[MassHistPres] S.2053 hearing

[Dennis De Witt]

This was just posted by the "South Coast news"

Dennis De Witt

FREETOWN — Secretary of State William Galvin had harsh words Friday for Meditech's founder and CEO Neil Pappalardo in the ongoing dispute over the site for a major expansion of the Westwood-based medical records company.

"Mr. Pappalardo wants the right to do whatever he wants and not be responsible for anything — including the rights to dispose of skeletal remains if they find them," Galvin said.

Meditech, meanwhile, has stopped dealing with Galvin's office after a November meeting and conference call that failed to please Pappalardo or make him trust Galvin, whom he has accused of misleading him. Pappalardo could not be reached Friday for comment.

Galvin told The Standard-Times he will appear at a public hearing Tuesday on legislation removing the site from the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Historical Commission, chaired by Galvin. The hearing, in Statehouse Room B-1 at 10 a.m., promises to be a clash between preservationists and backers of Meditech.

Sen. Michael Rodrigues, D-Westport, whose district includes the 133-acre Freetown parcel where Meditech wants to build, last year filed legislation preventing Mass. Historical from imposing requirements on developers of property that is not on the state or federal registers of historic places. That includes the Meditech site, although it is of historic value to Native Americans.

Rodrigues' bill would free Meditech of any restrictions or need to survey and excavate for historical objects or unmarked graves of Native Americans, and to build to employ 800 people. The bill would not, Rodrigues said, exempt Meditech from stopping for an inquiry whenever bones might be found.

To speed things up, Rodrigues later filed essentially the same legislation in the form of an outside section of the supplemental appropriations bill now making its way through the Legislature.

The Senate approved the outside section and if the House goes along, the legislation will hit Gov. Deval Patrick's desk without hearings or debate. The governor is expected to sign it.

Frustrated by the lack of progress settling a dispute that could cost hundreds of jobs, Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral, D-New Bedford, has co-sponsored the Rodrigues bill in the House.

There is such intense passion over the dispute that Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan and the Freetown Board of Selectmen have chartered buses for those interested in attending the hearing, especially supporters of Meditech. Fall River's bus will leave Government Center at 9 a.m.; Freetown's will leave Central Park in East Freetown at 8 a.m.

Meanwhile, the Assonet-based Green Futures, a 17-year-old environmental organization, sent out an alert to supporters about the possible success of this legislation. It read, in part, "Selfish, short-sighted outlook "» and overly optimistic, too!"

The bill would allow unscrupulous developers to have their way with any significant archaeological site not on the state register, the organization wrote.

Galvin made much the same point, saying historic sites that may not be on the register are still important cultural landmarks holding the real  possibility for helping with economic growth. He used New Bedford as an example.

Brona Simon, the state's chief archaeologist, sent an email to historic preservationists asking them to contact their representatives to stop the legislation.

"This amendment would exempt the Meditech parcel from MHC's review, including the MHC's responsibilities under the state unmarked burial law," she wrote. "The amendment would allow construction to proceed and destroy the Peace Haven 3 archaeological site without any archaeological mitigation.

"If any Native American burials are discovered during construction, they would not be protected," she wrote.

Kenneth Fiola, head of the Fall River Office of Economic Development, said Mass. Historical is using the vague wording of the law to overreach. The proposed law is empowered to impose restrictions only on property on the state or national historic registers, Fiola contends. Review of property not on the register is permissible, but the agency cannot impose conditions and restrictions, in his view. That would include Meditech. The legislation would make the intent of the law clear.

The atmosphere in this saga has been made worse by the initial reaction to Mass. Historical's requirements and the state's slow response in  answering its critics.

"A lot of this could have been prevented early on if Mass. Historical had gone public right away with what they wanted," said Everett Castro, community affairs director for Green Futures.

The uproar started when Meditech said the state was requiring it to excavate and sift through 21 acres to a depth of 2 feet, costing millions. That's a claim Galvin firmly denies.

Fiola said the misunderstanding came from wording that the testing would include the "project impact area" of 21 acres out of the 133 at the site.

Galvin contends there was no such requirement and that what the state is looking for is far less onerous: a half dozen acres over a period of a few weeks.

The last-ditch November meeting and conference call with the various parties reached a tentative compromise, but Meditech chose to ignore it — out of mistrust, according to Fiola.
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