Mill River Greenway Initiative

A community-based steward for the Mill River

Community meetings

Vote on Northampton’s Community Preservation Act

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Northampton Residents to Vote Whether to Repeal the Community Preservation Act on November 1st.

There will be a single referendum question on Northampton’s election ballot this November 1st: The question is whether Northampton should repeal the Community Preservation Act (CPA).  A “no” vote will allow the CPA to continue, and a “yes” vote will repeal the CPA.
Proponents of  “Vote NO” to Save the CPA,” point to the program’s successes: It has
protected hundreds of acres of open space, preserved
some of important historical landmarks and has supported the
construction of new recreation fields and affordable housing. In addition, the CPA has brought millions of dollars to our city — the $3.8 million the city collected in CPA funds have been matched by over $17 million from other sources.

Opponents state that residents of the city already pay too many taxes.

For more information: http://www.northamptonma.gov/cpc/

For a map of all CPA projects: http://www.northamptonma.gov/cpc/googlemap/index.html

 

Look Park Pond Dredging Meeting

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Folks, there’s a meeting today, June 23 at 3:00 at Look Park to visit the Corps of Engineers dredging site at Willow Park.  Here is the contents of the email from the Corps’s contact, John Sargent:

…we are planning to have a site walk with the park staff and the con com on June 23 at 3 pm at Look Park.    The purpose of the meeting would be to gather additional information to include talk of dredging alternatives, impacts to coldwater fisheries in the river, and other issues that have been raised.  The con com will have a public hearing following the site meeting where the Corps representatives will be present as well.

We will follow up this post as the things unfold.

Williamsburg Village Centers Visioning Session

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Meekins Park: new fence on restored wall. Photo: Nick Dines

On Tuesday JUNE 14 at 7:00 pm at the Town Offices (Haydenville) please come share your thoughts on the Williamsburg village centers at a public visioning session, it’s a great chance to let the town know how much the river means to you and your community. The meeting is hosted by the Williamsburg Village Centers Visioning Committee which was formed in response to a goal of the recently updated Williamsburg Open Space & Recreation Plan – to help create & maintain vibrant village centers to help protect open spaces elsewhere in town. You can read the Open Space plan here.

Discussion will include river access, pedestrian needs, generally how development should look in and near the centers, and whatever related issues you bring to the meeting. Community input will be used for the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission to assess zoning regulations with the end result to be recommended strategies to strengthen our village centers.

The committee is also seeking public input through this survey. Please take a moment to let the Town know how much you’d like to see the Mill River featured in the future plans for Burgy and Haydenville village centers. (If you need something to get you thinking, here’s a good place to start: the village centers wouldn’t be where they are if not for the Mill River.)