Jerry, Great call and an even better job. My family thanks you for all the unselfish work you have done for the community. The smile you have put on every small childs face should be returned with a thank you from our community. God Bless you for all that you have done.

Thank you, Jerry.

Jerry, You can only give so much of yourself. You are the only one that knows when it is time to hand it over to someone else. You and your committee have done a wonderful job this year, considering the economy. Thank you for all you have done during your public service to the town. Here is one family that truly appreciates all the work you have put into town events. Thank you, and God Bless.

Lets not forget his greatest folly under his leadership as board selectman the town sewrage which we are all forced to pay for wether on it or not.

Thanks for your time/efforts, Jerry!

jon ron
I really don't think this is the proper forum to discuss the sewer project. If you would like to discuss privately I may be able to fill you in on some things you may not be aware of. To everyone else thank you for your kind words and support.

978-500-1662

Please dont quit jerry

It takes a good man to step down with such grace as you have Jerry. Now go patch the hole in the wall. On a serious note your efforts have been appreciated and a blessing for every American that loves this country. The Vets are fortunate to have a person standing with them on the journey they have fought so hard to protect. Thinking people will miss you in the capacity you led others so well and with such distinction and dedication. Don't go too far the town will miss your patriotic leadership and ideas. The dividends for honest leadership are slow surfacing but read the hearts of the people that care and also participate because they know the path you created was not a straight line. JoAnn an I are proud to have a friend like you.

Jerry......Lets hear your excuse for the sewer fiasco on this forum .

I think Jerry has left the forum,I wonder why???

The so-called sewer fiasco you allude to was created well before Mr. Sellisen stepped up to the plate and created a plan to rectify the situation.
The fact that you can blame one man shows his integrity and willingness to lead.
BTW, the original federal grant back in the 80's was meant to sewer the Shawsheen River homes, but "leaders" of our community had the sewer diverted to their homes and neighborhoods in North and West Tewksbury. This was done with the knowledge and collusion of the Town Manager and Selectmen back in the 80's. Sewer rates were also held low and subsidized by taxpayer money from those without sewer.

Part 1
The Sewer “Fiasco” was caused by the same ills that currently curse not only the State but the Federal Government as well, voter apathy, nepotism and corporate greed. No different than the Wall Street crash but only on a smaller level. Although to this Town 150 Million certainly isn’t small.

The Sewer vote was passed by a very small percentage of the population. Those that passed on the opportunity have only themselves to blame. There was a large contingent of developers, tradesmen, lawyers and the like who pushed the sewer expansion.

The expansion opened up wet lands, opened up cluster zoning, opened up muli-family, opened up over 55 units. Instead of 1 house per 1 acre were have been forced to subsidize the business and profits of everyone involved with this sewer expansion.

Part 3
I’m sorry if it ruffles some feathers but you can’t escape it. The sewer “fiasco” has caused more harm than good.

And again, I’m sorry if some take it personal. However we rapidly coming to a breaking point in this Country where the Tax Eaters are wiping out the Taxpayers and it orders to stop it it’s going to take the Taxpayers anger, focused on the guilty, and to steal a line from Network scream “I’m mad as hell and I ain’t gonna take it no more”

Offending some will be the least of our worries. The Rodney King “why can’t we all get along” is how we got into this mess, not how we are going to get out of it.

Town sewage is a good thing that probably could not have been stopped. It would have been mandated in time. Septic systems are not a solution with crowed homes. I am glad I kissed mine good bye. Could we have done better? Yes. The implementation is the culprit not the sewer which is a plus. I am not qualified to comment beyond that except to say the roads were left a mess the sewer rates have sky rocketed. I think it's time to move on and learn to manage the managers. I still see a lot of apathy out there and a new High School that could have waited a couple of years in order to get our houses in order. The argument that we would have lost State money is a threat that has been used far too often.

Thank you very much, Jerry, and to all of the volunteers you have worked with, the sponsors, and everyone else involved, in trying to keep our patriotic spirit alive during our Memorial Day Events/Parade and the 4th of July celebrations. Your commitment to the PAC's goals is/was admirable and very much appreciated and never forgotten.

Sincerely,

Susan Duffy

Mr. Selissen had one vision to sewer the whole town as his legacey . The other four selectmen rubbered stamp his actions as the lead person on the project. What he should be blamed for is how he dudded the residents by uderstating the cost and overstating the revenues to get voters to approve it. So for the next 25 years residents will bear the cost of one man's aka Sewer man reign of a misguided project .

As far as the Patriotic Committee job well done.

having the sewer project go ahead as our income was falling due to the economic melt down was a very bad idea. as other comunities were cutting back, our town was spending huge sums of taxpayer money on this project.costs to install were not correct because work was not done to predict the amount of blasting required. blasting that damaged my property. the install of the sewer is also not proper where I live. they did not go deep enough because of the ledges and rock. then the improper paving of the roads throughout the town . with no road crown the streets flood , and in winter fill up with ice . this creates more accidents and town expenses to salt the roads. with one acre zoning we should not be forced to hook up to the sewer system. If we own a property that can have a septic system we should be able to repair or replace it .

we all failed to kill this project, by not going to the town meeting to vote against it.

blaming this on one man is not fair. many had there hands in this mess.sure he was one of them.

so now we property owners will pay higher taxes with over stated property values , as well as water rates . forced to install a well to have a property that will look good during the growing season so developers can make some money at our expense.

These personal attacks on one man are not fair. The article drifted off course. I understand the frustration, but we had agreed up front that if we installed a sewer system everyone that wanted it would be accepted. We then had a second meeting and agreed once more. Delays allowed the price to escalate beyond reason, however, we kept our word and that is more important than the money spent on uncontrollable price increases. The next time we should do our homework before the test not after the test. It became our problem not the problem of a few it is history and we should move on. We are lucky to have volunteers let's support them as long as they stick to their script.

Payback is a B,,,,,,h, Don

This article is about Jerry resigning. Yet it has turned into sewer bashing. I dont understand why someone from the Patch doesnt monitor the comments more closely and remove the ones that become insulting and off topic.

Using this forum and this article to complain about sewer is just low class. I don't know the man, but I thank him for his service on the Patriotic Activities Committee. If this is the reaction you get for volunteering your time to do this, why would anyone want to replace him? If you have a sewer complaint, take it to another forum. Not here.

I would agree that the conversation has gone way off topic here. This article was specifically in regard to Jerry Selissen's involvement with the FOTPAC. For that reason I'm taking the step of closing off comments to this story. The sewer discussion is legitimate but not for this article.