total time: 10.68 minutes
total words: 1696
total time: 5.48 minutes
total words: 958
[Michael Marks]: Hello, and welcome to the first edition of Spotlight on Method. I'm your host, Michael Marks. I'm standing here today at the new community access station with brand new equipment, state-of-the-art equipment, all in this facility. I invite anyone that wants to come up in the community to host their own show and get involved. After all, this is your money that's paying for this community access. Spotlight on Method will host and highlight all people living in the community. This show is all about the city of Medford and the unique people and the many different talents that we have living in our community. I plan on highlighting civic organizations, businesses, and residents in this community. As a member of the city council for the past 16 years, you all know me. I've been very active and involved in this community. I also served for six years on the school committee. very active in the schools at that time. There are a lot of pressing issues that are confronting Method. I want to bring them to your attention, and hopefully this will be informative and interesting at the same time. I plan on having a great show. Our first guest is Fred Lasky, a local Method resident, and also he's the head executive director of the MWRA. Sit back and relax and enjoy the show. Hello and welcome back to the first episode of Spotlight on Method. I'm here today with my very first guest, Fred Lasky. Fred Lasky is not only the Executive Director of the MWRA, but also a Method resident. Fred also served in several capacities on a statewide level. He was the Secretariat of the Administration and Finance, and also served in the Department of Revenue as the Director of the Department of Revenue. On the local level, Fred served on the school committee two years, two terms, excuse me Fred, two terms. And he's also very active with the guiding club and also the local Boy Scouts. Fred, it's a pleasure to have you here today.
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: Michael, thank you for having me.
[Michael Marks]: Thanks very much. Fred, as the executive director of the MWRA, I'm sure you get a lot of questions. And I'm sure you're very involved with the day-to-day operations of the MWRA. But I found some interesting service figures that I think it's important to know. Most of us get up for work and decide what we're going to have for breakfast and so forth. But when you get up in the morning, you have to make sure that 2.5 million people get water and sewer every day. You service over 890,000 households, 5,500 businesses, and supply an average of 200 million gallons of water per day, and you treat over 350 million gallons of sewage per day for 61 communities. How does that feel, Fred?
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: I'm not going to sleep tonight, Michael, when you put in those terms. No, it's an important function that we do at the MWRA. And as you say, we are a public health agency, an environmental agency. two and a half million people depend on us to provide safe drinking water and on the wastewater side people when they flush their toilets and do whatever they do they expect it to be taken and treated and to protect the environment. So it's an important function and I think it's important to put in perspective how far we've come. In the mid-1980s Massachusetts was in violation of the Clean Water Acts both federally and on the state level. There were lawsuits back and forth. And finally, a federal judge took over. And the end result was the creation of the MWRA. And the functions of the water and the sewer systems for the greater Boston area were taken away from the then Metropolitan District Commission and given to the MWRA with the expressed direction to clean up Boston Harbor. We like to think of ourselves as enlightened people here in the Boston area. But we had the dirtiest harbor, the Charles River, Love that Dirty Water, the Standell song, made it infamous here in the Mystic River. And again, we were given under court direction the awesome responsibility of cleaning up. And I'm proud to say now, some 30 some odd years later, and $5 billion worth of spending, we probably have the cleanest urban harbor in the country. We have obviously the cleanest urban beaches, a study done by the Save the Harbor, Save the Bay, looked at Waikiki Beach, Long Beach, all the big beaches, South Beach, and we have the cleanest urban beaches in the country here in the Boston Harbor. The Charles River is looking to find a place to have a swimming beach. And here in the Mystic, there's great efforts underway. The herring run that goes on the Mystic River Watershed Association has a whole bunch of activities in races and things like that so we have really cleaned up the environment in a big way which is a very important thing for the quality of life for the people here in the greater Boston area. On the water side we have spent two billion dollars to maintain and upgrade our system to bring it into compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. So we now have covered storage tanks for instance we have four covered storage tanks or two covered storage tanks instead of the open spot pond. When the people the water enters the system out in Clinton in the tunnel it never sees the light of day Until it comes out of your tap here in Medford. We have state-of-the-art ozone We have state-of-the-art UV disinfection so we can avoid the use of heavy chlorine I don't know if you travel much But you if you travel other parts of the country it either tastes like you're drinking your swimming pool or you're drinking out of a swamp well here we have great tasting water of the highest quality we voted the the best water in the country by 13,000 water experts at a recent conference. So we take pride in what we've invested, and we've spent a lot of money to protect the water at the source, out at the reservoirs. And one of the things that people do ask is, you know, my rates have gone up. And your rates have gone up. There's no way around that. But I think we can show at the MWRA that we have invested the ratepayers' money wisely, and that there's a direct benefit to everyone for the work that we've done in the cleanup of the harbor and the upgrades to the drinking water system.
[Michael Marks]: I think under your leadership over the last many years that I myself have noticed a big difference in the quality of water that we get to our house. One interesting fact that I remember reading somewhere online was that it takes roughly, it costs roughly one cent to get a gallon of clean drinking water to your house. And I found that very interesting fact.
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: And for another penny we'll take it away and treat it. You know what I'm saying?
[Michael Marks]: It's amazing, really.
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: It is. And people have to do what they're comfortable with. But the bottled water, people should be assured that our water is tested thousands and thousands of times. And it's great, great quality. If people are comfortable, they don't need to do the bottled water because of any lack of quality on our end. So we encourage people to have their own water bottles and to use our water. Because as you say, a penny And yet, you can get a jug of water out of the store 24 or wherever, and they charge $2 for one liter.
[Michael Marks]: For the same type of water. You know, Fred, the number one question I get as a member of the council is, naturally, how can we lower rates? How can I lower my MWRA water and sewer rate? And I tell people water conservation is a great way. The less you use, the less you're going to pay. But is there any other things that you can bring us up to date and tell the viewing audience, ways that they can actually try to lower their water and sewer rates?
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: Yeah. I mean, what drives our rates are the bonds or the mortgage on all these big projects, the cleanup of the harbor, the upgrades to the water system. 65% of our budget is the mortgage payment on those bonds. And we have been very aggressive in in refinancing to get the lower rates and to keep those those uh... rate increases below four percent in some cases below three percent in the low threes an article in the wall street journal today across the country over the last five years the average water and sewer bill has gone up over five percent per year well we're half of that and so even even though that's a good thing it's still expensive for folks and and The water-efficient appliances, the aerators in your sink, the low-flow toilets are critically important to reduce the amount of water that you use in your home. And a dripping faucet over time can cost you hundreds of dollars in the course of a year. So make sure your faucets aren't dripping. You're not wasting water by letting your hose go in the yard while it's raining. Water, you know, there's certain ways you can water like watering in the hot sun. It's just a waste of water immediately evaporates So if you water at night, there are things all kinds of tips like that and if you want to go on mwra.com Our website, there's a whole section on how to conserve water that you can click on. We do give out low flow shower heads, aerators, things like that. Make sure your toilet's not leaking. We have dye tabs to make sure your toilet's not leaking. Sometimes you can't even hear it. And it is amazing how much people can save just through those basic measures.
[Michael Marks]: Right. And how can someone get the dye tabs or the aerators?
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: Well, again, go on mwra.com and there's instructions on how to get them. And there's also a phone number that you can call. And we'll have a staff person get it out to you.
[Michael Marks]: From a city standpoint, I know the city has taken action over the last several years, taking advantage of 0% finance loans that are offered by the MWRA. And we've tackled many projects such as I&I inflow and infiltration, trying to get a handle on where the leakage is within our outdated sewer system. and also leak detection. We recently purchased a leak detection system that sends out an acoustic signal. They're located on the mains throughout the community and it sends out a signal and is able to tell the city within a matter of two to three feet where there may be a leak. And these are some of the things that we've taken steps as a community to try to get a handle on lowering costs from the MWRA Is there anything else regarding the loans that you can think of?
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: Well, a lot of the, on the sewer side, we've now made them, a large part of them, grants so that there's no payback except it's rolled into your rates. You know, Medford, like many of the communities in and around Boston, were built out in the early 1900s for the most part. Obviously, there were some houses before and some later, but for the most part, that core build out of the city, when the water and the sewer systems were put in, It's 110 years ago and a lot of that infrastructure is aged and so the city of Medford is smart to have that sophisticated listening equipment because those old pipes will go and whether it be you know the cold weather, the thawing and the freezing, the deep freezes that go on, it takes its toll and you also have to realize a large part of the city is really in the floodplain of the Mystic River so there's a lot of water. The groundwater table is high in a lot of places in the city, especially if you go down off of South Street in that area. And all of that puts pressure on, and the groundwater can get into the sewer pipe, and then that gets charged into it. So the city's making a smart move to get that equipment and keep track of those leaks. And also the II money, inflow and infiltration, which is groundwater and surface water getting into your sewer system.
[Michael Marks]: So there's been a lot of talk in the news recently, not right in this community, but in this state and across the country regarding lead. And what I try to tell people is that the MWRA has what I refer to as like a lead-free zone. There is no lead pipes currently that carries the water from the MWRA source. to homes, the 61 communities that you service. However, the lead that may be there is the connection between the city pipes and a homeowner's pipe, or the homeowner may have a lead connection. Is there anything that's being done now to help assist homeowners with possibly the changeover of their lead connections?
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: Well, as you pointed out, the system, there's no lead in the system, and it is that short connection between the street and the home. There are some cases where people have some lead inside the house. For instance, until five years ago, those high-end brass faucets would have lead in them. And by law, it would be allowed to have lead in them. So what I recommend, and I'll get back to your question in a second, but what I recommend strongly to people is when you get up in the morning, turn the water on, flush the toilet, get that slug of fresh water because the lead is leached out when the water stays in the pipe for the six to eight hours that you're sleeping or that you're at work, if no one's home during the day. So the first thing you should do is run that water and and get the fresh water in. We do provide testing if you want to have your test, your house tested. You know a lot of Medford's water records were lost in a fire but you can tell the time frame where houses were built and we do work closely with the city of Medford on the leak, on the lead stuff to make sure because it's really important to realize that lead and children is a very very bad combination. And the impact of lead on young children, it's life changing in their cognitive skills and other things. So it's very, very important that if you have a young child, you make sure you know what's in your house, what's not in your house, that you run that fresh water and get that fresh water in. And like I say, when I get up, boom, flush that toilet, run the water and do all those things to get the fresh water in.
[Michael Marks]: That's a good suggestion. I believe on the city website there is a thing you can click on that will show that you can where you can get one of these kits from the lead testing kit yes and I believe the city will mail it out to you and I believe as part of the process the city then in return mails it to the MWRA and you guys do the testing is that correct yes and we've done you can hire a private lab if you'd like but we do those tests and we've done I think 38,000 tests on schools alone in our service area a lot of older schools and whatever and and and
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: And so we really have been aggressive in that since Flint, Michigan. And frankly, Flint, Michigan was a horrific breakdown on every front in that you'd like to think it couldn't happen here because people are very diligent in taking care of that issue.
[Michael Marks]: Protecting our water supply is key. Fred, bringing it to a local level, Spot Pond, the Mystic River, are there any new things that are happening that residents may want to be aware of or any innovations that are going on currently within our community that you can speak of?
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: Well, I think most recently was the addition of some added storage. up behind what I call the New England Memorial Hospital up there in Stoneham, is in that we built two covered storage tanks, low service, which supply parts of Medford and a backup pump station. For many years we never had any redundancy. If you know when you're along the reservoir there and you see that beautiful big stone building, that's a pump station. There was no backup to that. So now we have a backup pump station and we basically put an open field in Upland Meadow, which is an interesting thing because the Friends of the Fells endorsed the project because it was the first addition in open space to the Middlesex Fells woods up behind there. So if you're looking for a place to fly a kite or go and take a walk, it's magnificent. But the functionality of it is we now have 20 million gallons of storage that directly protects the city of Medford. Because we have 20 storage in Western, now we have storage on this end. So if there's any issue in between, we can flow from both ways. We do have a lot of infrastructure here in Medford. A large part of the water that we deliver north of the city comes right up through Medford Square. People don't even realize that, that, you know, I think 30 million gallons of water a day go right up Governors Avenue and then they go down High Street. We do have a project in the planning stages to rehabilitate the big water line down Riverside Avenue and there's also a big sewer, the North Met sewer that runs down Riverside Avenue. And in both, we're going to do those projects projects at once and they'll be pits. And we'll go in and we'll clean and we'll line to guarantee that there's no inflow and to guarantee that it's an efficiently run system and that it doesn't collapse. So there's a lot of infrastructure in Medford. People probably see our trucks around, whether they're moving valves, whether they're doing water quality tests, all the different functions that we do. We do have a lot of our infrastructure here in the Medford area. So we're busy out this way.
[Michael Marks]: Well, not to get from the MWRA, but on a local level, I know you're involved in many community initiatives and activities. I was wondering if you could just speak briefly about the Garden Club. I know you've been very involved and near and dear to you regarding the Garden Club.
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: Yeah, I've been a member of the Riverbend Garden, my dad and I, between the two schools. very successful community garden. And because of that, and I thank you for your support, I was appointed to the Medford Community Garden Commission. We're a group of volunteers who meet monthly, or more than monthly, and are responsible for building new community gardens and making sure the ones that are there are run properly. There's a great demand out there for folks who want to get a garden plot. And so we're looking, obviously the one down on Winthrop Street, there's a new one down behind the schools, The school on Tufts Park that is very popular, both have waiting lists. We have one at McNally Park that's a little smaller concept. And we're looking for other locations. We're working with the neighbors to see if there's a location at Barry Park that might be suitable. Harris Park is going to have one in the rehab. If you like to garden and by their nature gardeners are good people I think, I'm biased of course, but it's a great benefit to the city and to have those community garden plots because people live in apartments so they don't have a big backyard and they have the ability to go out and to, and a lot of the gardeners donate a large portion of what they grow to the soup kitchens or the food banks so there's that angle to it. So it's a good addition to the city to have those gardens.
[Michael Marks]: I'm so happy to see that it's expanding. I know the original setup that we had at the McGlynn School, there was roughly a two to three year waiting list, which showed there was interest in the community. And now we're seeing it branch off into many of our 26 parks and open spaces throughout the community. So I just see this as a win-win for the entire community.
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: I thank you for your support over the years on this. Well, thank you.
[Michael Marks]: If you could just, I know another aspect that you've been involved with is the Boy Scouts. Yeah. And I think it's Troop 416 in particular.
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: Yeah, I've kind of stepped back the last few years. My wife's up to her eyeballs in it. She's the chartered organization rep and the Boy Scouts is a great program. And if you look at the EELS of today's youth, the Boy Scouts, it's the first environmental organization. The whole thing is intertwined with environmental lessons to learn, the physical activity, making sure you physically fit, the civic involvement. You know all the different merit badges and requirements I mean you go down the city hall you see the Cub Scouts meeting with the mayor and others with the City Council is and it just it's a good program and it gets the kids out of the city a lot of the kids you know it provides a father figures for a lot of kids in this day and age and You know the camps are great, so it's a great program. It really is my I enjoyed it as a as a young kid. My boys did, and it's a really great experience. Obviously the goal is for those small percentages, the Eagle Scout, and I think most people think about the Eagle Scout, but for every Eagle Scout there's dozens and dozens of kids. It's a heck of a lot better than hanging around on a corner. at night. You can be down in the scout room doing some activity.
[Michael Marks]: You know what, Fred, I want to thank you for your community involvement and your involvement for many, many years on the state level. And in my opinion, you've taken the MWRA to another level. And I appreciate your time. And thanks for being a guest on the show.
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: Thank you, Michael. I appreciate it being on the first of the shows. This is a very important thing to have this kind of dialogue on the cable access.
[Michael Marks]: Well, thanks again. And I hope to see you soon.
[F9BRnpGt19U_SPEAKER_21]: Thank you.
[Michael Marks]: And we're back. I'm sitting here tonight with my good friend, Bill O'Keefe, a lifelong Method resident, Vice President of Corporate Securities at Bank of America, and just an all-around good guy. Bill, thanks for coming on the show. Thanks. Thanks for having me, Mark. Thanks. Appreciate it. Bill, you've been very active, involved. I know you're the president of Method Little League. And I was just wondering if you can provide us with any updates on Method Little League.
[Bill O'Keefe]: Sure, sure, sure. We have tryouts that are basically beginning next week. They start March 17th. We've partnered with Tufts University. So we'll have our minor league and major league divisions basically beginning their tryouts. We have plenty of volunteers that have showed up, parents that are local. We've communicated it out. We've had clinics at the high school in partnership with athletic director Bob Maloney. He's been kind enough to carve out some space for us in order for us to basically bring the kids up there, get them acclimated, seeing that there's snow on the ground. We don't have too much access to the fields because of that. So it's been working out pretty good in terms of getting the kids on Fridays and Sundays active and engaged in terms of sports and leisure.
[Michael Marks]: Recently, Bill, I'm sure you're aware that Method just created a new recreation department and they just recently hired a head of the recreation department. How is that department going to be instrumental in combining all the efforts of all the youth sports and what do you foresee that recreation department to be? like in the coming future?
[Bill O'Keefe]: I'm glad you asked that. It's actually Kevin Bill. He had the opportunity to meet with them a couple of weeks ago. He's real engaged and energetic. He's going to put some programs together. I think his biggest challenge is going to have that one touch to the community. I know he's in the process of developing a web page to make it easier and more accessible for the community. One of the big things that you're tasked with is similar to new residents moving into Medford is where do you go in order to access opportunities that are recreational. I think he's looking to mirror it after the Medford Family Network so there will be a one touch for all types of sports and activities whether it has to do with swimming, hiking, parks, any type of activities that have to do with sports related events but what it will also do is provide an opportunity to have one calendar so that everybody that's participating doesn't have to worry about choosing what sports or what events to go to because they'll be able to have something that'll show them the timelines and the events so that they can schedule, just like anything else, their busy lives accordingly with the day-to-day activities in Medford.
[Michael Marks]: That's long overdue and something needed in the community, somewhere that would act as a clearinghouse
[Bill O'Keefe]: uh... to all the youth sports and unite them so i'm glad to hear that uh... you're working on that and and moving the city forward on that yeah kevin's definitely engaged with it we had an opportunity to meet with him a lot of the volunteer non-profits uh... from all the different sports both boys and girls as you know it's all volunteers that basically you know what I mean, run these programs. And you realize all the money and opportunities that are available for these kids, it's just basically having people understand where to go to get that information. That's the hardest thing and with tryouts and timelines and stuff like that and just people's busy schedules. An event calendar I think would be ideal and definitely be a good trend for the future.
[Michael Marks]: That's great to hear. You know, I played in my day for the West Medford Little League. I was on Gaffey's and Kiwanis, and was it a household name? Right. Needless to say, but I had a lot of fun playing Little League in the city. And did you have any time playing?
[Bill O'Keefe]: Yes, yes. No, I played the same thing. I did the West Medford Little League. I was with Montanetti's in the plastic industries. Yeah, and back in the day, there was West Medford, North Medford, South Medford, and Wellington Glenwood. And there was multiple, multiple teams. Just through the consolidation of sports and just families not having multiple, multiple kids. There's been a little bit of a reduction in terms of the program, but there's still a program. We're now one program citywide. We've consolidated and merged over the years with Williamsport, which is the charter out of Pennsylvania. So right now there's six major league teams, there's six AAA teams, there's six minor league teams. There's 10 farm teams, and then we have eight t-ball teams. So we have a little over 400 kids that participate. Our biggest thing is balancing with a lot of the people that are engaged in soccer. So we balance with soccer, trying not to conflict with their schedule, because their spring league is pretty much the biggest spring league for their season. They have spring and fall season, but the spring season is the biggest season. So we balance that as much as we can.
[Michael Marks]: There's a lot of moving parts when it comes to scheduling.
[Bill O'Keefe]: Yes, yes. I can tell you that.
[Michael Marks]: I know another thing you've been very involved in, Bill, is the American Legion, Post 45.
[Bill O'Keefe]: Yes. Any updates that you can give us? Yeah, we actually have an event. It's a Method Yellow Youth Sports Program at the Legion for St. Paddy's Day. It's a youth program where the kids are going to come up and they're going to play cornhole and a few other games just to basically have a night out. So the kids and the parents can enjoy our festive activities. I'm a Sal member, which is a son of American Legion. My father, who was a Medford High graduate, he graduated in 1947, actually played for the 47 championship team back in the day. They went down to to play in the Gator Ball. They played against Fort Lee. They're recognized in the Method Mustang Hall of Fame. So my father was a veteran in the Navy. And I've had the opportunity to go up there pretty much my whole life and support the different veterans that are past, present, and obviously future veterans. So it's a good opportunity that they network amongst themselves. more or less provide sponsorship opportunities and just great camaraderie in the community. One of the biggest things that I've always seen done was having them recognize all the veterans at Oak Grove Cemetery. John Granara and the Granara family, Paul Granara too as well, they've been very supportive of making sure that there's a flag on every grave at Oak Grove and they could tell a few stories with regards to some of the the legacy of Medford in terms of their commitment to our veterans and the organizations.
[Michael Marks]: Thanks, Bill. You know, we do have a lot of great organizations, in particular veterans organizations in this community, and I want to thank you for your commitment to the organizations and keeping this going forward. I appreciate your time tonight. It's been a pleasure seeing you, Bill. I'm sure we'll see you again. And I'd just like to thank you for tuning in to the very first show on Spotlight Method. I'd like to thank my two guests tonight. We had Fred Lasky, the executive director of the MWRA, who is a Method resident, and Bill O'Keefe, a lifelong Method resident, very active and involved in the community. I'd like to thank Community Access Channel 3, Public Access. Come on down to Access Channel. It's open to anyone that wants to come in. You have an open mic. You pay for it. Like I say, use the community access. I want to thank everyone for watching Spotlight on Method, and I'd like to give a special thanks to my producer, Chris Donovan, who has done yeoman's work in helping put this together. Again, we'll see you next time on Spotlight Method.
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