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Date: 9/25/2015
CHICOPEE – Improvements at the Pride truck stop and a potential new development at the former Plantation Inn were among the subjects discussed at a neighborhood meeting at the Litwin Elementary School.
About a dozen residents gathered at school for the meeting hosted by City Councilor Timothy McLellan. Mayor Richard Kos, members of his staff and numerous other elected officials and department heads also attended.
Kos said the former Plantation Inn is under purchase and sale agreement by a Mercedes dealership. He explained the buyers are now doing their due diligence, and the city should know within a month if the sale goes through.
“We’re pretty excited about this happening,” Kos said.
Across the street there is also potential redevelopment at the EconoLodge. Known in recent years as a place the Commonwealth placed homeless families, Kos said the number of families has decreased to 22 homeless families. He praised the state and said it “has done a wonderful job” in relocating the families into better and more permanent housing.
The mayor reported the owners have discussed demolishing the building and rebuild a higher end hotel such as a Marriot on the site, potentially to serve the visitors drawn to the MGM Springfield casino. To make that happen a new entrance way and intersection must be built, which the state is considering, he added.
Kos also briefly spoke about the city’s water supply that travels from the Quabbin Reservoir through a 36-inch pipe down Burnett Road. If that pipe ruptures, the entire city would be without water.
That is the reason behind the design of a 30-inch redundant pipe, which would also run through the neighborhood.
Kos brought up the subject of loaning Western Massachusetts Development nearly a half million dollars to pay for an environment assessment for a 100 acre parcel of undeveloped land. He said the city already had missed out of a bottled water company interested in the property because of its proximity to the pipe from the Quabbin. The fee for water used by the company would have lowered water and sewer rates in the city, Kos said.
The mayor wants the loan to go forward because a development there would benefit the city.
Today, developers want shovel ready property, he added.
McLellan explained he voted “no” because he is a proponent of green space and residents may be concerned about having a development close to their homes.
One resident said McLellan was right to vote against it.
McLellan said he has been working eight years to change the way vehicles enter and exit the Pride truck stop on Burnett Road. There is now an agreement in place for a plan, which should address the traffic problems, he said.
Other aspects of the plan are additional paid parking and improved security in the parking areas. New diesel pumps will be installed that fill the trucks faster for a quicker turnaround.
One resident said the improved security should help prevent the prostitution that has happened there in the past.
The restaurant and the gas station will remain open through construction, but the diesel filling will be closed, McLellan said.
Residents expressed concerns about a lack of maintenance in the neighborhood’s park and athletic fields.