Week in Review: Hornets in State Finals, Noisy Neighbors, a New Police Chief, and More

Mansfield Town Manager Selects New Chief of Police 

After an extensive qualification and testing process, a new Chief of Police has been selected for the Town of Mansfield.

Sergeant Ronald Sellon, who is currently in charge of the detective division of hte Town of Mansfield's Police Department will replace Chief Arthur O’Neill, who will be retiring effective March 31, 2013 while Sellon will take over the position April 1.

William Ross, Town Manager of the Town of Mansfield was the Appointing Authority for the position. The process of hiring the new chief included a full day of assessment center activities that were undertaken by Mark Morse and Associates, under contract with the Town of Mansfield, and through the auspices of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Human Resources Division.

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Mansfield Residents Among the Area's and Nation’s Most Well-Educated

Mansfield residents are among the most well-educated in the nation, according to real estate data compiled by NeighborhoodScout.com.

According to the report, 47.71 percent of adults in Mansfield have a bachelor’s degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average U.S. city has 21.84 percent holding at least a bachelor's degree.

Furthermore, 94.61 percent of Mansfield adults are high school graduates.

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Art and Soul Tattoo Offers a History in Ink

Anna Michener started the Art and Soul Tattoo shop three years ago, but she said her love of art has gone on a lot longer than that.

“I’ve always drawn my whole life,” she said. “There are a lot of artists in the family, so I was always encouraged.”

She said she started her tattoo career at the Altered Images shop in Cumberland, Rhode Island, but she said the work was less than creative.

“I apprenticed at the bottom,” she said. “You clean toilets, go on coffee runs and do all the things that aren’t the glamorous parts of the job you don’t see on TV.”

She said she practiced all the time on whatever she could find, which was usually an orange or a grapefruit.

“Every apprenticeship is different,” she said. “It depends on the person, basically however much you impress your teacher will help get you get to the next phase.”

She said she also sometimes did her early work on some extremely good friends.

“They’re still good friends, so that’s a good sign,” she said.

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Selectmen Discuss Solutions for Noisy Neighbors on Eddy St.

The Mansfield Board of Selectmen discussed their options as an Eddy St. resident asked for help concerning some noisy neighbors.

It’s one of the last thing that anyone trying to go to sleep wants to hear and for resident Kevin Caldwell, the late night noise has gone on for too long. Talking to the selectmen to follow up on a letter sent to the board recently, Caldwell asked for assistance with some noisy neighbors he claims has plagued Eddy St. on the weekends since he moved to the street in 2008.

According to Caldwell, a nearby neighbor’s son and his friends have consistently caused a disturbance on Friday and Saturday nights and on some weekdays during the summer. Allegedly, the group arrives at the neighbor's house a little after 1 a.m. in the morning, making enough noise to disturb Caldwell and other residents on the street as they enter the house. Caldwell said he has tried to talk to the owners of the house about the issue but has found little success in his efforts.

“We’ve asked these people about it and basically they tell you something that I’m not going to say in public,” Caldwell told the board. “It makes you pretty angry when two, three, four nights a week during the good weather that you have to put up with it.”

As a solution, Caldwell asked the board to ban overnight parking on Eddy St. starting at 11 p.m. to attempt to put an and to the caravan of seven or eight cars that are regular visitors in the early hours.

According to Caldwell, his neighbors on the street support the ban and but have not spoken up out of fear of retaliation from the group.

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Mansfield Commuter Rail Lot Owners Argue for Lower Fees

Talking to the Mansfield Board of Selectmen Wednesday night, local property owners Karl and Bill Clemmey asked the board to look into lowering the fees paid to the town to operate a private lot as both men feel the current fees are too high and arguably, unreasonable.

Currently, private lot owners are charged a recurring $50 licensing fee, $6 for every spot in the lot, and must help pay for police details if needed. In the case of the Clemmeys, they are also charged for the police details on Route 106 near their lot for the commuter rail station.

According to Bill Clemmey, the town receives $7,000 from the lot to help cover the costs of police details in addition to $1,100 in fees. The number doesn't including the fees for other lots owned by the Clemmeys such at the parking lot near the Comcast Center on Route 140.

“Right now, we’re paying $4,000 a year in fees so we’re asking what the purpose of the $6 is. A recurring fee doesn't make sense if you can’t justify it in recurring costs,” Bill Clemmey said.

In the original agreement made between the lot and the town 10 years ago, there were two police details to help control traffic on Friday nights. Now, there are details five nights a week for four hours to help with the evening commute.

Bill Clemmey argued the details were unnecessary, and added he could not find another stop that had a similar situation as Mansfield.

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Mansfield High Boys' Basketball Team Earns State Championship Berth With Tuesday's Win

After months of practice and training, the season is now down to one final game for the Mansfield Hornets boys' basketball team. For the first time, the Hornets will play in the MIAA Division 1 State championship after beating the Central Catholic Raiders, 55-50, in the D1 State semifinal at the TD Garden in Boston Tuesday.

With tough defense and holding the Raiders to only 17-first half points, the Hornets earned the win with balanced shooting and taking a risk with the percentages towards the end of the game. 

The Hornets will face Springfield Putnam for the MIAA Division 1 State championship on March 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the DCU Center in Worcester. The Beavers ruined Hockomock League fans’ dreams of an all-Hock final, beating Milford in the state semifinals with a 52-39 win.

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