GREENFIELD — As 2016 comes to an end, town leaders are looking forward to a number of infrastructure improvements, energy and sustainability projects and potential zoning changes aimed at increasing development in the new year.
With 2017 nearly upon us, Mayor William Martin said the town will see some much-needed infrastructure improvements in the coming months, plus solar energy-related projects, the rollout of townwide wireless internet and improvements within the school department.
Town leaders are also working on zoning-related proposals aimed at increasing development in Greenfield and attracting new businesses.
Town Council President Brickett Allis and Vice President Isaac Mass said the mayor is always working in areas of economic development, and recently came forward with very strong tax breaks for two companies that will bring at least 77 jobs to Greenfield.
“I hope to see more of that on our agenda next year in the area of economic development. We’re doing our part on the zoning measures,” Mass said, adding that the council remains committed to economic development.
Mass recently brought a zoning amendment proposal to the town’s Planning Board and Economic Development Committee that would ease restrictions on development along the French King Highway. The proposal aims to remove the French King Highway from the town’s Corridor Overlay District, which currently extends from the intersection of Route 2 and the French King Highway south to Smith Street, and prohibits gas stations and take-out, drive-in or drive-through restaurants in that area.
“The Overlay District is probably going to be the biggest thing we have coming up this year, and probably the most contentious,” Allis said.
Planning Board Chairwoman Roxann Wedegartner said a subcommittee is also looking at how to potentially improve the uses of different commercial zones in town to better accommodate businesses that don’t fall neatly into any category in the zoning bylaw.
“As the years go by, different types of businesses are coming forward,” Wedegartner said. “For instance, one we’ve been considering in that group is where best to allow ‘maker spaces’ — so these are work rooms for small businesses. They may be artisans, they may be people who do very, very light manufacturing or assembling of goods — those types of things where they could just take a floor in a building and create both office space and a creative space.”
Both Allis and Mass said over the past year, town leaders and school department officials have forged the best relationship they’ve had in years and are looking forward to continuing that momentum.
“There used to be this great divide between the school committee/school department and the Town Council/town side,” Allis said. “That is not gone, but it’s much easier to cross that divide.”
The two groups have worked on a number of initiatives together, along with the mayor and the town’s finance department, and are looking forward to implementing a number of changes in 2017.
Mass said that will include moving the Math and Science Academy from the Green River School to the Greenfield Middle School in the new year, as well as bolstering the special education department to provide the resources students need to keep them in town.
“We hope to really stimulate the curriculum for the school by introducing a partnership with Greenfield Community College whereby using some (Community Development) Block Grant funds, we can create a college within the senior year within the high school, so that seniors would be able to get some college credits while they’re in high school,” Martin added.
He said the school department is also looking into offering a wider variety of courses through the Massachusetts Virtual Academy at Greenfield.
Precinct 6 Councilor Maria Burge is also leading an effort to reestablish the city-student council, which was previously done in 2005. Through the program, students have the opportunity to shadow town councilors and participate in a live debate about an actual issues before the council.
The town’s Energy and Sustainability Department has several projects in the works, including a solar storage project at the high school. Martin said construction for that project will begin in April and all of the electricity generated and stored will be used on-site.
“There’s a large savings there, and it’s also a good model so that other communities can copy us, and all the students in the school will derive a first-hand education on how solar impacts the consumption of energy,” he said.
Martin said a 1.8 megawatt solar farm will be built on the Millbrook Well site in northern Greenfield, and construction will begin within a month and should be completed by March. The project has been in the works for about five years, and will provide about 900 kilowatt hours of solar electricity to the town.
“The other 900 kilowatt hours will be provided in a program for the community, so it’s part of a community solar project,” Martin said. “Anybody who wants to buy a panel or two or five can receive compensation for their generation of solar on those panels that they would own, and they would also receive tax credits that are allowed by the federal and state governments.”
Greenfield Community Energy and Technology, the town-owned nonprofit that will eventually provide low-cost wireless internet and phone service to all residents and businesses in town, is in the process of constructing its fiber and wireless network and should begin offering service mid-summer, according to Martin.
Mass said the state Legislature still has to approve special legislation that creates the governing board that will oversee GCET, and then the mayor will send appointments for that five-member committee.
Allis and Mass said at some point in the New Year, the library will come to the council to ask for support on a grant application to the state, which could cover up to half the cost of a new building.
“I anticipate the vote for them applying for the grant will probably pass, but it’s not going to be even close to unanimous,” Mass said. “It’s going to be a contentious issue.”
Allis said the library has not given the council an estimate on the cost of the new building, but based on the cost per square foot of the new Senior/Community Center, he’s guessing it will be around $20 million. He said the library could get up to $7 million from the state grant and hopes to raise $3 million through a capital campaign.
Allis added there are concerns with the size and location of the building, which is planned to sit next to the current library on Main Street. Additionally, the project would require the fire station be demolished.
Martin said the town is continuing to look into constructing a downtown public safety complex, and has received support from the Public Safety Commission, Greenfield’s police and fire chiefs, and MedCare Ambulance. The town is currently looking at a spot between Devens, Main, Wells and Conway streets and will hold public input meetings on the idea beginning in February.
Mass said it’s reasonable to estimate that the Public Safety Complex would cost between $10 and $12 million.
“I know the mayor has some creative proposals for funding a public safety center, and there’s legitimate concerns about the fire station and the ability of that building to maintain the equipment that they need, but the totality of that is you have the $10 to 12 million for the public safety, plus $10 or $11 million for the library — that’s if they get everything they want (from the state and private donations) — now you’re talking closer to $20 million plus for the taxpayers. That’s a new Greenfield High School,” Mass said.
In October, the town was awarded $7.5 million in state funding for the construction of a four-story parking garage off Olive Street. Martin said the town expects the project to go out to mid in March or April, with construction starting in June.
“We’re looking at the 2018 summer for completion, and that should relieve a lot of people who are looking to park downtown for many of our activities, festivals, events and entertainment,” he said.