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Date: 7/2/2015
AGAWAM – Agawam became one of the first three communities in the Commonwealth to sign on to the Community Compact on June 24. The Community Compact is an initiative by Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito to strengthen the relationship between the state and its communities.
The agreement allows for selected communities to choose “pick [their] best practices, areas you feel you’re active in getting a project complete,” Mayor Richard Cohen said.
For Agawam, those areas are economic development, job creation and housing. All three, he said, tie in to the city’s Walnut St. Extension redevelopment project.
By “cleaning that area up” and taking care of Games and Lanes, an abandoned property in that neighborhood, the city will create new jobs and, ideally, new housing, Cohen said. Applying for MassWorks Grants would help achieve economic development, he said.
“It all just meshed together,” Cohen said.
The Community Compact not only gives cities like Agawam a chance to focus in on what projects they would like to complete, it also gives them an opportunity to access state resources to help do so.
Director of Planning and Community Development Marc Strange said he is looking forward to being able to move forward with “remediation and redevelopment” with help from the state.
“It’s been really exciting working with the Baker-Polito administration. They have been attentive to Western Massachusetts, which I think is unique,” he said. “[The Community Compact] puts us first in line to access those funds, and it’s a very good thing for Agawam.”
A design concept for the Walnut St. Extension redevelopment plan was released in March. It can viewed on the town’s website.