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Date: 12/29/2021
CHICOPEE – The year-long debate centered around Burnett Road reached a temporary conclusion, with Ward 6 Councilor Derek Dobosz’s intentions for the land to be placed under Article 97 protections ultimately stalling in council meetings.
Finance and Utility Subcommittee Meeting
Before the City Council meeting, Dobosz made his final case during a joint meeting of the Utilities and Finance subcommittees on Dec. 16.
The councilor restated his intentions for the land to be placed under protection. If the council was to opt against placing the land under protections, he argued that the land would generate more profit via carbon credits or selling the land than the city’s intention of utilizing the land as a part of a land swap. “The city would get virtually nothing for this land. If this passed, at least we could get something for this land,” said Dobosz.
The councilor’s sentiments were met with mixed results. Councilor At-Large James Tillotson stressed that none of Dobosz’s ambitions can be accomplished without the mayor’s approval. “The mayor is the key player in this, you have to get him on board,” said Tillotson, who detailed the approval needed from the mayor for the city to seek carbon credits.
The Finance and Utility subcommittees ended up disagreeing on the issue, with Utility voting in favor of seeking carbon credits in a 3-1 vote while Finance voted 5-2 to defeat the order.
In regard to placing the road under permanent conservation, Finance defeated the order in a 4-3 vote while Utility gave an unfavorable vote with a 2-2 result.
In a Facebook post to his constituents, Dobosz revealed that he met with the mayor on Dec. 17 to discuss the Burnett Road issue. The councilor told Reminder Publishing that the mayor did not support Dobosz plan for the land to be placed under permanent conservation. “He was not open to negotiation on the issue unfortunately, but I appreciate him meeting with me and hearing me out on it,” said Dobosz.
City Council Meeting
Dobosz requested the Burnett Road order be moved to the beginning of the Dec. 21 City Council meeting. After Councilor At-Large Frank Laflamme explained the background behind the joint meeting of the Finance and Utility subcommittes, he expressed his desire to see Dobosz continue the discussion with a new order next year. “We want to support Derek Dobosz to bring this back next year … hopefully working with the mayor and getting something done,” said Laflamme.
In his address to the council, Dobosz acknowledged his willingness to negotiate the order with the Mayor’s Office despite his lack of progress. “I was and still am willing to go to the negotiation table with the Mayor’s Office and WMDC … I was willing to see what compromise and dialogue they were willing to offer,” said Dobosz.
While Dobosz expressed that the Burnett Road debate between he and the Mayor’s Office has been “exhausting,” he restated his intention to keep fighting the issue. “I told the mayor, ‘I really don’t really want to go to war with him for the next two years’ … but with that being said, we also aren’t going to back down,” said Dobosz.
The councilor detailed ways he intends to prevent developments on Burnett Road in the future, including blocking zone change votes from the Mayor’s Office. “I have the votes now and the next two years to block a zone change,” said Dobosz, who also stressed his willingness to work with the mayor in the future despite enduring an “intense” relationship over the issue.
Despite a 7-6 vote in favor of placing Burnett Road under conservation, the item ultimately was not passed due to not garnering the 9 votes required.