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Landfill
Council to BPW: “terminate” action on landfill expansion and make closure plan
by Mary Serreze | Mar 5, 2010 7:57 am | Comments (1)
Landfill foes prevailed last night in their bid to amend one key word in an order, introduced by Councilors Narkewicz and Schwartz, that addresses the topic of Northampton’s waste management future. The resolution, as passed on first reading, now calls for the Board of Public Works to “terminate” rather than “suspend” landfill expansion activity in order to engage in a public planning process about Northampton’s waste future.
Continue reading ‘Council to BPW: “terminate” action on landfill expansion and make closure plan’ »
BPW Votes to Hold Off on Landfill Expansion Application
by Mary Serreze | Jan 27, 2010 9:18 pm | Comments (0)
On Wednesday night after a turbulent public comment session, the Board of Public Works voted to hold off on issuing a special permit application for the expansion of the city’s regional landfill on Glendale Road.
Continue reading ‘BPW Votes to Hold Off on Landfill Expansion Application’ »
Historic Votes Expected at BPW Meeting Tonight
by Mary Serreze | Jan 27, 2010 11:18 am | Comments (0)
The Northampton Board of Public Works (BPW), in anticipation of a big crowd, will hold its biweekly meeting tonight at the JFK Middle School cafeteria at 5:30 p.m.
Two discussions and possible motions are on tonight’s agenda—one having to do with a major expansion of the city’s regional landfill on Glendale Road, and the other with the fate of the historic Upper Roberts Meadow Reservoir and Chesterfield Road Dam.
Continue reading ‘Historic Votes Expected at BPW Meeting Tonight’ »
BPW Poised to Vote on Landfill Expansion
by Mary Serreze | Jan 13, 2010 8:51 am | Comments (1)
On Wednesday, January 27, according to Mimi Odgers, spokesperson for the local environmental group known as Water Not Waste, the Board of Public Works (BPW) is likely to take “an historic vote” on whether to advance a special permit to the City Council for a 30-acre, 20-year expansion of the city’s regional landfill on Glendale Road.
Odgers single-handedly tripped up the BPW’s attempt to vote on the permit application at its January 6 meeting, when she pointed out to the body that no mention of the vote was contained on the BPW’s agenda.
Continue reading ‘BPW Poised to Vote on Landfill Expansion’ »
Creative Problem-Solving as 2009 Rolls to a Close
by Mary Serreze | Dec 23, 2009 2:39 pm | Comments (0)
As 2009 rolls to a close, the city of Northampton is once again mired in controversy. Virtuous locavores and sports-minded soccer parents are battling over the best use of the 47-acre former Bean Farm property in Florence, which, by the way, the city doesn’t even own. Organic agriculture of playing fields? Dueling petitions are circulating, and harsh words have been exchanged.
Continue reading ‘Creative Problem-Solving as 2009 Rolls to a Close’ »
BPW Takes Emergency Measures to Retire Landfill Debt
by Mary Serreze | Dec 6, 2009 12:40 pm | Comments (0)
Solid Waste Enterprise Fund: $1.2 Million Gap from Northampton Media on Vimeo.
(hour-long video, give it time to buffer. Clipped from video shot by Mimi Odgers for the North Street Neighborhood Association.)Bag fees will double for Northampton residents who use the transfer station, a cell phone tower lease will be sold for a lump sum, and the city will be asked to take a 50% reduction in its host community fee under a plan approved on December 2 by the Board of Public Works (BPW). The Board, at its next meeting, will also discuss the option of reducing the volume discount that it offers large commercial haulers at the municipal landfill on Glendale Road.
Continue reading ‘BPW Takes Emergency Measures to Retire Landfill Debt’ »
BPW Wants Numbers on Landfill Closure Plan
by Mary Serreze | Nov 29, 2009 8:42 pm | Comments (2)
The Board of Public Works, after a discussion of landfill-related topics at its November 18 meeting, asked DPW chief Ned Huntley to provide information on the ability of the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund to meet all of its outstanding obligations by the time the landfill closes in 2011.
Continue reading ‘BPW Wants Numbers on Landfill Closure Plan’ »
BPW Approves More $$ For Legal Battle with Ameresco
by Mary Serreze | Nov 28, 2009 11:16 am | Comments (0)
What’s up with the legal battle surrounding the Ameresco gas-to-energy plant at the landfill? In this seven-minute video, the Board of Public Works reluctantly agrees to devote more money to the DPW’s bid to collect $150,000 from Ameresco, which it says it is owed in the form of “milestone payments.”
(Video shot by Mimi Odgers. Entire BPW meeting can be viewed at the blip.tv station maintained by the North Street Neighborhood Association.)
Continue reading ‘BPW Approves More $$ For Legal Battle with Ameresco’ »
City Offered Half a Million for Landill Cell Phone Tower Lease
by Mary Serreze | Nov 8, 2009 10:02 am | Comments (1)
American Towers has offered the City of Northampton $509,000 to purchase a perpetual (lifetime) lease for its cell phone tower installation located at the municipal landfill. If the City stays with the current lease arrangement, American Towers will pay $773,180.70 on its current lease until 2020.
DPW Chief Ned Huntley told the Board of Public Works at its October 14 meeting that accepting half a million dollars now would help the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund with this year’s budget crunch, attributable in part to a $1.2 million dollar landfill-related lawsuit settlement under which the city purchased two properties, but that accepting the buyout would result in a long-term loss.
The Solid Waste Enterprise Fund currently garners $25,000 yearly from the lease arrangement.
BPW Chair Terry Culhane recommended holding off on this vote until the Board makes its decision on whether to advance a special permit for the landfill expansion. Huntley told the Board that American Towers needs a decision prior to the end of 2009. The Board agreed to review this subject again in November.
Voters resoundingly opposed expanding the city’s landfill in last week’s municipal election.
NCTV Live Election Coverage
by Mary Serreze | Nov 4, 2009 1:57 am | Comments (1)
Mary Serreze and Henry White anchor the studio while David Pakman works City Hall. Election Night 2009, Northampton, Massachusetts on Vimeo. Real-time collaboration between Northampton Community Television, Northampton Media, and the syndicated radio show Midweek Politics.
Television production by NCTV; Rip, encode, and video upload by Northampton Media courtesy of NCTV. Click on the image to watch video on Vimeo.
Watch the Ward 3 upset, as upstart Angela Plassmann defeats Bob Reckman… The landslide No vote on the non-binding landfill expansion question, along with a great interview with Mimi Odgers, the organizer of that ballot initiative… the Pakman interview with Tim Carpenter, director of Progressive Democrats of America... conversations with Jesse Adams, David Narkewicz, Gene Tacy, Mayor Clare Higgins, and more.
HIggins Re-elected; Plassmann Upsets Reckman, Landfill Expansion a Resounding No
by Mary Serreze | Nov 4, 2009 12:22 am | Comments (1)
Mayoral Race:
Incumbent Mayor Mary Clare Higgins: 5034
Challenger Michael Bardsley: 4690
At-Large City Council:
David Narkewicz: 5950
Jesse Adams: 4844
Katy Silva: 3328
Ward One:
Incumbent Maureen Carney: 853
Challenger Andrew Vidal McNair: 364
Ward Two:
Paul Spector: 657
Ward Three:
Challenger Angela Plassmann: 576
Incumbent Bob Reckman: 508
Ward Four:
Pamela Schwartz: 741
Brian Foote: 217
Ward Five:
David Murphy: 1043
Ward Six:
Marianne LaBarge: 1392
Ward Seven:
Gene Tacy: 936
Deb Jacobs: 731
At-Large School Committee: (two winners)
Michael Flynn: 5224
James Young: 2787
Blue Duval: 2443
Robert Schroeder: 1805
Non-Binding Ballot Question:
Shall the City of Northampton Expand the Landfill over the Barnes Aquifer?
NO: 5,482
YES: 3,107
Barnes Aquifer Protection Advisory Committee (BAPAC) Position Paper
by Guest Columnist | Nov 2, 2009 7:30 am | Comments (1)
The Barnes Aquifer supplies water to four municipalities within the Connecticut Valley of western Massachusetts including the cities of Westfield and Holyoke as well as the towns of Easthampton and Southampton. Currently 11 municipal wells supply 5 million gallons of water per day to 60,000 people in these communities and the aquifer serves as the sole source of drinking water for the City of Easthampton. Water in the aquifer is held within sand and gravel deposits which were laid down approximately 14,000 years ago by a retreating continental glacier. Meltwater streams flowing off the ice deposited sands and gravels into glacial Lake Hitchcock, where in part, they were then overlain by lake clays (varves).
Recharge to the aquifer is restricted to areas where these sand and gravel deposits outcrop on the land surface.
Continue reading ‘Barnes Aquifer Protection Advisory Committee (BAPAC) Position Paper’ »
Reporter Dan Crowley to Candidates: Landfill?
by Mary Serreze | Oct 27, 2009 10:04 am | Comments (0)
Last night’s mayoral debate, sponsored by the Daily Hampshire Gazette and moderated by Gazette Editor-in-Chief Larry Parnass, featured three panelists from the paper’s newsroom: editors Laurie Loisel and Stan Moulton and investigative reporter Dan Crowley. Crowley took the opportunity to ask candidates Michael Bardsley and Clare Higgins a three-pronged question about the city’s landfill controversy.
Continue reading ‘Reporter Dan Crowley to Candidates: Landfill?’ »
Tonight: Ward Six Candidates Forum
by Mary Serreze | Oct 27, 2009 9:44 am | Comments (0)
Expect lots of questions about the city’s landfill at tonight’s candidates’ forum at the Ryan Road Elementary School. It will be a long night, starting at 6:00 pm and ending at 9:30. Bring a snack and a pillow?
6:00 School Committee-at-Large Candidates; Moderator Michael Holroyde
7:00 City Councilor-at-Large Candidates; Moderator Fran Volkmann
8:00-9:30 Mayoral Candidates; Moderator Fran Volkmann
This forum is sponsored by Ward Six City Councilor Marianne Labarge, the Ward Six Association, and Water not Waste, a citizens’ group that opposes any expansion of the City’s municipal landfill.
GREEN Northampton Debate Video
by Mary Serreze | Oct 26, 2009 3:31 pm | Comments (0)