Here are some brief thoughts on recent happenings in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region.
If there’s one take-away thus far from the nine-part series, “Homelessness: Our Housing Crisis and Call to Action,” sponsored by Greening Greenfield and Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution (FCCPR), it’s the virtue of persistence.
Last week’s seventh (of nine) forum focused on reclaiming municipally-owned abandoned buildings. Montague Town Planner Walter Ramsey, Athol Town Manager Shaun Suhoski and Greenfield Community Economic Development Director MJ Adams shared their long and winding paths toward creating affordable housing.
Suhoski is currently working with developers to turn two former elementary schools into 53 housing units. Adams shared strategies for preserving two-, three- and four-family homes by working with landlords, owner-occupants and lenders to prevent blight in Greenfield’s neighborhoods, and Ramsey recounted both successes and challenges in Montague’s five villages, including six former mill sites that are vacant.
All take the long view when it comes to housing. Converting a disused school or mill into the right mix of affordable housing is a multi-year — or even multi-decade — endeavor. Suhoski noted they have to build enthusiasm and educate naysayers; they need to provide governing bodies with facts about the project and, most importantly, they must never give up.
“Things like this take time,” agreed Ramsey. “You have to stick to your objectives but be flexible.”
“It can be done,” said Suhoski.
These leaders demonstrate that a positive attitude is key to success.
The phrase “learning without walls” has taken on a whole new meaning since the pandemic. The phrase has traditionally referred to real-world learning that people get in the course of their life experience. Now, learning without walls has taken on a more literal meaning.
If there’s one thing the coronavirus pandemic has brought home, it’s the health benefits of fresh air. Consequently, in the past year and a half, educators have thrown open classroom windows, upgraded air filtration systems and taken the classroom outside.
In Warwick, residents are capitalizing on their idyllic rural setting to develop an educational trail plan for its 25-acre grounds. “All of this work on trails feeds into Warwick’s redesign of its school and schoolyard with a focus on environmental and place-based education,” Selectboard member Brian Snell said.
And in Northfield, Pioneer Valley Regional School is building an outdoor classroom pavilion this summer, to be followed by a farm and garden lab and greenhouse space on school grounds. “We want to literally open up the school walls,” explained Curriculum Coordinator Ariel LaRue.
They’re not the first. Hawlemont Regional School has cultivated its farm curriculum in recent years, one of many schools seeking to attract students by capitalizing on West County’s rural attributes.
It’s an educational trend that Franklin County and the North Quabbin area is uniquely situated to lead the way.
Franklin County towns are under the gun to commit to the state’s new program for mosquito control by the deadline of May 28 or else join the Pioneer Valley Mosquito Control District. That, however, requires a Town Meeting vote, and “that ship has already sailed,” as Northfield Selectboard member Barbara “Bee” Jacque put it.
The most controversial aspect of the state’s plan is its use of aerial spraying using the pesticide Anvil 10-10 in the event of an outbreak of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and West Nile viruses, which can cause serious illness.
“Controversy exists about the safety and efficacy of this treatment,” Greenfield Board of Health Chair Nancee Bershof said, “and of the effectiveness in general of aerial spraying.”
Some of the concerns are for other insects and birds, which could be harmed during spraying, according to Greening Greenfield member Nancy Hazard. Should the state Department of Public Health determine that spraying is needed, towns that have opted out would nevertheless get sprayed and have to cover the cost. That puts town leaders between a rock and a hard place.
According to the last five years’ worth of data on mass.gov, the risk of mosquito-borne illnesses is “remote” to “low” in Franklin County. Time will tell if aerial spraying is needed. In the meantime, towns have to decide. For those residents who oppose aerial spraying, it comes down to, “Do you feel lucky?”
It would help if the state did not require this decision to be made in the midst of the busy Annual Town Meeting season.