SOUTH DEERFIELD — Selectboard Chairman Henry “Kip” Komosa has come under fire from the leader of the new grassroots group against a proposed Dollar General in town.
After an exchange over the role of town officials in the project, Tolly Stark, co-founder of Deerfield for Responsible Development, questioned the “integrity” of Komosa, suggesting he was OK with the idea of a “backdoor” business deal.
Komosa also serves on the Planning Board, which has been the main public body overseeing the plan of the discount store to move to Deerfield.
The accusation punctuated a tense Deerfield Selectboard meeting last week in which residents repeatedly asked the board to support them in finding answers from the state agency that oversees the clear-cut that removed the trees at the proposed site of the store. Greg Gardner owns the property at the intersection of Mill Village Road and Routes 5 and 10 and had trees at the site cut in late April. Afterward, residents asserted the state has jurisdiction over at least part of the site and didn’t give permission for the cutting.
Ultimately, the Selectboard unanimously voted Aug. 8 to write a letter to Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s representatives in Boston and to state legislators to express the sentiment of residents and ask for more information on the status of the process. Selectboard member Carolyn Shores Ness said she hoped the letter was going to be ready by Friday, after review by the town’s lawyer, but it was not. A draft of the letter was not made available by the town, although it maintained that it will eventually be sent out.
MassDOT provided the press with only this statement following repeated requests for comment:
“MassDOT is continuing to work on this issue. Please note that we have had discussions with a representative of the property owner recently and we are working toward a resolution.”
Spokeswoman Judith R. Riley did not respond to a request for more information on the statement.
The Selectboard’s letter may move the needle on this, but Komosa sees it as mostly out of the town’s hands at this point. This difference of opinion is what led to the heated disagreement between Stark and Komosa.
“These people have a right to sell their property and it’s up to the state, not to the town,” Komosa said. “If they meet all their requirements, they can do what they want. This is America. I get that you don’t like this, but we will do everything we can to protect our community, and that’s everybody in here. What we can do is to make sure they follow all of the rules that are put in place by not only this town, but by the state of Massachusetts.”
Stark responded in what turned into a heated back-and-forth.
“With all due respect, Mr. Komosa, I think there is actually a responsibility of elected officials to advocate for the town,” she said.
Stark pushed for a traffic safety study to be done before the discount store can come to town. Residents often cited the danger of the intersection, as rated by the state, and that any business there could make that intersection deadly.
“That is not about freedom. That is not about America. So we’re asking you to keep our community safe and make sure that due process happens. That’s our request.”
“Excuse me, Miss — that intersection has been there for a long time,” Komosa said. “It isn’t the intersection that’s so dangerous, it’s the people that drive on it.”
Komosa said he’s spoken multiple times with MassDOT and suggested a traffic light there or lowering the speed limit, which, “they say that’s a great suggestion, but that’s up to them.”
Selectboard members Ness and Trevor McDaniel broke up the exchange, saying they wanted to write a letter to the state.
“Obviously, we don’t have jurisdiction over it, but we can voice our concern for the safety of our residents in that intersection and to find out what’s taking so long to make a decision on the clear-cutting and the violation of the permit,” McDaniel said.
Ness said she thought MassDOT has made some mistakes along the way, which have contributed to confusion over this issue.
That’s when Komosa jumped in, leading to the most heated bit of the meeting.
“This process was probably not done textbook, but what I did learn is that the owner of the property went to the state and asked them to cut the trees down,” Komosa said. “Now, I know there’s a formal process, now, but out here in the country, people work day in day out with these people. They said let us get our arborist. A state-paid arborist went to look at these trees and deemed most of them to be junk and trash, so the district people down there said, ‘go ahead, get rid of it and clean it up.’”
“Because there’s been this opposition, now everyone is like, ‘Did you fill out form A-double zero, 30 days before,’” Komosa said. “Now because paperwork wasn’t done properly all the way up to Capitol Hill, it’s now become an issue. I believe the state is now trying to figure out what do we do.”
“I’d like to point out these protocols and policies are in place for a reason,” Stark responded. “What you’re describing sounds like a backdoor dealing.”
“For someone to think that would be legitimate in the first place shows a lack of integrity,” she continued. “I think there should definitely be a follow-through on this situation.”
You can reach
Joshua Solomon at:
jsolomon@recorder.com
413-772-0261, ext. 264