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Date: 12/15/2022
CHICOPEE – The City Council approved grants of $2 million and $100,000 from the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration during their Dec. 6 meeting. Both grants will be utilized for the ongoing Abbey Memorial Brook restoration project, which will remove the lower and upper Bemis Pond dams at Szot Park.
Mayor John Vieau introduced the item as a part of his mayor’s orders. He explained that the $2 million grant from the Division of Ecological Restoration will help fund the first phase of the Abbey Memorial Brook restoration project.
“The city has been very fortunate to receive a grant in the amount of $2 million. This will help us tremendously with the dam removal project … The Bemis Pond dam is unstable and needed to be removed. It is being done in phases,” said Vieau.
Planning Director Lee Pouliot shared that phase one will focus on the removal of the lower Bemis Pond dam and the restoration of Abbey Brook from the upper dam to the footprint of the lower dam.
“That project is nearing the completion of all its permitting. We’re hopeful that we’ll be in a position to put construction out to bid in January or February in 2023 and start construction in the spring,” said Pouliot.
Pouliot stressed that the Division of Ecological Restoration has been a partner of the Abbey Memorial Brook restoration project since 2018. In that time, the division has made annual financial contributions to the project. Pouliot said the project is labeled as a “priority project” for the organization.
“This $2 million is representative of the work that we’ve done collaboratively with Division of Ecological Restoration and their commitment to help the city see this project through,” said Pouliot.
The Division of Ecological Restoration also issued a $100,000 grant to the council. Pouliot shared that this grant has been issued annually over the last three years to support the Abbey Memorial Brook restoration project’s ongoing progress.
Ward 4 City Councilor George Balakier expressed gratitude for the grant and the project’s ongoing development.
“This is really a fantastic grant and it’s going to help us get this project going,” said Balakier.
The City Council approved the grants in unanimous votes.
After the council meeting, Pouliot discussed the project with Reminder Publishing. He shared that the dam removal will take place across three phases. The $2 million grant will be allocated entirely to the first phase, while the $100,000 will fund early schematic design for phase two.
Phase two will increase the size of Abbey Brook’s culvert. The move will prevent any potential flooding from the body of water, which Pouliot said could damage important Front Street infrastructures from Chicopee Electric Light.
“That is the concern here. We would be impacting critical infrastructure,” said Pouliot.
The project will also focus on transforming the Abbey Brook area into a recreational destination. Currently, the brook’s water is contaminated with E. coli due to an overwhelming geese presence. Pouliot and Vieau see the development as a way to maximize an underutilized asset.
“We’re hoping to restore it and make it more viable for use for the residents of Chicopee,” said Vieau in an interview with Reminder Publishing.