Mayoral Debate Oct 13 7pm NHS

This Just in from David Pakman and our friends at VFR and NCTV: Be There or Be Square!

The 2009 Northampton Mayoral Debate, hosted by Valley Free Radio and Northampton Community Television, will be held at the Northampton High School Auditorium on Tuesday, October 13, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:30. Candidates and a three-member panel will be moderated by the David Pakman, producer of the nationally-syndicated Midweek Politics.

Audience members will have the opportunity to pose questions to the candidates or submit them in advance to mayoraldebatequestions@valleyfreeradio.org.

The Debate is sponsored by the League of Women Voters and by Herrell's Ice Cream. Herrell's will be giving away free ice cream passes at the debate.

The event will be taped for later broadcast on NCTV, Valley Free Radio, and WHMP/WRSI The River. Live Twitter updates of the event will be provided by Jason Turcotte of Turcotte Data and Design at http://twitter.com/jasonturcotte

The winner of the November 3, 2009 election will sit at the helm of a city with an $87 million budget and a population of nearly 30,000.

To inquire about sponsorship or getting involved, please contact mayoraldebate@valleyfreeradio.org or visit www.valleyfreeradio.org/2009mayoraldebate.

US EPA Visits Russell Re Biomass Plant

The federal Environmental Protection Agency visited Russell on August 13 to hold a hearing on a draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System [NPDES] permit issued to Russell Biomass. The plant is seeking permission to discharge heated and contaminated effluent into the Westfield River. (The draft permit can be found here.)

Dozens of concerned citizens and environmental professionals spoke, most opposing the permit. The pair from the EPA, as the evening wore on, were clearly wilting.

David Bourbeau

Anja Waechter-Bourbeau, the late David Bourbeau, my aunt Helena, and David's wife Marie Waechter at Hanover, New Hampshire this spring. David Bourbeau, fine book artist and friend, will be sadly missed.

Bistro 186 Closes

We ran into Ed Vadas and Sue Burkhart on Friday night. For months, they have played a weekly gig--their act is called Ameri-MF-Cana--at the Bistro 186. Why were they busking out on the sidewalk, instead of setting up inside? "The owner always comes by early and lets us in," they explained. "He's twenty minutes late. That's not like him."

Turns out the Bistro is no more. Rumor on the street? Back rent owed. Too bad...the Bistro 186 was starting to develop as a great place to catch local musicians playing early evening gigs.

City Councilor Raymond LaBarge

Councilor Marianne Labarge called this morning with sad news: her friend and colleague Councilor Ray LaBarge passed away today before dawn. He will be missed.

Download Landfill Options Study Here

Not in the mood to spend a perfectly good hour trying to find public documents on the City of Northampton website?

Download the Solid Waste Alternatives Study Here.

P.S. The Northampton DPW has a new blog. Check it out! http://ntondpw.blogspot.com

landfill ballot deliberations

Here's the NCTV coverage of the city council's 07-09-09 discussion of the initiative(s) to place the question of the landfill expansion on the ballot. Two sections. Final vote--to send the issue to the ordinance committee, 7 in favor, 2 opposed--Bardsley and M. LaBarge.

Lots of brou-ha-ha about whether this is a citizens' initiative or a councilors' initiative and what that might mean from a legal perspective. Lots of discussion about the wording of the initiative.

According to Councilor Dostal, the BPW/Stantec "options study" is due out within the next week. This long-delayed study is supposed to look at what the city's options will be if the landfill is not expanded.

Special city council meeting, July 30, 7 p.m., on the issue.

Video courtesy of Northampton Community Television.

City Hall Secrets

The Gazette's Dan Crowley is off his leash, and has sunk his teeth into a great story. Turns out Northampton's city solicitor has instructed the clerk of the council to destroy public records--specifically, city council minutes taken during executive sessions.

Critics of Northampton Mayor Mary Clare Higgins have long charged---both anonymously, on the MassLive Northampton Forum, and openly, on the listserv maintained by the Paradise City Forum, that the mayor is in the habit of making decisions "behind closed doors."

The burden of proof in these allegations has, until now, lain with the accusers. It now, I believe, lies with the Mayor of Northampton. Why destroy public records? And what's with City Solicitor Janet Sheppard--who, or what. is she protecting?

Here's a snip from Crowley's most recent article on the records purge, which appeared on July 14: (subscription required at gazettenet)

NORTHAMPTON - Recent closed-session meeting notes taken by a clerk were destroyed and deleted from computer files before they reached the City Council in the form of minutes for approval, the Gazette has learned.

That action is an apparent violation of the state's Public Records Law, according to the office of the secretary of state. Mayor Clare Higgins says she may seek an opinion from the attorney general's office on how the city is handing its executive-session minutes.

At-large City Councilor Michael R. Bardsley said he learned of the destruction of the notes in a phone conversation with the council's executive secretary, Mary L. Midura, who told him she was instructed by City Attorney Janet M. Sheppard to shred and delete them, according to Bardsley's account of that conversation.

Here's a snip from an editorial that appeared in the Gazette on July 13:

"Among the most recent minutes released are those of a nearly hour-long closed-door session in which the council ultimately voted to borrow $1.2 million to buy properties around the regional dump off Glendale Road. The move was reportedly made to end costly litigation that was continuing to spiral upward, but there is no record in the minutes of the council's May 21 deliberations, nor any record of the information presented to city leaders by attorneys on hand. In our opinion, this is wrong because, apart from a mayoral press release after the Gazette broke a story on the issue, the public will never fully know what transpired before the council that night.

The lack of these details not only stifles the public's right to know, but it flies in the face of the state attorney general's Open Meeting Law guidelines."

Those are strong words from the Gazette, a newspaper that has traditionally been reluctant to criticize Northampton's 5-term mayor.

Of course, since this is an election year, the mayor's supporters are out trying to deflect attention from this embarrassing and possibly damning topic, and trying to make the mud stick her political opponent in the upcoming race, Councilor Michael Bardsley.

Here's a letter to the editor penned by Valle Dwight, a mayoral cheerleader of long standing:

"As a former reporter who has dealt extensively with towns that did not follow either the letter or the spirit of the open meeting law, I was pleased to see this story about minutes of executive sessions of city council meetings. Northampton needs to give its citizens insight into how decisions are made.

However, the quote from Michael Bardsley: "I was surprised that the minutes were so devoid of content." is disingenuous at best. The city council votes to approve all minutes, including executive session minutes. I assume that he reads the minutes before he votes to approve them, so I don't know how this could possibly come as a surprise to him.

If he is a big proponent of transparency, why has he never spoken out about this in 16 years on the council, or why did he approve the minutes? I also wonder why Bardsley was the only councilor quoted for the story, especially without mentioning that he is running for mayor."

Here's Councilor Michael Bardsley's response, widely circulated on the web:

"In the recent Weekend Gazette (July 11-12) there appeared a letter to the editor by Ms Valle Dwight questioning my surprise over recent Northampton City Council executive session minutes which contained little or no information about the matters discussed in those meetings. For whatever reason, Ms Dwight's criticism of my response omitted some significant facts.
When the minutes of the executive sessions were presented to the council for approval, I questioned Mayor Higgins as to why there was virtually no content to those minutes. My memory was that minutes of previous executive sessions were more informative than the ones we were being asked to approve. Higgins' response was that the minutes being presented to the council were consistent with how the city handles executive minutes. Rightly or wrongly, I accepted the Mayor's explanation as being accurate and voted to approve.
Next morning I found myself still curious about those sparse minutes. I contacted Assistant City Clerk Lyn Simmons, the previous clerk to the city council, and asked about the executive session minutes she had taken. She stated that her minutes did indeed contain more information than those that the council had approved the night before. Apparently the Mayor had been incorrect.
I then contacted the current clerk to the council, Executive Secretary Mary Midura, and asked her if the minutes she had submitted were indeed the same set of minutes which appeared before the council. She stated that they were not. She further explained that she had submitted minutes containing information comparable to previous executive session minutes but City Solicitor Janet Sheppard had expunged all the content. When I asked Ms Midura if she still had those draft minutes, she stated that the City Solicitor had not only confiscated her draft minutes but had also instructed her to shred all her notes of those executive sessions and to delete the draft copy of those minutes from her computer.
I then questioned why Ms. Midura would follow the directives of the City Solicitor when her direct supervisor was the City Council President, James Dostal. She explained that Mr. Dostal had instructed her to do whatever the City Solicitor wanted her to do.
When Dan Crowley contacted me about my questioning of the executive session minutes the evening before, I shared with him the information I had learned from Ms Simmons and Ms Midura. When he asked if I was surprised that the minutes were void of content, I thought my positive response was quite understated. I have not said any more publicly on this issue because I first wanted to speak directly with the City Solicitor, whose has been out of town on vacation. However, Ms Dwight's partially informative letter could not go without a response.
Ms Dwight, let me be clear. In my sixteen years as a member of the Northampton City Council nothing comparable to this has ever happened. That is the only reason why I have spoken out at this time.

However, the truth be known, I am not surprised; but I am shocked."

Public Comment, City Council, 070709

Here's public comment from Thursday night's city council meeting.
Big questions: Should the landfill expansion go to the voters? Should the city of Northampton impose a local option meals tax? This is more fun to watch than to read about, so here y'are. Have chopped it into 4 sections.

Many thanks to NCTV, who were happy to have me hang about the studio and extract web-quality video from their raw file this afternoon. The transcode took about two hours, which provided an opportunity to catch up w Al Williams, Bryn Francis, and their new access coordinator, Ben Brown, who seems, as we used to say up in Maine, wicked smaht.

In general, lots of unhappiness about the city council gag order (the city council has been told by the city solicitor not to speak with Northampton citizens about the landfill expansion), and a generally-expressed wish for transparency from city hall and the council. Watch Alex Ghiselin at the beginning of clip four; he makes an interesting proposal.

Lots of restaurant and hotel people--owners, managers, and workers--came to speak out against the local option meals tax. The best comment was made by the owner of Viva Fresh Pasta, who suggested instituting a therapy and lawyer tax if the city is going to tax restaurant meals. "We're all in the same service industry," she remarked. She noted that restaurant owners are under pressure to pay a living wage, and described the plight of a dishwasher slogging away till one o'clock in the morning, whom she would love to be able to pay more than eight dollars an hour.

Tax and fee advocate Pamela Schwartz, who's running for city council, spoke in favor of the proposal. "Northampton does not have a spending problem, it has a revenue problem," she opined. The city council apparently agreed, as it approved the meals tax proposal later in the evening.

There was a great music scene happening at Sam's on Thursday; several who left the meeting after public comment ventured across the street to buy a slice of pizza, hang around on the sidewalk, and listen to the local jazzers play. What a beautiful town.




above: suzanne beck, dan yacuzzo, mansour ghalibaf

Fryin' Fish

Am hard at work publicizing a blog designed to unite communities nationwide that are confronting the prospect of hosting large-scale wood-burning biomass plants. Am collaborating with some folks who are working in Washington to fix HR 2454, AKA the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill.

As you've probably heard, the CO2 emitted by biomass plants falls through a carbon-accounting loophole. This CO2 is not regulated by the RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative), is not regulated by the US EPA, not regulated by the MA DEP, and would not be regulated under the federal cap-and-trade system as proposed.

Kicker is, wood-burning biomass plants emit more CO2 per unit of energy produced than the worst coal plants. Don't believe it? Here's some documentation.

We're being told, by government officials and entrepreneurs, that wood-burning biomass plants are "carbon-neutral." This just isn't so. Read this article if you want a quick understanding of carbon accounting as it relates to forestry products. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),

“Biomass fuels are included in the national energy and CO2 emissions accounts for information only. Within the energy module biomass consumption is assumed to equal its regrowth. Any departures from this hypothesis are counted within the Land Use Change and Forestry module.”

This means that if carbon is not counted as an emission when trees are incinerated, it should at least be counted when the trees get cut down. In Massachusetts, this only happens when there is a wholesale change in land use--from forest to housing development, for instance. Heavy logging to produce biomass fuels flies under the radar of the carbon counters, as does incineration itself.

Just because the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has chosen not to count carbon emissions from wood biomass incinerators does not mean that they are "carbon-neutral."

But I digress.

I know there's a lot going on in Northampton. Will try to do my part.

But in the meantime, check out our little biomass communities blog project: we've already got readers from all over the country, and have developed an audience that includes national-level environmentalists and policy makers. It's kind of exciting.

Village Hill NPC; Percolate

Left: members of the Hospital Hill Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) deliberate.

In case you missed it the first time---here's a public document from the archives. Essential reading for anyone who is interested in the Hospital Hill story. In a nutshell: how is it that a lunatic asylum got taken over by a military contractor? Somebody with a more poetic writing style than mine might wish to take that one on. And perhaps the story needs to percolate: ten years from now, how will things be working on Hospital Hill?

May 2008 Notice of Project Change (pdf), submitted to the EOEA MEPA office by Hospital Hill Development LLC. Proponents successfully petitioned the state for an amendment of a standing master plan which directed the redevelopment of a former State Hospital in Northampton, Massachusetts. The original plan had called for moderately-scaled mixed-use development. Approved by MEPA officer Bill Gage. Document prepared by Maynard-based Epsilon Associates.

Here's the project description:

Modification of Memorial Campus Master Plan and sale of 11 acres to Kollmorgen Corporation for construction of an R&D/manufacturing facility and creation of new jobs. Change of Project Name.

Project Name: Village Hill, Northampton IEOEA #: 12629
Street: Route 66 (Chapel StreetlWest StreetIEarle Street)
Municipality: Northampton
Watershed: Connecticut River

Proponent: Hospital Hill Development LLC
MassDevelopment
160 Federal Street
Boston, MA 02 110

The Community Builders, Inc.
322 Main Street
Springfield, MA 01105-2408

Name of Contact Person From Whom Copies of this NPC May Be Obtained:
Corinne Snowdon
FirmIAgency: Epsilon Associates, Inc. I Street: 3 Clock Tower Place, Suite 250
Municipality: Maynard I State: MA I Zip Code: 01754
Phone: 978-897-7100 I Fax: 978-897-0099 I E-maiI:csnowdon@epsilonassociates.com

Regional Impact, Four Large Power Plants

Left: Developer Matt Wolfe, 34, principal of Cambridge-based Madera Energy, answering questions posed by the Greenfield, Massachusetts, Zoning Board of Appeals.

Two weeks ago, as a reporter for Northampton's Valley Advocate, I traveled to Western New England College in Springfield to cover a panel discussion on biomass plant development in Western Massachusetts. (Plants are planned for Springfield, Pittsfield, Russell, and Greenfield.)

There has been no state-level analysis to date of the combined impact of the four plants on our region-- yet state environmental chief Ian Bowles seems to be fast-tracking these projects through the permitting process.

Read my report here: http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=9967

Local journalism on the biomass issue: Monte Belmonte, WRSI radio host, has posted a terrific podcast interview with engineer Mark Beaubian, who, in high science geek style, takes issue with information presented by project developers. Here's another podcast interview w Beaubian, who blasts state and local government for fast-tracking biomass plants in Western Massachusetts.

Monte has also posted a podcast interview with Electrical worker Bob Wilson, who supports the plant.

Chris Collins Calls Out Gfld ZBA

WHMP News Director Chris Collins, in a podcast posted today, takes the Greenfield Zoning Board of Appeals to task for voting on Madera Energy's special permit application at 8 o'clock on a Monday morning.


"I don't care how anybody on the board feels personally about this issue...What I do care about is that they uphold the town zoning regulations and have some respect for the people whose interest they're appointed to protect."

hear it: http://podcast.whmp.com/whmp/1822839.mp3

Greenfield ZBA approves Biomass Burner

On Monday morning, at an 8 AM meeting, the Greenfield Zoning Board of Appeals granted Matt Wolfe of Madera Energy the special permit he's been seeking from the town to build a $2.5 million, 47- megawatt wood-burning biomass electrical plant on a property next to the town's industrial park. The board imposed a number of conditions upon the project.

Some charge that the meeting was not posted 48 hours in advance, and that a violation of state open meeting law occurred.

Wolfe will still need several state and federal permits. Read local reporting on the meeting here:

Anita Fritz in the Greenfield Recorder
Anita Fritz in the Daily Hampshire Gazette (longer story, subscription required)
David Vallette on MassLive
Nate Walsh for ABC40
WWLP clips on Greenfield biomass
Montaguema.net forum

Noho DPW Guys

Special message to the MassLive forum trollers who paint the Northampton DPW workers as a bunch of layabouts: Would you care to trade places with these guys? Summer Street, Northampton, June 2009.

The Climate Bill Hits Home

Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich issued a press release last week explaining why he voted against H.R. 2454, The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, referred to as the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill. One of Kucinich's reasons is relevant to Western Massachusetts, where four biomass-fueled, electricity-generating plants are proposed—in Russell, Greenfield, Springfield, and Pittsfield.

The developer of the Greenfield facility, Matt Wolfe, 34, does not deny that biomass plants emit more CO2 into the atmosphere, per unit of energy produced, than coal. Under the Waxman-Markey bill, however, biomass burners are not bound by greenhouse gas cap-and-trade conventions.

Kucinich, on his opposition to the bill:

"11. Dirty energy options qualify as “renewable”: The bill allows polluting industries to qualify as “renewable energy.” Trash incinerators not only emit greenhouse gases, but also emit highly toxic substances. These plants disproportionately expose communities of color and low-income to the toxics. Biomass burners that allow the use of trees as a fuel source are also defined as “renewable.” Under the bill, neither source of greenhouse gas emissions is counted as contributing to global warming."

Read the whole story as reported in the Cleveland Leader.

The HuffingtonPost has some good reporting on the vote in Congress.

Roy Cowdrey Calls the Cops

Don't miss a single episode! Greenfield ZBA, The Reality Show, in which the Board chair, Roy Cowdrey (middle), calls upon a couple of burly cops to escort a woman from the microphone at a public hearing.

The ZBA was conducting its final public hearing on a proposed 47-megawatt biomass plant planned for a site adjacent to the industrial park. 250 or so citizens were in attendance, many, clearly, of the monkey-wrench persuasion. The board will reconvene on Monday morning at 8 A.M. and will likely take their vote on the special permit app for the project at that time.

Greenfield: If you really want to prevent "out-of-town" reporters and bloggers from violating your borders, stop being so damned entertaining. Hear it:

Cops, Zoning Board, Heckling Crowd: Greenfield!

Northampton is so polite. Greenfield is wild. ZBA hearing on a controversial proposal, ZBA chair pulls rank on public comment, cops escort a woman from the mic, the crowd goes wild. More later.

Photos from Adams Kickoff

Jesse Adams Kicks Off Campaign

Jesse Adams' campaign kickoff speech, June 24, 2009, at the Northampton Country Club.

Adams is running for the at-large seat on the Northampton City Council currently held by councilor Michael Bardsley, who will abdicate the seat in his run for mayor. Born and raised in the Pioneer Valley, Adams completed a bachelor's degree in English at UMass Amherst and graduated from law school at Western New England College. Having passed the bar in 2007, Jesse Adams is a practicing member of the Northampton legal community. He currently serves on the Forbes Library Board of Trustees.

There are two at-large seats up for grabs this year, and three candidates: Adams, veteran councilor James Dostal, and Kathy Silva.

City Finance Chief Chris Pile in the News

The city of Northampton was apparently wise to minimize its investment in the Massachusetts state pension fund, the Pension Reserves Investment Trust, or PRIT, this past year, a fund which suffered a loss of 29.5% in 2008.

The State House News Service reported the following:

"The best-performing fund in 2008 was the $60 million Northampton Retirement Board fund, which covers the benefits of 683 active public employees and 338 retirees. Its 19.3 percent loss in 2008 was the smallest in the state.

“We’ve done consistently well and that’s without doing some of the more risky investment types,” said Christopher Pile, city finance director and chair of the board. “We didn’t get into hedge fund or any of that kind of stuff.”

Pile said the board has about $2 million invested with PRIT, but wants to remain independent from the state fund. “We don’t feel any pressure to put any more in there obviously since the state pension fund did far worse than we did,” he said. “I think we’ll just stick with what we’re doing.”

Investments in cash and bonds helped insulate Northampton from losses that other funds took in riskier categories, such as emerging markets and international equities, but the local fund is moving back towards stocks again. Pile credited the advice of the DeBurlo Group, a fund consultant that also advised Malden retirement officials."

Springfield's Spiraling Poverty

Two great essays appeared this week on the subject of Springfield, Massachusetts, and the descent of its inner neighborhoods into poverty.

Poor Springfield, written by the Springfield Intruder's Bill Dusty, cites compelling Brookings Institution statistics on the state of the city's South End, and reports on controversy surrounding a plan by WinnDevelopment to develop more low-income housing in a neighborhood that is already tanking fast. Dusty writes:

"In Springfield’s South End - a prime breeding ground for the kind of despair that grips much if the city - the neighborhood suffers under the burden of a 50% poverty rate. Things are about to get worse, too, as the former Longhill Gardens site will be bringing in over one hundred more low income families just up the road..."

Maureen Turner, in this week's Valley Advocate, reports on a new book entitled "Metal Fatigue: American Bosch and the Demise of Metalworking in the Connecticut River Valley" (Baywood Publishing, 2009) written by UMass-Lowell professor Robert Forrant.

Turner writes:

"Companies like Bosch played a crucial role in Springfield's development. For 150 years, Forrant writes, the city sat at the center of a prosperous manufacturing corridor that ran along the Connecticut River, stretching from Bridgeport up into Vermont. Springfield's good fortune began back in the late 18th century, when Congress selected it as the site for a federal armory; the armory, in turn, helped spur other manufacturing development in the city, with a particular focus on metalworking and machine parts. Springfield became known as an area for innovation—Forrant calls it the Silicon Valley of its day—where new techniques and technologies spread from plant to plant, and drew new businesses to the area."

Dusty, in his essay, makes the following observation:

"The two primary industries in the city today appear to be infrastructure improvements via state and federal aid and the construction of affordable housing. Few private businesses come here. And when large companies like Baystate Health or MassMutual do invest in the city, the skilled jobs they create are mostly taken up by people who reside elsewhere. Or by people who want to reside elsewhere. One would be hard-pressed, indeed, to find a family hoping to someday move into the city of Springfield. And that is a shame."

Poor Springfield, indeed.

Here's a link to the Boston Globe's review of Robert Forrant's "Metal Fatigue."

NPR on Noho/Regional Amtrak

Nancy Cohen of Hartford's WNPR reports that states are competing for the $8 billion in federal stimulus money that is designated for rail improvements--and that New England rail advocates are calling for multi-state collaboration instead. (Northeast environmental coverage is part of NPR's Local News Initiative.)

Here's a link to Cohen's writing and audio report, which references Northampton, Massachusetts. Will Amtrak service be restored to the Connecticut River Valley route? Here's WWLP Channel 22 News' coverage:


Local journalist Mark Roessler has followed the issue; here is a link to his Amtrak-related stories in the Valley Advocate.

Here's a compendium of MassLive's reporting on the Amtrak issue, and here's what the Daily Hampshire Gazette has had to say about the proposal to return passenger rail service to Northampton.

Food Inc. at the Amherst Cinema

New York Times print journalist and blogger Nicholas Kristof, in a recent column about our nation's food supply, commends a new documentary called Food, Inc.

Opening at the Amherst Cinema on June 26th, Robert Kenner's "Food Inc." features NYT writer Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilmena), Joel Salatin of the innovative Polyface Farm, and Gary Hirschberg, founder of Stonyfield Farm Yogurt.

The Valley Advocate's Mary Nelen writes eloquently on issues of local food and agriculture here in Western Massachusetts. Here is a link to her archived "Locavore" articles.

Find local farm products on the CISA website. CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture) is the organization that produces those happy yellow "Be a Local Hero" bumper stickers you see everywhere in the valley.

Bill Peters, who writes for the online Local Buzz, has published a series of articles on the politics of locavorism. Peters asks: Do Locavores Make Life More Difficult for Farmers and Schools?

Hilton Garden Inn gets Financing

From the Daily Hampshire Gazette:

NORTHAMPTON - After months of discussions with bankers from the United States and abroad, the development group planning to build a 101-room Hilton Garden Inn hotel downtown has secured financing right in its own backyard.

Shardool Parmar, the president of Pioneer Valley Hotel Group, said his company received a financial commitment letter this week from Berkshire Bank of Pittsfield.

Here are links to local reporting on the issue:

Chad Cain on Gazettenet

Fred Contrada on MassLive
update 6/22 from Contrada

For full video of Planning Director Wayne Feiden's presentation of the revised hotel scheme to the city council on June 18, visit Daryl LaFleur's Northampton Redoubt on the Valley Advocate website.

The hotel plans were the center of some serious controversy two summers ago,
when it was revealed that the the city had issued the hotel developer a special permit for the project before site plan review, a violation of the city's own rules.

Young@Heart@Manchester UK

Florence Waters, who blogs for the telegraph.co.uk, has posted an interview with Northampton, Massachusetts great-grandmother Pat Booth, who is traveling to Manchester, England, to perform with the Young@Heart Chorus. In the interview, Pat talks about singing the Buzzcocks song "What Do I Get" in her car on the way to rehearsal for their "End of the Road" tour.

Ms. Waters' Bio:

Florence Waters works for Telegraph.co.uk and studies cultural memory in her free time. Before she joined the Telegraph she was a journalist in Berlin for a newspaper about virtual worlds. Florence did her BA in history of art and photography at The Courtauld Institute in London.

Northampton, Massachusetts' Y@H perform at The Manchester International Festival, held from the 10th to the 18th of July.

Here are the Buzzcocks performing their famous tune:

King Street KFC/Taco Bell Honored

Northampton's Taco Bell/KFC on King Street has been awarded LEED Gold certification. Check out the story on Business Wire.

rare bird sighting

Here's the BF, in a rare moment, washing the dishes. Had to document this.

Biomass: Greenfield, Springfield, Pittsfield, and Russell

Four large-scale wood-burning biomass electrical plants are planned, by private developers, for the Western Massachusetts towns of Russell, Springfield, Pittsfield, and Greenfield. (A smaller plant is planned for the central Massachusetts town of Fitchburg.) The Russell, Greenfield, and Springfield plants are well along in the permitting process, having cleared a significant hurdle— MEPA (Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act) approval by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The Springfield plant is the only one of the four permitted to burn construction and demolition debris (C&D).

MEPA approval was not as onerous for these project developers as it could have been. Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles, for both the Greenfield and Springfield plants, has ruled that no Environmental Impact Report (EIR) need be filed. Bowles has chosen to examine each plant as a separate entity, ruling that the cumulative impact of the five plants on the region need not be considered in any individual MEPA review. "While MEPA requires that a proponent assess the cumulative and indirect impacts of a proposed project, there is a clear distinction between that obligation and a requirement that the review of a single project serve as the vehicle for long-range sustainability planning," Bowles wrote.

On June 16, the Springfield Area Sustainable Energy Association (SASEA) sponsored a panel discussion at Western New England College on "The Dangers of Wood-Burning Electrical Plants (Biomass Incinerators) in Greater Springfield and Western Massachusetts." Speakers included Dr. Ellen Moyer, Ph.D, P.E., principal of Greenvironment LLC; Chris Matera, P.E., founder of Massachusetts Forest Watch; Jana Chicoine, spokesperson for Concerned Citizens of Russell, and Margaret E. Sheehan, an environmental lawyer from Williamstown.

Biomass incineration, attorney Sheehan told the audience, while banned in New Hampshire and Connecticut, is encouraged in Massachusetts through provisions of the Green Communities Act and Global Warming Solutions Act. Federal and state funding, she continued, is available for the construction and operation of biomass plants, and ratepayer subsidies for "green energy" further sweeten the deal.

"The four western Mass plants...have collectively been granted one million dollars from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to develop their plans and permits...The plant in Greenfield will be eligible to collect 60 million dollars in federal stimulus money from within three weeks of coming on line. It will receive production tax credits and investment tax credits, and (on the state level) will generate RECs, or renewable energy credits, that coal-burning utilities must buy.

"The typical wood-burning plant emits more greenhouse gases, such as CO2 (carbon dioxide), than the worst coal-burning plant...Biomass, unlike coal, does not have to comply with any cap-and-trade program, because the state has decided that these plants are carbon-neutral...

"But the USA EPA in April issued an endangerment finding, saying that CO2 emitted today will not be absorbed for hundreds to thousands of years...yet the DEP, in issuing its air permits for these plants, does not consider greenhouse gases in its determination."

Chris Matera focused his presentation on forestry impacts."190 megawatts of electricity will require 2.5 million tons of wood per year...a tripling of current logging practices in the state will be required...generating 600 logging truck trips per day...They can't be fed on waste wood alone; there is nowhere near an adequate supply."

Matera argues that a state Department of Energy Resources report showing that the forest can be sustainably harvested to feed five plants is in error. "The numbers just don't add up. You can be assured, clear-cutting and heavy logging methods will occur." According to Matera, the report targets state forests to provide 532,000 green tons of wood annually to the biomass industry, a tenfold increase over historic state forest logging levels.

Dr. Moyers, an environmental scientist, reported on a 2006 air quality study, often cited by industry proponents, that examined the burning of construction and demolition wood. "The Northeast States Coordinated Air Use Management Report, or NESCAUM study, relied upon very little data...the NESCAUM report is seriously flawed...This report should not be relied upon for any public policy regarding the burning of C and D wood. Much better science is needed."

Russell resident Jana Chicoine received a strong ovation. "Over the past four years, I have transformed from a housewife, who was just trying to mind her own business, to a community organizer and public speaker. My goal is to help every community that is faced with one of these proposals to develop the will and tools to politely say no...Ultimately, we must address what's driving all of this—the renewable energy subsidies, which are being taken away from technologies like wind and solar, and being given to biomass incinerators and other combustibles. Right now, 79 percent of the so-called clean energy in Massachusetts is coming from a smokestack....We're being told one thing, and being given something quite different."

Our Sister to the North

In the latest edition of the Valley Advocate, I offer a recap of the Greenfield mayoral election. Candidate Bill Martin, coming out of nowhere sixteen days before the primary, is the new mayor of Greenfield. Martin made his mark as the chair of the Greenfield Redevelopment Authority (GRA), the entity that is coordinating the revitalization of an area comprising Bank Row, the Garden Cinema, the old Toyota dealership, the Mix-n-Match building, and more.

But Biomass Won't Effect Northampton...

WNEC Biomass Conference Part 3

Mass Forest Watch founder Chris Matera (file photo). Below, an excerpt of his comments at the WNEC conference.

Biomass Conference at WNEC Part 2

Jana Chicoine, Community Organizer from Russell, Massachusetts

Biomass Conference at WNEC

Attorney Meg Sheehan

Four large-scale wood-burning biomass electrical plants are planned, by private developers, for the Western Massachusetts towns of Russell, Springfield, Pittsfield, and Greenfield. (A 15 Megawatt plant in Fitchburg is already in operation.) The Russell, Greenfield, and Springfield plants are well along in the permitting process, having cleared a significant hurdle— MEPA (Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act) approval by the state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

MEPA approval was not as onerous for these project developers as it could have been. Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles, in all three cases, ruled that no Environmental Impact Report (EIR) need be filed. Bowles has also chosen to examine each plant as a separate entity, instead of looking at the combined environmental impact of the five plants. "The cumulative demands for clean wood for various projects, and whether they exceed the forest supply without violating state forest cutting regulations, wetlands protection requirements and other environmental laws are beyond the scope of this project's review," Bowles wrote in this decision.

On June 16, the Springfield Area Sustainable Energy Association (SASEA) sponsored a panel discussion at Western New England College on "The Dangers of Wood-Burning Electrical Plants (Biomass Incinerators) in Greater Springfield and Western Massachusetts." Speakers included Dr. Ellen Moyer, Ph.D, P.E., principal of Greenvironment LLC; Chris Matera, P.E., founder of Massachusetts Forest Watch; Jana Chicoine, spokesperson for Concerned Citizens of Russell, and Margaret E. Sheehan, an environmental lawyer from Williamstown.

Biomass incineration, explained Sheehan, while banned in New Hampshire and Connecticut, is encouraged in Massachusetts through provisions of the Green Communities Act and Global Warming Solutions Act. Federal and state funding is available for the contruction and operation of biomass plants, she said. "The plant in Greenfield will be eligible to collect 60 million dollars in stimulus money from within three weeks of coming on line. The plant will receive production tax credits and investment tax credits, and will generate RECs, or renewable energy credits, that fossil-fuel burning plants must buy in order to be in compliance with state law... These facilities are not financially viable without subsidies from taxpayers and ratepayers. All of us are paying for these plants to be built."

Kollmorgen and the Bike Path

The Northampton Planning Board granted approval to Kollmorgen Electro-Optical on Thursday, June 11, for its plan to construct a 140,000 square foot building, complete with fencing and post-911 security, on top of Northampton's Hospital Hill. The Kollmorgen project required a radical amendment of the original master plan for the former Northampton State Hospital grounds—a plan which had called for a mixed-use village of housing, shops, and craft-scale industry.

About 20 citizens came to try to persuade the Planning Board to reconsider its vote to make a significant change to the design of a bike path so as to accommodate Kollmorgen's "security" concerns. Even though Planning Board chair Stephen Gilson (pictured above) told the crowd that the bike path realignment had already been approved and could not be discussed, citizens, when they stepped to the microphone, gave city officials an earful on the subject anyway.

The approval of the Kollmorgen development was covered by many competent journalists, and I provide links at the bottom of this post.

Below, find audio of citizen Ben Spencer addressing the 5/11 joint meeting of the Planning Board and the Ordinance Committee of the City Council. He speaks about more than just the bike path: give a listen; he is an engaging speaker.



Above, Francesca Maltese, representing O'Connell Development Group for Kollmorgen.

Below, links to journalism on the topic of the Kollmorgen development, its 5/11 approval by the planning board, and the bike path controversy:

Daily Hampshire Gazette:
http://www.gazettenet.com/story/236270

MassLive:
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/05/northampton_board_oks_kollmorg.html?category=Business

Northampton Redoubt:
http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article_print.cfm?aid=9851

On the MassDevelopment Website (a cut-and-paste of the Gazette article)
http://www.massdevelopment.com/press/05302009-01.aspx

From a local blogger:
http://hotlcommunique.blogspot.com/2008/06/gateway-to-village-hill-kollmorgen.html

Video of the entire meeting, posted on bliptv. Jesus Leyva was in attendance running Adam Cohen's flip cameras. Thank you, citizen journalists all.
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/northampton-ma-planning-board-approves-kollmorgen-for-hospital-hill-6-11-09/19539737/

Backstory on the politics of Hospital Hill development from Mark Roessler at the Advocate:
http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=8773