The building subcommittee of the Mohawk Trail Regional School District School Committee recently decided against installing a wood pellet boiler at the high/middle school located in Buckland. While I happen to agree with the outcome, the manner in which this decision was conveyed to the public was troublesome. The committee chairman went out of his way on two occasions, when interviewed for local news publications, to stress that the decision was a financial one and not environmental — a thinly veiled way of dismissing as irrelevant the objection to the project based on health concerns brought forward by the Buckland Board of Health.
Additionally, residents sought outside assistance from various experts, one of them being the America Lung Association, to support their argument that the installation of such boilers would be detrimental to the health of both the students and residents of Buckland. For this effort and attempt to express their opinion, they were accused of “political gamesmanship” Really? Is that what citizen participation is called these days. The School Committee begins each meeting with a “statement of trust”; good words to live by.
Kevin Fox
Buckland,