Brief thoughts on some of the events making news from around Franklin County and the North Quabbin area:
Expanding or building a new fire station in Bernardston is the kind of proposal that should get everyone’s attention. Residents can be on the ground floor of the process by attending Wednesday’s special town meeting where they are being asked to use $32,400 in town surplus to pay for a feasibility study.
As Town Coordinator Hugh Campbell said last week, “We don’t know what makes sense financially or structurally or otherwise.” But for the town to move forward, and bring a project before town meeting next spring, the community has to approve paying for a study. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the Bernardston Senior Center/Powers Institute. Make your voice heard.
Rowe voters today at a special town meeting will decide whether to self-finance its share of costs for building a fiber optic broadband network, what is known as the “last mile” when it comes to internet service. The project is tied to the Massachusetts Broadband Institute’s effort to bring reliable broadband to those communities in the state that are either not served or are underserved by private internet providers.
Taking this approach will accomplish a couple of things. If approved by voters, having the town spend its own money will, according to selectmen’s Chair Marilyn Wilson, actually save the town roughly $675,000 over the course of 17 years since it will mean avoiding costs associated with borrowing, such as needing a financial adviser, a bond counsel, annual audits, debt service and so on. And by going this route, we suspect the community will actually have its fiber-optic network in place sooner. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the elementary school. Whichever way one might stand, residents should make their views known tonight.
The weekend’s change in temperatures, bringing cooler air to the region, should serve as a reminder that fall is indeed here, even if many trees haven’t started either turning or dropping their leaves. We suspect that when the changes in the foliage become apparent, it’s going to be a quick turn. Our advice, get outside and enjoy it.
A tip of the hat, again, to all the people who took part in the annual Source to Sea cleanup of our area waterways. It’s always amazing what these volunteers are able to find discarded along the riverbanks, whether it’s tires or toilets.
What’s also incredible is that there are still people who don’t give much thought to what they’re doing when dumping what they don’t want in the woods or in a river. But you don’t have to go hunting very far to see this. People dump garbage or drop trash all over the place — even when there are receptacles close by.