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Date: 6/30/2020
BLANDFORD – A total of 145 residents, or 16 percent of the town’s registered voters, weighed in on a non-binding referendum about whether they favored construction of a new exit on the Massachusetts Turnpike in the town of Blandford, at the June 27 municipal election. The vote was 63 in favor and 79 not in favor.
The election took place at Town Hall beginning at 10 a.m., with a “slow but steady” turnout, according to election workers Joann Martin and Jennifer Girard. One hundred voters had participated by 12 p.m., with the rain beginning soon afterwards.
The question has divided residents over the past three years, while a working group of state and local officials and regional stakeholders led by MassDOT conducted a feasibility study of a new interchange between Exit 2 in Lee and Exit 3 in Westfield. The 30-mile stretch between the two exits is the longest in the commonwealth.
After initially looking at seven areas where I-90 crossed local roads, the study concluded that an interchange at the Blandford Service Plaza or the Blandford Maintenance Garage were the most feasible. Estimated costs for the Blandford Maintenance Facility are $29.5 million, and for an interchange at the Blandford Service Plaza, $34 million.
The feasibility study also concluded that in order for an interchange project to advance into more detailed design and permitting, the advocacy of residents, state legislators, local officials and planning departments would be critical to gathering support and securing funding for the project’s advancement.
Select Board Chair Cara Letendre said in May that the purpose of the question was to gauge exactly where the residents of Blandford stood regarding a Mass Pike exit in town.
“The outcome of the vote will tell us, as selectpersons, if we should proceed with conversations regarding the exit with our state representatives or not,” Letendre explained.
In a notice to residents, Town Administrator Joshua Garcia noted that the exit project is not a town-managed project or a town-controlled decision. The project and the decision are in the hands of the commonwealth.
Garcia further noted it was a non-binding advisory question, which means that the outcome of the vote does not mean it will be the definitive course of action taken by the commonwealth. “Instead, it will symbolically make heard the general opinion of the voting population of the Blandford community regarding the exit,” Garcia said.
At the election on Saturday, two residents who were in favor of the proposed exit were willing to go on the record. “I think people should consider it. Property values will soar up here,” said Pat Lombardo, a 40-year resident in Blandford, while adding, “It’s not going to happen in our lifetime.”
Resident Tom Hanley agreed. “I think it’s going to help the town a lot, as far as getting people up here,” Hanley said.
There were no contested races in the election, and several blank positions on the ballot.
Letendre won a seat for another three years on the Select Board.
Thomas J. Cousineau was a successful write-in candidate for Cemetery Commissioner for three years.
Also elected were Anne McLaughlin, assessor, three years; David Chaffee, Board of Health, three years; Peter Langmore, Municipal Light Board, three years; Byam Stevens, library trustee, three years; Michael Hutchins, Planning Board, four years; Edna Wilander, Planning Board, four years; Terri Garfield, School Committee, three years; Doris Jemiolo, town clerk, three years; and Michael Keier, water commissioner, three years.
There was no election for Cemetery Commission (three years); fence viewer (three years), or field driver (three years).