Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 1/26/2021
BLANDFORD – The town of Blandford is in the process of developing a Resilient Master Plan (RMP) thanks to a grant of $102,000 from Gov. Charlie Baker’s Mass Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) initiative. A committee of town department heads are working with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) to develop the 10-year plan which will be completed by the end of June 2021.
Kenneth Comia, a senior planner with the PVPC, is the lead consultant in the planning process. He said a master plan allows communities in the commonwealth to identify goals and strategies to guide land use, housing, business growth, public services, open space and resource protection for the next decade. The plan also enables communities that have adopted an RMP to access grant sources of funding for a lot of the goals and strategies the town has identified through this process.
Comia said Blandford does not currently have a master plan, and work began in earnest on this one in November, 2020 when a committee was formed. Library Trustee and Assistant Town Clerk Mary Kronholm was elected as chair, and Town Administrator Assistant and member of the Recreation Committee Joann Martin, vice chair. Also serving on the committee are representatives of the Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator, Planning Board, Historical Society, Zoning Board of Appeals, Board of Health, Council on Aging, Veterans, Highway, Water and Fire departments, as well as other town officials.
“It’s really exciting, I think. The energy is definitely there coming to the committee meetings,” Comia said.
Comia said there will be many opportunities for residents to participate in the Resilient Master Plan process and help shape the plan’s recommendations. The first Virtual Visioning Session will take place on Zoom on Feb. 4 from 6 to 8 p.m. During the visioning session, PVPC staff will introduce the project and engage participants in developing the plan’s vision statement: an image of the kind of community they want for their future. The link to join the webinar on Feb. 4 is at https://bit.ly/39pbffc.
Residents may also participate in the planning process by filling out a community survey. Answers will be used to shape the Resilient Master Plan. The survey is available now at www.tinyurl.com/BlandfordSurvey and closes on February 15.
Town Administrator Joshua A. Garcia said the master planning process will provide a visioning strategy for the next 10 years regarding land use, open space, recreation, transportation, housing, and economic development.
“We will be soliciting input from residents which will help in understanding what direction they want us to go as decision-makers in planning for the future,” Garcia said. He said the plan will help the town to improve the quality of life based on what residents want to see in the community, and the challenges that exist as it relates to climate.
“The key thing is this, since I’ve been there at Blandford, I’ve been able to spend a lot of time working with each of the individual departments on their specific objectives,” Garcia said. He said there are commonalities of ideas on what Blandford was in its heyday, and what it could be.
Garcia said a master plan will help the town to understand the data as it exists today, looking at population, demographics, movement of people and land use. Then, taking that information, and coupling it with the ideas of residents, the key decision-makers on the various boards in town can make sure that decisions are made and resources are spent strategically.
“By putting it in a tangible document, it doesn’t matter who comes in, we can stay on course in that plan,” Garcia said.
All of the information and reports on Blandford’s Resilient Master Plan process, as well as links to meetings and documents, are posted at http://blandfordmasterplan.pvpc.org. For more information, residents may also contact Kenneth Comia at kcomia@pvpc.org.