Question: I can't make it to the polls in Tewksbury to vote in the Special State Election. How do I obtain an absentee ballot? Answer: The following information was provided by Town Clerk Denise Graffeo: Tewksbury Town Clerk, Denise Graffeo, would like to notify voters that Absentee Ballots are now available at the Town Clerk’s Office for the June 25  Special State Election.  The Town Clerk’s Office is open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You may vote absentee if you are a registered voter and unable to vote at the polls because: You will be out of town during the hours the …

  Question: When is Rep. Miceli holding office hours in Wilmington? Answer: Representative James Miceli will be holding office hours for the Town of Tewksbury, Tuesday, May 14th from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Tewksbury Senior Citizen Center and also from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00pm at the Tewksbury Public Library.

  Question: What's going into the old El Pollo Loco location on Main Street? Answer:Last year, we asked to put on your planner and developer's hat and tell us what business you think should occupy the old  El Pollo Loco restaurant. Readers called for Kentuckey Fried Chicken, Panera, Chipotle, Qdoba, Starbucks, Red Robin and Five Guys.  It would appear Tewksbury reisdents finally have an answer, although it won't be an eatery occupying this cornerstone of Wamesit Place. The sign in the window of the indicates that a CareWell Urgent Care will be the newest tenant in Wamesit Place.  The …

Question: Do you happen to know what to do if you have too much trash to fit in your town-provided trash barrel, if you can take it somewhere or purchase extra bags? I've always wondered what to do if I can't get my lid to close all the way! Answer: Let's face it, some families are bigger than others and produce more trash than others. In other cases, you might have an excessive amount of trash because of a party, the holidays etc. So for an answer we reached out to the staff in the office of the Board of Selectmen and we were provided with the following answer. A family can rent an extra …

Question: There seems to be a lot of DPW activity going on down on River Road. any idea what's up? Answer: Indeed, we do. And what is "up" will be "up" for the next six weeks. The work is mark of a major reconstruction of River Road. This one has been in works for quite a while and should make that road considerably safer for cars and pedestrians. Here is the notifcation that went out to residents of River Road from Town Engineer Michelle Stein: The Department of Public Works has initiated preparations for the paving of River Road. The project may entail some of the following activities: …

Question: What happened with the Family Treasure Chest? I really liked that store and it looks like it closed down. What was the problem? Answer: Family Treasure Chest, owned by Tom and Lauren Siracusa, of Tewksbury, has not shut down but they have relocated. The store, which had been located at 1875 Main St., Tewksbury, moved in January to 362 Middlesex St., Wilmington. "It really was just a matter of rent," said Lauren Siracusa. "We got a really great deal and (the new address) is an excellent location." In addition to moving to a new location, Family Treasure Chest has also expanded its …

Question: Seems like we've had a lot of snowstorms this winter. How much has the town spent on snow and ice removal and salting and sanding? How bad will this impact the budget? Answer: This has, indeed, been a nasty winter and the bill is steep. According to Town Manager Richard Montuori, $241,000 was earmarked in the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget for snow and ice removal. Prior to Monday's storm, the town had spent $637,060 on snow and ice removal, creating a deficit of $399,110. According to Montuori, Monday's storm might add as much as $50,000 to that total. Under normal circumstances, this …

Question: What is being built off Route 38, next to Kyoto Steak House? Is it another condo project or another strip mall? Answer: In this case, the answer is none of the above. What is being constructed is actually a childcare/school facility. When completed, the building will be the latest Children of America facility. _According to its Website, Children of America _has more than 50 such facilities, all east of the Mississippi River. There are two others in Massachusetts -- Norwood and Holbrook. According to the Website, Children of America cares for and teaches children from 6 weeks old …

Question: When is the last day to register to vote in the Town Election? Answer: Occasionally, we get questions that are especially timely. As it happens, we just received the following information from Town Clerk Denise Graffeo relative to voter registration for both the Municipal Election on April 6 and the Annual Town Meeting, May 6 and 8: A voter registration session has been scheduled for Friday, March 15, 2013 from 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM at the Town Clerk’s Office, Town Hall, 1009 Main St. Denise Graffeo, Town Clerk, informs residents who have not registered to vote, this is the final day …

Question: Will our water and sewer rates increase next year? Answer: Last year, when Town Manager Richard Montuori announced water rates would not increase in Fiscal Year 2013, he warned residents not to expect a repeat in FY '14. So it came as no surprise when, at Tuesday's Board of Selectmen meeting, Montuori announced a six percent increase in water rates, along with an eight percent increase in sewer rates in the FY '14 Budget that takes effect July 1. The proposed new water rates look like this: Current Tier Current Rate 0-35,000 gallons $6.67 per 1,.000 gallons 35-70,000 gallons $9.44 …

Question: Another winter storm is expected to dump another foot of snow Sunday. If Tewksbury loses more days of school, when will the school year end? Answer: Interesting question. At the start of the school year, the last day of school was scheduled to be June 19. Having lost a day for snow and another day for an emergency, school is now scheduled to end on  ... June 19. According to Tewksbury School Department officials, five snow days are built into the schedule at the start of the school year. So, at this point, there could be three more snow days and school would end on June 19. However…

Question: As Tewksbury residents wake up this morning to find their homes and cars buried under roughly two feet of snow, there is really only two questions on everyone's mind -- when is it going to stop snowing and how much more will we get? Answer: According to the National Weather Service, the worst of the snow will end by around 3 p.m. today (Feb. 9). But by then, Tewksbury will have received an extra 4-8 inches of snow, which could push the total for the storm over 30 inches. The heavy winds are expected to continue for most of the day, as well. Winds will be steady at 22-26 MPH, with …

We received a couple of questions this week that called for immediate answers, so we decided to tackle both of them. Question: What's going on with that solar farm that was supposed to be built in Andover just over the Tewksbury line at the end of South Street? Answer: Great question. To be honest, we'd forgotten about that project, though I'm sure the residents of that neighborhood have not. To find an answer we went to a couple of sources including Community Development Director Steve Sadwick and Brendan Lewis, the editor of Andover Patch. The simple answer is, the project is a "go," …

Question: Does the town have any bylaws requiring private businesses to be handicapped accessible? This is a question that was prompted by an email from a reader who was concerned that a local doctor's office was not handicapped accessible. She said she had witnessed two elderly men having to carry an elderly woman in a wheelchair into the office on multiple occasions. Answer: For the answer to this question, we went to Steve Sadwick, Tewksbury's director of Community Development. According to Steve, private businesses fall under state guidelines when it comes to handicapped accessibility. "…

Question: A Tewksbury Patch reader has been wondering about the problem of dogs roaming free in his neighborhood. He wanted to know what the town bylaws said about nuisance dogs and the responsibilities of dog owners. Answer: The town bylaws address the issue in the following way: 6.04.110 Public NuisancesEvery owner or keeper of a dog shall exercise proper care and control of his/her dog so as to prevent said dogs from becoming a public nuisance. It shall be deemed a public nuisance if any dog should trespass upon private property and deposit feces thereon, unless immediately removed by the …

Question: When did Tewksbury voters adopt the excise tax on meals? I don't remember it. When did it go into effect and how much revenue has it brought in? Answer: The reader is talking about the .75 percent local excise tax on meals at local restaurants. The excise tax, which is on top of the state's 6.25 percent meals tax, amounts to about 15 cents on a $20 meal bill. For the answers to the reader's questions, we turned to Tewksbury Finance Director Karen Shree Kucala. According to Kucala, the town received three payments from the State Department of Revenue for the meals excise tax during …

Winter can be tough on the emotions. The cold weather can be difficult to deal with, snow can be a pain (though also fun) but what really seems to get people down is the short days. There is something about the sun going down before most people get out of work that is depressing. So when can we expect longer days? The days will begin to get longer after the Winter Solstice, which is the shortest day of the year.  According to timeanddate.com the December solstice occurs when the sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.5 degrees is normally on Dec. 21, but the actual shortest day can…

Question: A Tewksbury parent, who asked that her name not be used, wanted to know why Tewksbury Superintendent Dr. John O'Connor opted to cancel classes for the second day in a row, due to Hurricane Sandy, as opposed to going with a delayed opening as some communities did. Of particular concern to the parent was the fact that Tewksbury has now used two of its scheduled five "snow days" due to the hurricane. Answer: Despite sunny skies throughout much of Tuesday, Dr. O'Connor was very comfortable with his decision last night to cancel classes. "This shows that there is no science to making …

Question: Does the Town Clerk keep all the money on the sales of Dog, Fishing & Hunting Licenses or does the money go to the town? I had heard that the Town Clerk in Tewksbury keeps the proceeds on the licenses that I have stated above.  If she does, why doesn't the money go to the Town of Tewksbury which is in desperate need of money to cover our expenses.  Also, if she does, who voted on why that is happening? Answer: We went directly to Town Clerk Denise Graffeo to answer this question and she provided the following response: "100 percent of the funds collected for the sale of Dog Licenses…

Question: Does Tewksbury Patch plan to hold a debate in the state representative race between Jim Miceli and Doug Sears? These debates are a good way for people to learn about the candidates, their positions and their personalities outside of quotes and soundbites in the news. (Editor's note: Different versions of this same question came from three readers.) Answer: Wow, for the first time I don't have to ask anyone else for an answer to a "You Ask ... Patch Answers." I can just do it myself. The short answer is  -- hopefully. As our readers know, Tewksbury Patch views hosting debates as our …