Above: Southborough’s new Tower 21 waits at a plant in Nebraska (photo courtesy of the Southborough Fire Department)

Many of you have asked about the status of the town’s new aerial ladder truck — a purchase approved by voters at a special town meeting last September.

The truck is being constructed according to the town’s specifications at a plant in Nebraska. Here’s the latest update from the Fire Department website:

The fire pump  has been installed on the chassis, as well as the compartmentalization, torque box and turntable base. Lt. Jim Peltier and Rich Peck traveled to Nebraska on July 5, 2010 to inspect the body prior to painting, which was expected to occur this week. Once the body is painted, assembly of the fire pump piping and panel will occur, along with wiring of emergency lighting, and installation and wiring of the aerial portion.

Fire Chief John Mauro Jr. said he expects the town will take possession of the finished truck sometime this fall.

At their meeting on Wednesday night, the Zoning Board of Appeals will try to sort out what businesses can legally operate on the Gulbankian Farms property at the corner of Mt. Vickery and Cordaville Roads.

Since 1965 the Gulbankian family has operated a garden center and florist shop on the site. They also run a machine shop that services antique cars. When the family sought to reestablish a school bus parking terminal on their property — a use for which they received a variance in 1983 — some neighbors complained. That prompted town Building Inspector Dave Gusmini to review how the land was being used.

According to town bylaw, a property cannot be used for multiple purposes without a special permit. The Gulbankians say they have the permits and that they have always operated legally, but Gusmini has reportedly issued fines against the family for zoning violations.

It’s up to the ZBA to figure out where to go from here. Carolyn Gulbankian said she hopes residents will show up at Wednesday’s meeting to support her family. The meeting starts at 7:00 pm at the Town House Hearing Room (second floor).

“(Gusmini) has officially put a cease and desist order on the flower shop and the machine shop,” Gulbankian said. “On Wednesday we are seeking a modification to the machine shop, and a special permit to operate our businesses here after being legal for 45 years.”

Update: After reading this post, Carolyn Gulbankian asked me to clarify that their machine shop rebuilds bus engines along with those for antique cars. She also told me the family fought the zoning violation fines in court and won.

(Full disclosure: Gulbankian Farms Garden Center and Florist is a My Southborough sponsor.)

Several of you emailed me about this story last week. An entrepreneur from Groton had hopes to open a “classy” strip club at the former Tin Alley Grill on Route 9 in Framingham just east of the Southborough border. Were the strip club to be approved, one reader said it would make “a decidedly unsavory entry to town.”

Since it was first floated, the proposal for the Tin Alley site has fallen through, but the entrepreneur said he has a Plan B — an as-of-yet undisclosed location within Framingham’s existing zoned adult entertainment district. That district runs along Route 9 east starting at the Southborough border.

I’ll keep you updated on the latest as it develops, but what do you think? Would a strip club near the Framingham-Southborough border have a significant impact on our town? Share your thoughts in the comments.

For those of you who haven’t see the headlines, here’s a recap of the news from the past two weeks while I’ve been away. All are from the Metrowest Daily News. Follow the links to read the full articles.

Contractor’s slip-up delays vote on Southborough primate center expansion
A contractor’s failure to submit a plan on handling stormwater is causing headaches for New England Primate Research Center representatives looking to break ground on three new buildings at the 130-acre facility. (more)

Southborough needs part-time planner to fill in
Planning Board members decided Monday night to solicit applications for a temporary, part-time town planner after a two-month search failed to yield the right candidate. (more)

Southborough officials release redacted meeting minutes
Selectmen last night offered the public little insight into what went on in the October closed-door session to discuss alleged remarks made about then-interim Police Chief Jane Moran. (more)

Southborough needs more money to paint water tanks
The 1930s-era water tower looming over the woods east of Oak Hill Road is slated for a new paint job, but Public Works Superintendent Karen Galligan said yesterday that the task is not as simple as it sounds. (more)

Neighbors still battling St. Mark’s in Southborough
St. Mark’s School is still getting heat from neighbors even though selectmen said charter buses and trucks can use School Street and Latisquama Road to reach the school’s delivery entrance, its lawyer says. (more)

Here are the committee and department meetings for the week. Be aware that changes to the meeting schedule are known to happen throughout the week. For the most up-to-date list of meetings, visit the town website.

Monday, July 26

• No meetings scheduled

Tuesday, July 27

• Assabet Valley Regional Vocational School Committee, 3:00 pm @ School Committee Conference Room, Assabet (agenda)

Wednesday, July 28

• PILOT Committee, 8:00 am @ First Floor Front Foyer, Town House (agenda)
• Zoning Board of Appeals, 7:00 pm @ Hearing Room, Town House (agenda)

Thursday, July 29

• No meetings scheduled

Friday, July 30

• No meetings scheduled

Here are the committee and department meetings for the week. Be aware that changes to the meeting schedule are known to happen throughout the week. For the most up-to-date list of meetings, visit the town website.

Monday, July 12

• Planning Board, 7:00 pm @ Hearing Room, Town House (agenda)

Tuesday, July 13

• Board of Selectmen, 7:00 pm @ Hearing Room, Town House (agenda)

Wednesday, July 14

• No meetings scheduled

Thursday, July 15

• No meetings scheduled

Friday, July 16

• No meetings scheduled

Above: A water tank on Tara Road

If you don’t pay your water bill on time, it’s now going to cost you. Selectmen last week unanimously voted to approve an annual fee for overdue water bills.

It’s a move intended to encourage residents to pay their bills on time. As of last month 15% of all water accounts were past due Finance Director Brian Ballantine told selectmen. The past due balances amount to more than $88K.

A $20 demand payment is already applied to overdue real estate, personal property, and excise tax bills. The overdue payment for water bills will be 10% of the balance, which Ballantine estimates will bring in up to an additional $8K in revenue annually.

Selectman Bill Boland suggested that some accounts may be overdue not because residents can’t pay, but because they choose not to.

Apparently, if you don’t pay your water bill, it gets transferred to your property tax bill, and that means when you write off your property tax bill, you get to write off the water bill along with it.

“Do you think any of this is intentional,” Boland asked Ballantine about the overdue accounts.

“Absolutely,” Ballantine replied.

Selectman John Rooney suggested sending a letter to residents with overdue accounts to give them a chance to pay up before the fee is imposed.

For several months, Police Chief Jane Moran has lobbied to add a police lieutenant to the ranks of the Southborough Police Department. At a meeting last month selectmen gave their approval.

Moran said she will fill the position by promoting one of Southborough’s three sergeants. A patrolman will then be promoted to fill the vacated sergeant’s position. Moran told selectmen the promotions will mean about an extra $5K in salaries, which she said is already in her budget.

Moran said the department has been talking about creating a lieutenant position for about ten years now. “Upon taking on the chief position, it became clear right away that this is an appropriate step to take,” she said.

At a meeting back in the spring, Moran told selectmen a lieutenant would take on administrative, management, and personnel duties, as well as go out on patrol.

“I have some experience having grown up with a father who was a police chief,” Selectman John Rooney said. “I really believe there is necessity to have this position between the chief and the officers.”

At a meeting last week, selectmen approved the use of an assessment center to help evaluate candidates for the lieutenant position. The assessment center will cost $4800.

For the past several summers, Southborough has instituted a voluntary water ban during the summer months. Selectman last week voted to do the same this summer. The voluntary ban went into effect on June 30 and will run through September 22.

Under the ban, residents in odd-numbered houses are asked to water their lawns and gardens only on odd-numbered days, and those in even-numbered houses on even-numbered days.

The ban is an effort to conserve water. In a letter to selectmen, DPW Superintendent Karen Galligan said the town is trying to stay below the per capita usage of 65 gallons per day mandated by the Water Management Act. In 2009, Southborough residents used an average of 62 gallons of water per day, beating the state guidelines for the first time. (But before you start shooting off your garden hoses in celebration, remember last summer was one of the rainiest on record.)

Galligan told me last year, that in addition to conservation, the voluntary ban helps reduce stress on the town’s water system. “Instead of 3,000 homes using water outside from 5:00 to 7:00, only 1,500 are using outside water,” she said. “It should keep the pressure fluctuation during high demand times a little less drastic.”

With the heat of the past few days, area towns like Hopkinton have resorted to mandatory water bans, but Galligan says Southborough shouldn’t need to take that route.

“Currently we only will mandate conservation measures if the MWRA has a supply problem and implements a restriction on the town,” Galligan wrote in an email.

Galligan said the town is considering developing benchmarks for when mandatory water restrictions would be needed, but hasn’t yet taken that step. Any benchmarks would need to be approved by the selectmen.

(Photo posted to flickr by thrig)

There’s only one committee meeting scheduled for this week, and that’s the Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday.

Be aware that changes to the meeting schedule are known to happen throughout the week. For the most up-to-date list of meetings, visit the town website.

Update 07/07: The ZBA meeting has been moved to the Town House

Monday, July 5

• No meetings scheduled – Independence Day

Tuesday, July 6

• No meetings scheduled

Wednesday, July 7

• Zoning Board of Appeals, 7:00 pm @ Hearing Room, Town House

Thursday, July 8

• No meetings scheduled

Friday, July 9

• No meetings scheduled