Those who attended the 4 May 2026 Sterling Annual Town meeting know that the Sterling D.P.W.’s ABSOLUTELY DISGRACEFUL Warrant Article 17, “OAK HILL CEMETERY RETAINING WALL DESIGN,” was rightly and quickly shot down in hot blue flames trailing from Sterling D.P.W. Director Ryan Mouradian’s incompetent ass. He wanted $100,000 to hire an engineering firm to design a REPLACEMENT retaining wall rather repair the existing historical stonework wall. To their credit the Finance Committee and Capital Budget Committee, displaying some common sense for a change, both voted unanimously NOT to support Article 17 BECAUSE THE TOTAL END COST FOR THAT PROPOSED SCAM WAS GOING TO BE $3.5 MILLION TO $5 MILLION, AN ABSOLUTELY ABSURD SUM ESPECIALLY SINCE THE EXISTING RETAINING WALL CAN BE RESTORED BY STONE MASONS, PROBABLY AT A COST LESS THAN $200,000.
DISCLOSURE: I’m just an amateur but I’ve done pretty damned good stone-and-mortar-chimney repairs, as a volunteer, on the 70-80 year old cabin chimneys located on the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Cold River Camp property in New Hampshire. And I’ll be back doing it this season. ANY DECENT STONE MASON COMPANY WITH A BACKHOE, BOBCAT, HAND TOOLS, AND A LOT OF ‘TYPE S’ MORTAR CAN REPAIR THE EXISTING OAK HILL CEMETERY STONE-AND-MORTAR RETAINING WALL.
On 6 May 2026 I traveled over to Oak Hill Cemetery with my 300 foot and 25 foot measuring tapes. I didn’t take notes. The retaining wall proper is 420 feet long. About 105 feet from its southwesterly end—the end closest to the Sterling Post Office—it reaches its maximum height of about 7 feet, 1 inch above the sidewalk. From that high point it tapers downward toward each end. The northeasterly end is about knee high and the southwesterly end is about thigh high.
EYEBALLING IT ALONG ITS ENTIRE LENGTH, FROM ITS BASE UPWARDS ABOUT 2/3 TO 5/6 OF THE WAY, THE WALL IS VERTICAL/PLUMB AND CAN EASILY BE RE-MORTARED. MECHANICAL AUGERS CAN BE USED CLEAN OUT SPACES FOR NEW PERFORATED PVC DRAINAGE PIPES TO REPLACE THE CLOGGED, OLD, FIRED-CLAY DRAINAGE PIPES.
It is reported that Oak Hill Cemetery was established in 1858. Assuming that its retaining wall was built about that time, it is approaching 170 years old. Over time water-laden (heavy) upper soil levels slowly slumped down the steep slope and pushed the heavy granodiorite (granite) capstone blocks (from the old Leavitt Quarry, South Monoosnoc Hill, Leominster) toward Clinton Road. They were mortared in so they, in turn, dragged stones beneath them toward Clinton Road. SO, REALLY, IT IS ONLY THE UPPER PORTIONS OF THAT RETAINING WALL THAT MUST BE RE-POSITIONED AND RE-ALIGNED.
PROPOSED REPLACEMENT OF THAT WALL IS UTTER UNNECESSARY BULLSHIT.
MEMO TO THE STERLING D.P.W. BOARD AND DIRECTOR:
Cut out the consulting engineering bullshit, contact these Central Massachusetts Stone Masons, get bids, then fix the friggin’ wall—
https://stonebmasonry.com/stone-walls/
https://centralmassmasonry.com/
MEMO TO STERLING VOTERS:
On 11 May 2026, between 12:00 Noon and 7 p.m., be sure to vote and vote ‘NO’ on Question 2, thereby driving a second stake through this canned bullshit.
Here is the Sample Ballot for reference:
https://www.sterling-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8311/STERLING-ATE-SAMPLE?bidId=
J.G.
STERLING, MASSACHUSETTS, OVERWATCH 