days since a DPW employee was here to clear the drainage ditch. This will remain a maintenance issue, especially during periods of high rainfall as the swamp can come close to overtopping pavement on Washington Street. Past auto accidents have knocked granite abutment stones into the ditch. In an ideal world the DPW would find the funding to implement engineering plans to replace the ditch with a concrete culvert all the way down to Stoney Brook. Maybe you could just get a backhoe to clear the stones and fallen trees from the ditch and foil the beaver's plans.

Some person or persons is toileting their dog(s) in Lanes Cove and not cleaning up afterward. There are literally dozens of dog turds on both sides of the cove. Do you think signage such as the one I've seen at Halibut Pt State Park would help remind people to do the right thing?

Storm drain at 1174 Washington Street is clogged, backing water up into my yard

A chronic problem with roadway flooding from the swamp near the intersection of Langsford & Washington Streets was temporarily solved a few years ago. But now, days after the last rainfall Washington Street next to the swamp is still partially flooded. The cause, I believe is twofold. 1) Debris is clogging the covered portion of the ditch that drains the wetlands, and 2) a vehicle accident a couple of years ago caused granite blocks supporting the roadway to fall into the ditch, further impeding drainage. Years ago the DPW admitted to having prepared engineering plans to solve these issues by installing a modern concrete culvert to drain the swamp into Stoney Brook and thence into Folly Cove. If you can't find money in the budget for that at least you could repair the roadway (which in that area is a state highway) before it collapses further and dig out the debris clogging the ditch. I might add that Washington Street in that area is narrow and lacking a sidewalk. The last thing we need is to have it narrowed further by chronic flooding.

Can resin chairs, Recycle symbol 5, be put out for curbside recycling?

Veolia has identified groundwater intrusion as the cause of my STEP alarm going off. My electric bill is elevated due to lack of a seal between the tank and stack allowing large amounts of groundwater to pour into the tank. Also, since installation over 20 years ago there has been settling around the tank. Is this problem covered by the Veolia contract or is it a city responsibility? How can we correct this problem?

At the corner of Emerald and Washington Streets is a large nearly dead ash tree. It is a public shade with dead limbs endangering foot and vehicular traffic as wells as utility lines. It should be scheduled for removal.

Today, Monday, May 27, 2019, my wife and I were out for a walk through Lanesville streets. As we passed 1056 Washington Street and passed by the entrance to the Lane’s Cove Cemetery a dog appeared alone and unleashed on the sidewalk ahead. It charged at us, barking and snarling, preventing us from continuing our walk on the public sidewalk.

After snarling, baring its teeth and bluff charging me several times - my elderly wife having already fled in the other direction - the dog made one last threat charge at me, turned and ran across Washington Street in front of a passing auto, almost getting hit and causing the motorist to swerve and hit his brakes. It then disappeared into the back yard of 1063 Washington Street, at the corner of Young Ave. My wife spoke with a neighbor across the street and described the dog and the incident to her. She offered the opinion that the dog may belong to the residents of a cottage at 1063R Washington Street and related that she’d heard that the dog had bitten someone. See photo of the offending animal that I took during the standoff.

In a densely populated neighborhood this kind of behavior by an unleashed dog is dangerous and completely unacceptable. I request that Gloucester’s Animal Control Officer visit 1063 and 1063R Washington Street at the corner of Young Ave and identify this animal and its owner. At the least, a warning should be issued to the owner to keep the dog leashed.

Bill Thoms
1174 Washington St
978-283-0350

A vehicle accident at the intersection of Washington & Langsford has not only damaged the guardrail but more importantly has knocked large stones out of the granite wall supporting to roadside. This will lead to a collapse of the roadway in the future. The large granite blocks are also partially blocking the outflow from the swamp where there have been chronic flooding problems in the past.