Saturday, February 8, 2014

Templeton Developmental Center Concerns

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Templeton Developmental Center Concerns

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In a Gardner News article entitled “Healing Horses”, the article mentions the non-profit organization Forward Strides providing therapeutic horsemanship to people with physical and mental disabilities. This program looks like a win-win situation: the land is preserved for agricultural/recreational purposes while providing a beneficial experience for people with mental and physical disabilities.

On Friday, February 7th the following article appeared in the Gardner News:

Case involving Developmental Center death slows
Katie Landeck
News Staff Writer

GARDNER — The case against a Worcester man accused of shoving a Templeton Developmental Center resident against a boiler — resulting in the victim’s death — continues to stall in district court.


The Commonwealth is still waiting on the results of a Grand Jury indictment in the case against Anthony Remillard, 22.

Mr. Remillard has been held without bail since November when Gardner Judge Arthur F. Haley found him fit to stand trial.

Mr. Remillard allegedly shoved Dennis Perry, 64, of Athol against a boiler at the Valley Barn located at the center on Sept. 16, according to a state police detective’s report. Mr. Perry passed away Sept. 27 at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.

Witnesses to the attack said the assault on Mr. Perry, who was reportedly a long-time resident of the developmental center and described as mentally disabled, was unprovoked, according to the police report.

A warrant was issued Oct. 2 for Mr. Remillard’s arrest “due to the seriousness of the crimes and the victim’s death,” according to the detective’s report.

Mr. Remillard had been assigned to the developmental center after being arraigned in Superior Court in 2012 on charges of arson of a dwelling and breaking and entering in the daytime with the intent to commit a felony. At his arraignment in Worcester, attorneys recommended that Mr. Remillard undergo an evaluation at Bridgewater or Worcester state hospital, according to authorities. The recommendation was rejected and Mr. Remillard was instead allowed to enter a pretrial release commitment at the developmental center.

Mr. Remillard is due back in court on March 12.

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The land for the proposed Templeton Elementary (TESBC)school is across Rt 202 ; still part of the Templeton Developmental Center. The TESBC was informed that the first parcel of land – the triangle across from the Brow- was unsuitable due to the proximity to the remaining clients at TDC.  

On closer inspection, the people from ForwardStrides  may want to put some safeguards in place to protect their clients.

My opinions...supported by FACTS ! ! !

Julie Farrell


11 comments:

  1. It will be OK as they are building the new houses for the residents even closer to the Proposed new school location, Everyone knows that route 202 will stop these people cause they are not allowed to cross the road after the 1/4 mile walk thru the woods. Ruin prime wildlife habitat and build a school on a rock mountain. Ruin the watershed area, trash the vernal pools. Bus every kid to the edge of town and don't worry about cost of transportation or the dangers that are a short distance away. Not to mention problems getting water pressure up that hill and designing a leach field that will work on a site that has no drainage except for the swamps and streams the run into the Otter River/Trout Brook. Then we can teach the kids about conservation and farming. That is after we ruin the location and remove the major food source that feeds the Templeton State Forest. Makes me wonder about how educated the educators really are in this town.

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  2. Well said Jim, We got Screwed recieving that piece of land when so much more up there could have been negotiated. The reason that piece was given was they knew it would never be saleable to a buyer with common sense.

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  3. what happened to not believing everything in the snooze and then claiming it as "fact"... the paper has not reported accurately on the case.

    Jim - "those people" are people and have intellectual and physical disabilities, the new houses are not closer to the proposed school location. if you take ride through, you will see where the new homes are being built. just because someone has a disability does make them a danger. If someone in your family was born with a disability, would you be referring to them "as those people" and automatically say they are a danger?

    Forwardstrides is a great program and the program is designed specifically for people with disabilities, intellectually and physically. I think this is a great program to have in the town of templeton, horses are a great therapeutic program for people with disabilities. Not sure why everything that is good for town is almost always turned into something bad.

    if the town hadn't given the proposed Mall people a problem, then the water and sewer lines would've already been brought up 202 and the proposed new school could've hooked into it. If the Mall isn't happening, then take the darn sign down.

    as far as "saleable", I thought the department of agriculture wanted (and received) another piece of land from the town in exchange for that piece, so that tells me that there was no plan to sell that piece of land, the dept. of agriculture wanted to use it or lease it for agricultural purposes.

    yes as i'm sure you have figured out, I have a sensitive spot for people with disabilities and when people can't understand the disability, they automatically are afraid. I guess on a couple bright spots here, the individuals who live there were not referred to as "the boys".... they are grown men with disabilities and the facility was not referred to as "fernald", it is Templeton Developmental Center and has been for over 20 years!

    my opinions

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  4. First and foremost I am not against people with disabilities. And I do personally know that the horse riding program is a wonderful program. I also think that the developmental center is or has been a fantastic facility for people with developmental issues. I would like nothing more than having it expanded to provide more services for the people in this area. What I am against is building a school in a location that should never be used for a public building. I have put boots on the ground and have walked pretty much everywhere from Birch hill Dam to Narragansett high school. Up every hill and down into every swamp. I have observed the geology, the lay of the land, how the ecology works and how animals live and move thru the area. This area is vital for the feeding/habitat of numerous birds and mammals. The swamps located at the base of Crow hill along Route 2 provide wildlife habitat and filtering for the waters that ultimately reach the Connecticut river. Trading a few acres of field on a farm is not even close to getting back what we are taking from the wild. It makes the guy that owns the farm happy however, it will never replace what we are taking away.
    As far as history of the center. It was called the Walter E Fernald school and the residents were referred to as the boys. I can remember this as I have around here for quite a while. The center was founded as the Templeton Farm Colony in 1899 through the efforts of Walter E. Fernald. Later it was renamed for him. Things changed in our generation and we started to have a better sense of how to care for and help people with disabilities. I have been actively involved as a photographer and fund raiser for Williams Syndrome for over 6 years. I have also helped to pay for the care of a horse that served the disabled well until it died at the ripe old age of 20 years. We have raised over a million dollars and have met the most wonderful people. I attended the last conference in Boston and had a blast at the events. So I do work with and support people with disabilities and developmental problems. I can only hope that you do as much J, I am sure that you also care and give of yourself to make someone's life better. And J take a ride up to the center, look to your right after the Waite house. That is where the new residential buildings are being built. It is closer.

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    1. I applaud your work and efforts with the disabled. I agree with the habitat concerns and comments, I never said I agreed with the location of the proposed elementary school, but to say that it is not an ideal location because of the close proximity of the TDC individuals is what concerns me. it is not an ideal location ONLY because of the habitat concerns you noted. I too, have been a life long resident of Templeton and am well aware of the history of TDC, I know where the new homes are being built and also where the individuals currently live, i'm not good with measurements, but I would safely say that the new homes are only about 200 feet from where they currently live. The waite lodge home you refer to is also a residential home, so the new homes are right next door, so to say that the new homes are closer to the proposed school site, in my opinion is not true. and just for argument sake, if the issue is not the proximity to the proposed school and the individuals who reside at TDC, then why is it a concern with the location of the new homes. sorry, I just don't understand why the new homes being built is a concern, the concern for the location of the proposed elementary school, should only be because of the disruption of the habitat.

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    2. I think Jim is right about the location for this new school being in a sensitive location. In the seventies, Lilly Varnish was stopped from letting spills in their building and outside at the tank farm, run into the small swampy section just below the parking area. At that time, a hydrologist came to town with the EPA out of Boston. I know this because I called them. This woman was looking at maps of the area, and when she saw where the town had placed our land fill, she was very upset. The town had plenty of places to put a new school when they started looking because at that time none of the new developments were built yet. The Elementary School Building Committee wasted a lot of money and time by having Carl Webber look for large plots of land. Sue Byrnes said he came into the Assessors Office looking for lots of 10 acres or more than they really needed. So in the process they could have found a smaller piece of land, the school would have been built by now. The worse part of the story is that the EBC spent 200,000. for nothing, because that is what we got for our money. Bev.

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    3. I agree Bev, the location may not be ideal but only because of the habitat, not because it is located close to TDC, that's where I disagree.

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  5. J Not everyone there is getting help for developmental issues. There are people housed there that are can I say a concern to the general public. They duped the court system and took a life sentence at the center rather than one in a correctional facility. These individuals need to be monitored very closely. They do not reside in the Waite center. I do not know for sure if or how many are housed there presently. I do know that they were very aware of and took pride in fooling the system. The guys at the Waite center were very colorful individuals. I talked to them and saw them on outings with their family's. Recently they were renovating Waite, so I am not sure of the buildings current status. These are not the residents that present any concern. We do have to worry about most of the facility however, I submit that there is a small percentage that we should monitor a little closer as certain situations may not be as they appear to be.

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    1. J.. In the last few years, any of the clients that could be in a more unstructured setting were placed in group homes in the area towns. From what I have gathered, some of the people left behind need a round the clock monitoring.for the reasons Jim speaks about. I believe the discussion started about the planned school. I truly believe this is a long shot at best. Ms. Miller is going around to the different groups in town to plead her case. Sorry but it sounds like a snow job the highway won't need to plow. Whatever the case may be, it will all come out in the wash. Bev.

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  6. Down hear on the lower forty we remember someone once suggested moving the highway department down to the honey farm and using the highway site for an elementary school. Keeping the schools close would seem easier on the parents and all the things like water and sewer are close by. Maybe even some of the kids could walk to school this way.

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    1. Sounds like a better location than route 202. I like your reasoning.

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