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Date: 11/2/2021
SOUTHWICK – The two new Conservation Commission members who replaced dismissed members Maryssa Cook-Obregon and Chris Pratt each said that as far as they are concerned, their new role has nothing to do with Carvana.
The former commissioners have said they feel the Select Board dismissed them on Sept. 27 for political reasons, including their opposition this summer to a proposed automobile sales processing facility on College Highway. But the new commissioners, Kevin Solek and Rose Hanna, said they weren’t asked about Carvana before being appointed and that they, too, had opposed the project.
“Carvana was never discussed between me and selectmen when I talked about my appointment,” said Solek. “I didn’t want to see Carvana in the town of Southwick, either.”
Solek said that he even had a “No Carvana” sign on his lawn, which he took down after Carvana withdrew its proposal in July.
Both Solek and Hanna said that they opposed the project for similar reasons cited by Save Southwick, in which Cook-Obregon was a key organizer. Solek and Hanna said they didn’t want to see rural Southwick become overrun with large developments, which would fundamentally change the nature of the town in their eyes.
Hanna said that she had seen the town of Hadley turn from an agricultural community, like Southwick, into a town characterized by large business that catered to nearby college students.
“I previously worked in an agricultural community that became rapidly overrun by an influx of large businesses and I would not like to see the same thing occur in Southwick. That big business corridor changed the character of the town, hurt small businesses and proved to be more of a drain on resources than a benefit,” said Hanna.
She said that she was also concerned that Carvana would have mass-purchased vehicles from Southern Auto Auction in East Windsor, Conn., which would leave fewer vehicles for smaller dealerships in Southwick and the surrounding area.
“Our retailers have experienced more than enough difficulties obtaining vehicles since the pandemic hit, without big business swooping in on them,” said Hanna.
Hanna and Solek each said that comments made about them on social media and during public comment at Select Board meetings were often misleading, if not completely false. Solek, a farmer on Granville Road, has faced accusations from the dismissed commissioners and their supporters that he has “violated the Clean Waters Act, the Wetland Protection Act, and the Endangered Species Act, as well as local bylaws.” Pratt also pointed out that Solek’s property is under an order of conditions from the Conservation Commission and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
Solek said these claims are misleading, and even point to problems with how the Conservation Commission operates and makes its decisions. The order of conditions had to do with Solek’s paving of an existing access road on his property. He said the DEP never issued a citation for the project, and had “nothing but positive feedback” for him.
“The portrayal of me being a habitual violator is, in my mind, totally false,” said Solek. “I have done everything to the best I could to follow the law.”
He pointed to a recent incident at North Pond in which resident Adyn Kirk took it upon himself to use heavy equipment to help maintain the area without receiving permission from the Conservation Commission. In a letter to Kirk sent before Pratt was removed from the commission, Pratt said that he did not believe that the work Kirk did was done in a malicious manner.
“The intentions were to help maintain the area, but the ongoing erosion situation in the area of the violation is being increased by mechanical equipment using the already eroded slope,” said Pratt in his letter to Kirk.
Solek said that he does not see “how they can make it seem like one case was good intentions but make me out to be a criminal or habitual offender.”
Select Board Vice Chair Russell Fox, who was acting as chair in the absence of Joseph Deedy the night Solek and Hanna were appointed, has said that he made the changes to the Conservation Commission because he wanted to see the commission go “in a new direction,” though in the ensuring month, he did not say specifically what that new direction is. Both Solek and Hanna said that Fox never discussed the specifics of the new direction for the commission with them.
In the Select Board vote on Sept. 27, Cook-Obregon was also removed from the Agricultural Commission, as was member Dennis Clark. Bob Mucha was appointed as a new member of the Agricultural Commission.