Meeting reveals status of projects

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE Ward Four residents learned about a wide-ranging group of issues at a meeting sponsored by Alderman William Zaskey on May 9.

The approximately 40 people who attended the meeting heard from Zaskey, City Planner Kate Brown, Department of Public Works head Stanley Kulig, Police Chief John Ferraro and Mayor Michael Bissonnette.

Kulig said the reconstruction of Front Street has started with preparation work completed by Bay State Gas. Next, Verizon will undertake work to its infrastructure. The bids for the renovations to the artery will go out late this year, he added.

Brown told the audience that developers of the former Ocean State Job lot building near Wal-Mart on Memorial Drive are "still being coy" about the retail businesses that will occupy the space. Brown said the building will have a plaza area built in front of it and will be renovated to house seven businesses.

The city has yet to be told about the future of the former car dealership also adjacent to Wal-Mart. The building was recently demolished, and Brown said there have been inquiries about putting a traffic light in front of the property.

Ferraro announced the Police Department recently received a $43,000 grant for radio repeating equipment to make sure there are no communication "dead spots" in the city. The chief added it has been his policy to pursue grants and other outside funding rather than ask the city to underwrite such expenditures.

He added, though, the Public Safety Complex is in need of expansion and he will be exploring adding a wing to the building.

Bissonnette said that Ferraro's approach looking for outside funding before coming to the city is one that he supports.

He said he has told his department heads "don't come to me unless you can't get it from the feds or the state."

He said that 30 percent of the city's budget comes from property tax revenue and the rest is from state and federal sources.

Bissonnette spoke about the forward movement at the Uniroyal and Facemate sites. Tire giant Michelin had begun funding a cleanup effort at the Uniroyal complex that is the first step to the site's redevelopment. The mayor said the clean up now estimated at $4 million is less than previously believed.

Bissonnette is seeking funding for the demolition of the buildings, which is estimated to cost $8 to $10 million.

The auto junkyard on Center Street is another project the mayor has in his sights. He said a "big box store developer" likes the location and a development deal is about 70 percent done. Bissonnette said the project is not set by any means and has not been easy.

"If it was easy some mayor would have done it before me," he said.

The new development, if completed, could bring in an additional $600,000 in property taxes.

Bissonnette said that job development is his highest priority and he has been speaking to officials at Baystate Medical Center about looking at Chicopee for future expansions rather than Springfield.

Speaking about the future use of the former Chicopee High School, Bissonnette said relocating Fairview Middle School to the location would save the city $175,000 annually in busing costs.

Calling it a "totally under-utilized building," Bissonnette said he either wants to use it or put it on the real estate market.

Other uses for it would be to house the School Department offices there and to re-locate the senior center to the building.

Bissonnette said the future of the former school rests in part on whether or not the state would fund a new middle school and a senior center. He is trying to get an off-the-record answer on the possibility and the amount of state funding.