I find it strange that some folks are upset about restrictions on meeting rooms in the Greenfield Public Library when a better public facility is available a block away.
The John W. Olver Transportation Center was built, and seemingly maintained, with taxpayer dollars, and yet the fine meeting room, equipped with all necessary bells and whistles, is, as far as I know, only used about once a month.
The building is ADA-compliant, has state-of-the-art restrooms and wifi. And would have food service if someone took the effort to locate an entrepreneur.
Of the 42 trains that call in Greenfield each week, the building is locked up tight for 27 of them. The train -oading platform offers no protection from the elements. There are many Amtrak stations around the nation staffed by volunteers. The North Carolina DOT provides attendants for every train at numerous stations that have no Amtrak agent. If the John W. Olver Transportation Center was open during train times, it could have an Amtrak Quik-Trak ticket machine.
The duty of city government is to see that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely, regardless of whether the money is federal, state or local. With just a bit of cooperation between departments and agencies, I’m certain that personnel could be found to keep the John W. Olver Transportation Center open a lot longer than 60 hours a week. They would not need to know much about the FRTA, or Amtrak, but it would be handy if they did.
Alden H. Dreyer is a resident of Shelburne.