State Outlines Changes for Great Brook Farm Ice Cream Stand
The shop has been closed for a week.
Update: According to CBS news, Great Brook Farm Ice Cream has been allowed to re-open.
Chelmsford and Carlisle residents have been without Great Brook Farm ice cream for about a week, and the state Department of Conservation and Recreation has now outlined changes the shop owners must make in order to reopn.
The state said earlier this week the shop was closed because construction had taken place inside a historic barn to expand the business. The barn dates back t0 1910, according to the state.
The state said the ice cream stand may be reopened after the following changes are made:
- walling-off the expansion area from the original ice cream shop
- replacing the grease traps and non-compliant plumbing
- installing smoke and fire alarms, exit signs and other requirements of the fire code.
"In keeping with DCR’s immediate goal of helping to safely re-open the ice cream stand as soon as possible, DCR is working with the operator, Mr. Duffy, to address the health and safety issues discovered during these inspections," according to a press release from the state on the matter. "The inspections were conducted by the Carlisle Fire Chief, the State Building Inspector's office, the State Plumbing Inspector's office, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Public Health and a consultant who conducted air testing."
The state is working with Mr. Duffy to reopen the original stand while the new portion of the stand is brought up to code, according to the press release.
Tim Miranda
9:08 pm on Friday, May 18, 2012
sounds pretty straightforward to me. Not the conspiracy-laden "gun toting government officials preventing innocent ice cream consumption for no good reason" angle that some people were expecting..
Tyler Jozefowicz
10:08 am on Saturday, May 19, 2012
Sounds straight forward to me too, inspite of the "nanny state " rhetoric.
Sean Riely
10:24 am on Saturday, May 19, 2012
Yes it seems pretty straight forward. And, as much as I think Mass is a "nanny state" and the issues to reopen the ice cream stand should be addressed. It still doesn't explain why the State had to get involved, these issues should have been handled on the town level. And, to have staties or the enviorment police patrol the ice cream stand, isn't that mmmmmmmmmmmmm, overkill? I mean don't these officers have more important things to do then to make sure ice cream isn't being sold.
Tony
11:17 am on Saturday, May 19, 2012
The State owns and maintains Great Brook State Park and is liable for any damages caused by improper construction, sewage treatment, etc. that could be caused by non-compliance to state/local health/safety/construction laws. Then again, there wouldn't be a Great Brook Farm if it wasn't for the state and Mark Duffy working together to make the farm productive as well as entertaining. This isn't about hassling a poor farmer. The State is an integral part of the operation and the DCR would be severely critized by the public if it ignored a situation and people were eventually hurt by it not to mention what it would cost to defend a lawsuit. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" even it means sacrificing a cone of ice cream until the problems are rectified.