Intern learns balance between theory, real world
By Catie Foertsch Community Reporter

Summer intern Richard Laughton studies subdivision plans in Westborough's Planning Board offices, as a prelude to field work. PHOTO/CATIE FOERTSCH

Westborough - Town resident Richard Laughton is currently studying environmental science at Endicott College in Beverly, and this summer he's stepping outside the classroom for a diff erent kind of learning.

At college he's studying water quality and healthy ecosystems, but as a Planning Board/Conservation Commission intern, he's learning that while environmental theory teaches what should be done for the environment, in the real world decisions are more complex.

"You have to balance the interests of everyone," he said. "You need to make the right decision environmentally but you need to understand how to make decisions and how to get things done."

Laughton is working with Assistant Town Planner/Assistant Conservation Agent Derek Saari, and Saari takes his responsibility to educate Laughton seriously. Rather than just having Laughton tag along while Saari does his job, Saari is using the Socratic method to make sure Laughton learns to think for himself.

"I don't give him answers," Saari said. "I ask questions, and if he gives the wrong answer, we work through it to the right answer."

Laughton started his internship sitting in the Planning Board office, studying plans for subdivisions to learn how to understand where storm drainage runs, where detention basins have been placed, and why. Then he and Saari went out into the field to examine and catalog the town's basins. Many are not on plans, and Saari and Laughton had to play detective to find them.

They are building a database of town-owned detention basins and are cataloging which are in good shape and which need work. Detention basins are man-made depressions that hold storm water runoff to prevent flooding and negative impacts to the surrounding ecosystem. They are important parts of the town's infrastructure because their failure can have severe impacts on natural habitat and on residential property. A case in point is the detention basin in the Warren Street area near Jack Straw Brook, which was filled with silt and contributed to the massive flooding that has plagued several residents in the past few years and disrupted the brook's ecosystem. After dredging the basin and completing other work in the brook, flooding has abated and fish have returned to the brook.

Many town-owned detention basins appear not to be functioning, and several parties will have to be involved in the decisions about what to do. Those parties include the Planning Board, the Conservation Commission, the Engineering Department and local residents.

An example of a problem basin is one near Garfield Drive. It appears to be "massively undersized," Saari said, and does not appear on

" any subdivision plan. When there's a heavy rain, storm water quickly fills the basin and then runs directly into Jack Straw Brook.

Career aspirations

Laughton's summer education is not limited to detention basins. He's also sitting in on Conservation Committee meetings and helping Saari with wetlands delineation and other related work. He's learning how public meetings work and how town governments function.

He's also learning that finding the balance between environmental science and the public interest is not easy.

"You have to talk to a lot of people before you make a decision," Saari said. "You need input from all interests before you can find the best solution for the town that's within the law."

And that's what Laughton said he'd like to do once he graduates from college - work in a surrounding town to continue the real-world work he's learning to do in Westborough this summer.