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Study: Green from trees could save green in wallets

Ownership of key properties, such as the former Facemate facility, have kept a rail trail project on hold.
By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



CHICOPEE More trees and more attention to developing green space in the city could make Chicopee a cleaner and less costly place to live, according to a presentation made by graduate students from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts.

The students are using Chicopee as an "educational test ground," City Planner Kate Brown told the audience while introducing the presentation at the library last Wednesday evening.

Brown said the Urban Greening Study concentrated on three areas: connecting green space in the city; storm water management and the use of the city's riverfronts.

Professor Jack Ahern said that 'the big idea behind all this is that it's good to be green."

Ahern said there was "no romanticism" in the study and emphasized that taking the steps under consideration could raise property values and create a healthier city.

Ahern explained that after this first meeting, the students would be continuing their work that would be discussed at a second meeting on May 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the library. The goal is to give city officials some programs to improve the city and ideas for funding sources.

The students have been analyzing the number of trees in the city. According to their data, there are 519,500 trees in the city's 15,295 acres resulting in a tree canopy that covers about 13 percent of the city. The recommended coverage is 30 percent that would mean that 627,625 new trees would have to be planted.

While no one suggested the city could afford to undertake such an effort, the students did point out the more trees a community has the fewer problems it has with air pollution and rainwater run-off.

Statistics presented that evening showed that 164,898 pounds of air pollutants are being taken out of the air by the current number of trees in the city. Increasing the tree canopy to 30 percent would mean an increase to 329,796 pounds of pollutants.

Part of what the students will be doing in the coming weeks is to examine just how plantings of new trees could be maximized and whether or not the plantings should be on public or private land.

Rainwater run-off is particularly important to the city due to its problems with combined sewer overflows. The city's sewer system can allow raw sewage to be swept into the Connecticut River during a heavy storm. Chicopee, like other cities in the region is under a federal mandate to renovate its sewage system to prevent discharges.

The students suggested that additional plantings, such as trees and shrubs decreases the amount of rain water that usually would flow into the sewer system. They discussed using porous pavers in parking lots and other paved areas that are stones with small holes. These holes direct water into the soil.

They noted that renovating the rotaries on Memorial Drive to include more vegetation and dry swales or channels that direct and filter rainwater from roadways.

These dry swales can also be incorporated into residential roads and Ahern noted that when a street is being re-constructed that would be the time to consider adding them

The students also noted that Roberts Pond on Irene Street is an area that needs renovation work to address the ecological impact it has on the city. A damn built in 1923 burst on the property that at one time had been a lake resort. The study so far recommended that either the pond or the stream feeding the pond be restored. A third option would be to create a wetland area with native plants that provide flood prevention features.

A Chicopee river walk was the third issue the students addressed. They believe a roughly circular route that would link Szot Park, the former Uniroyal/Facemate properties, Delta Park and the downtown would not only provide a visitors' destination, but also further downtown development. It would also preserve what was described as the "fragile" shoreline.

The UMass study will perform an analysis on the properties that would be needed for a river walk and catalogue them.

Ward Four Alderman William Zaskey attended the presentation and said that 25 percent of the design work is down on a bike and rail trail, but the problem holding up the project is the ownership of the land. The Uniroyal/Facemate properties are privately owned, although he said that State Representative William Wagner has put $800,000 in the state's supplemental budget for the project.