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Date: 11/9/2022
BELCHERTOWN – The Select Board hosted a special meeting on Nov. 3 to meet with four different committees and departments who put in requests to receive funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
Select Board Chair Jim Barry said this is meeting one of two regarding ARPA funds and the board wanted to be able to meet with committees and departments before making decisions.
Barry added that since the town was awarded ARPA funds, there are more requests than money they can hand out and need to narrow it down.
No money was allocated but the board said they wanted to learn more about the projects from the committees and departments instead of trying to guess.
The board has so far assigned $1.6 million and have $2.8 million available.
The four appointments planned for the night was with the Chair of the Lakes Committee LeeAnne Connolly, Town Planner Doug Albertson, Fire Chief John Ingram and a representative from the Board of Health.
The Lakes Committee had two ARPA request in, the first one being $15,000 to clear out the outlet at Lake Metacomet.
Connolly explained that there is no flow with the water and it quite stagnant.
She added, “You have Lake Metacomet, Lake Arcadia and Lake Holland that all go into Bachelor Brook. If we can get that brook and outlet flowing again, that would help benefit the water flow for all three lakes.
The process is called hydoraking and is used to clear accumulations of unconsolidated bottom muck and debris. It removes all organic debris from the bottom of a pond makes it an ideal choice for routine maintenance that will help to prolong or prevent the need for future dredging.
Connolly added that she does not want to use any chemicals to fix the lakes to practice mechanical harvesting and “puts a band-aid on the problem.”
The other request from the Lakes Committee was for five-year water quality assessment plan for $25,000.
She said this would get someone to study what is wrong with the lakes and hopefully come up with a permanent solution.
Town Planner Doug Albertson talked next about his plan for a new position that he said would concentrate on economic development.
Their main responsibilities would be working with groups from in town that would put on events to attract people from out of town.
Other responsibilities include marketing, advertising and branding to help Belchertown come up with an identity, Albertson said.
Albertson added, “We had an economic assessor come to town and they said we are a wealthy residential community. We need to be able to have places to go and things to see, so residents do not have to drive anywhere else to fill their needs.”
Fire Chief John Ingram came in an discussed the idea to build living quarters at the fire house that would include bedrooms, offices, more bathrooms and showers.
Ingram said that the department’s response time during the day is between one to two minutes and at night ranges anywhere from two to six minutes. He thinks adding this building would help with response time and safety.
“A fire doubles every minute, so we want to get there as soon as possible,” Ingram said.
He added that there are currently only two bathrooms and showers in the fire house that the public can also use. The department runs into a problem when they get back from a call and cannot wash off all the “carcinogens” right away.
The initial request is for $1.7 million but Ingram said he is waiting to meet with the architect again to get a more detailed list of how much each item would cost and make some adjustments if needed.
Andrea Crete is the new director of public health and came in to talk to the board about an event.
Crete said that COVID-19 has affected the mental health and led to a raise in substance misuse among the youth in town and they held an event last year to help raise awareness.
The event in the commons last spring that included guest speakers, food trucks and music to have a fun but informational day.
Crete said Belchertown Public Schools conducted a survey and 43 percent of students felt feelings of sadness and depression during the coronavirus pandemic.
The board all agreed that the event last year was great, but member Jen Turner would like to see some changes made so it focuses more on the message and less on the entertainment.