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Date: 11/15/2022
GRANBY – State Sen. Eric Lesser visited the Granby Selectboard during their Nov. 7 meeting and expressed the pleasure it was for him to serve the community as he nears his term’s end as state senator, while also giving some final updates to the board.
Lesser was elected to the Massachusetts senate in 2014 and is coming off a loss in the primaries in his run for lieutenant governor. He said during the meeting he was honored to have represented the Granby community in the state senate.
“I really just wanted to come by and say thank you to you [the Selectboard], to the town, certainly most importantly to the people of Granby,” Lesser said. “It’s really been a pleasure to work together, and I do want to just say to the people of Granby how much I’ve appreciated their trust.”
Selectboard Chair Glenn Sexton thanked Lesser for his time working with the community and said in his five years on the board that Lesser was always communicative and showed he cared about the community he was serving.
“We definitely appreciate that Senator, and you definitely will be missed,” Sexton said.
Lesser then gave some updates regarding where things stand at the state level and shared news that they passed a new economic development bill. He noted his two big pieces of unfinished work at the state level that his successor would be focused on when they start as getting bond authorizations done and tax provisions within the economic development bill, including state tax.
According to Lesser, more specifically he means the property tax circuit breaker for seniors that would be beneficial to Granby as well as rental credits. He added there was commitment from those involved at the state level to get these issues resolved as soon as possible in the new session. He also noted there should be additional new infrastructure money coming to Granby through that process.
Lesser added that there are still well over a billion dollars remaining to appropriate out of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) after the allocation made last week for the state’s new governor, administrations and legislatures.
It was also noted by Lesser that the state was in a good place going into the next year financially and was hopeful it leads to more funding for needs in Granby.
“Knock on wood, the state revenues continue to be ahead of benchmarks. I don’t want to say it out loud because you don’t want to jinx it, but it does look like we’ll be in a strong revenue picture both with unused ARPA and our own state revenue collection,” Lesser said.
He continued and added another piece of unfinished business that was important to him and something he said he will continue advocating for as a private citizen: continued support for schools.
He added that Granby missed out on what they truly needed from the Student Opportunity Act, a bill Lesser worked on, and suggested the town makes sure that the next thing being worked on behalf of their community is school funding for semi-rural communities like Granby.
Veteran’s Wall Committee Update
Granby Veteran’s Memorial Committee Chair Jason Richard provided an update to the Selectboard on the Veteran’s Memorial Project as the 10-year project continues construction and is expected to be completed in the spring.
“This is a project we started in 2012. It’s gone through many variations, and we are where we are today with a wall that’s halfway constructed,” Richard said.
The goal is to have certain aspects of the memorial completed before the winter season and to be fully completed in spring. Richard added a lot of work has been done over the last month including the wall’s construction, pouring the foundation and form work. He added the top half of the wall should be completed by the end of the week.
Richard noted they have already ordered bronze plaques and service emblems for the Granby veteran’s that will be placed on the memorial wall in the spring when the project is officially complete. These were purchased earlier in the year in thanks to a state grant.
Four bronze plaques and two marble plaques adorned with the names of Granby veterans from the Civil War to the Vietnam War used to line the halls of Kellogg Hall and will be added to the memorial. New plaque additions will be created to honor the service of Granby veterans that served in the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan that have not been recognized through memorials.
Richard also noted that they have a tank they plan to have sit next to the memorial, and as soon as the tank pad is poured and prepared in the spring, the tank will be transported to the memorial. He added that this work would not be possible without the “gracious donations of time” from many Granby contractors and also surrounding businesses.
The board thanked Richard, the committee and those involved with the memorials for all their hard work for over a decade in making this memorial a reality.
Sexton added he would love to receive a list of all involved to give an announcement thanking them during a future public meeting for completing the project.
“It’s a great reason to be part of it [the project]. I know people are excited to wait for it – as you said it started back in 2012,” Sexton said. “It’s getting to that point where it’s going to be real and you get to see it, touch it, feel it, all that good stuff. I’m excited.”
To submit an application to add the name of a Granby veteran to the memorial, go to https://www.granbyveteransmemorial.org/2021-honor-roll. The criteria to have a name added to a plaque on the memorial is the person must have served at least one day on active duty during the periods of conflict mentioned, must have received an honorable discharge at time of separation and must have been a Granby resident at the time of entry into military service or must have been a resident of the town for at least 10 years. Verification will be required.