Coalition forms to fight Worthington withdrawal

By Mike Donovan

 

HUNTINGTON– In the wake of a vote in the state House of Representatives Dec. 16 to allow Worthington to withdraw from the Gateway Regional School District, town officials from Russell, Huntington, Chester and Middlefield met in Stanton Hall last week and decided to consider strategies to prevent the bill from moving forward or to mitigate its impact on the other six Gateway towns if it does. It must now pass the senate and be signed into law by the governor.

Huntington Selectboard Chair Aimee Burnham said later that she wasn’t expecting that many people to attend the selectboard meeting last week, but some had apparently noted on the board’s posting that they would be discussing the withdrawal effort.

“I was really surprised when they showed up,” she said.

The result was an impromptu discussion of the situation. Present at the meeting were Joe Kearns, of the Middlefield Finance Committee; Ruth Kennedy, member of the Russell School Committee; Pandora Hague, Russell Selectboard Chair; Derek Mason, Russell Finance Committee; Michael Crochiere, Chester Finance Committee; Darlene McVeigh, Huntington Finance Committee Chair; and Burnham and Jeff McKittrick of the Huntington Selectboard.

All were critical of the manner in which the legislation was passed–during an informal session of the house with only five members present. The maneuver, reported Monday night by a local television station, had taken the officials by surprise.

Also meeting informally, they quickly agreed to schedule a more formal meeting and invite local legislators, including Downing and Kulik as well as Don Humason, who was recently elected state senator to fill the seat left vacant when former Senator Michael Knapik resigned. Kearns also suggested inviting state Representative Peter Kocot, who represents Montgomery, one of the Gateway towns. As a public meeting, it will be open to any and all other interested parties as well. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 8, at 5:30 p.m. in Stanton Hall, with a snow date of Monday, Jan. 13.

The main concern with Worthington’s withdrawal from the district is the financial impact on the other six towns. Figures the district released earlier this year indicate the increase in education costs will hit Huntington and Russell the hardest, at around $200,000 each, but Gateway Business Manager Stephanie Fisk later cautioned that the figures were based on the state budget released by the Governor almost a year ago, which changed during debate in the house and senate. In any case the Governor will be fielding a new budget in January, and Fisk said she will be looking at its Chapter 70 education figures to come up with the present numbers.

Chester and Huntington in particular have been struggling to stay within with their levy limits—the annual budget increases allowed under Proposition 2 ½–when assembling their own budgets, and the withdrawal of Worthington would make the problem worse. One Chester official was quoted recently as suggesting the town might have to declare bankruptcy.

Burnham later pointed out that Representative Steve Kulik, who, with state Senator Benjamin Downing, had written the legislation, was Huntington’s representative as well as Worthington’s.

“We’re disappointed in our town’s representation by Mr. Kulik,” she said. “We’re going to try to get the senate to see our point of view.”

After the legislation cleared the house, Kulik was quoted as conceding that the withdrawal would impose higher education costs on the other Gateway towns and said he would be looking for ways to mitigate the financial impact.

Burnham said she tried to verify the statement by emailing Kulik’s office, but as of last Friday morning had received no response.

She also contacted Downing’s office and the office of Senate Majority Leader Stan Rosenberg, and asked if language in the legislation could be amended.

“There should be something in the bill to mitigate the impact on the other towns,” she said.

Burnham said she was told that the language could, in fact, be amended, but when she asked whether it could include some way of reducing the financial damage to the other towns, an aide at Rosenberg’s office wasn’t sure.

The Gateway towns are Blandford, Russell, Montgomery, Huntington, Chester, Middlefield and, of course, Worthington.

Worthington withdrawal clears House

 

By Mike Donovan

 

HILLTOWNS–In an informal session of the state House of Representatives, five representatives, including Representative Steve Kulik, of Worthington, passed H.3574, “An Act relative to the withdrawal of the Town of Worthington from the Gateway Regional School District.”

Kulik and Worthington’s state senator, Benjamin Downing, wrote the bill after a town meeting in Worthington voted unanimously to seek home rule legislation allowing it to leave the district.

Worthington has a number of complaints, particularly the closing of the R. H. Conwell Elementary School in 2010, and the extra cost a term in the state’s formula to determine a town’s contribution to a district, which takes a town’s income levels into account. Worthington is said to be paying considerably more to the district than it would if it had the same income levels as the other towns.

At Annual Town Meetings last spring, the other six district towns unanimously voted down Worthington’s request to leave the district due to the financial impact the withdrawal would have. The loss of Worthington students would not reduce the district’s operating costs significantly, leaving the other six towns to make up the difference.

Kulik has said he will look for ways to reduce the financial impact of Worthington’s withdrawal on the other towns in the district.

Estimates provided by the Gateway District indicate Blandford’s education costs would rise by about $100,000; Chester’s by $136,000; Huntington’s by over $200,000; Middlefield’s by $43,000; Montgomery’s by nearly $72,000; and Russell’s by just under $200,000.

The bill now moves to the state senate, but no date for debate or a vote has been indicated. Our efforts to reach Representative Kulik before press time were unsuccessful.

Pond access sought for fishermen, boaters

By Mike Donovan

 

 

RUSSELL–Still pushing to allow fishermen, boaters and canoeists access to Russell Pond, former conservation commission member and outdoorsman Bill Hardie lobbied the selectboard to leave the gate at the Russell Town Beach open and provide security through “trail cameras,” mounted inconspicuously in inaccessible locations.

 

Until about a year ago, fishermen and others who wished to launch boats and canoes onto the pond used an area just east of the town beach where the Blandford Club maintained a dock and boathouse for many years. The Boy Scouts Western Mass. Council, which owns most of the land around the pond, had an informal agreement with the club allowing it to use the property. About 10 years ago, however, the club stopped using it and in the summer of 2012 the Boy Scouts closed off the boat-launching site with boulders.

 

Since then, Hardie has been trying to find a way to allow fishermen and boat owners access to the water. While a member of the town conservation commission, he also arranged for stocking of the pond in the past, but there was no stocking this year because of the lack of access.

 

He has proposed several solutions to the problem, including an access route at the opposite end of the town beach area. He said last week that the state Division of Fish and Wildlife has made a tentative offer to buy a strip of land to provide public access to the pond, but he told the selectboard last week that the solution for the present could be much simpler–just leave the gate to the town beach open.

 

But Selectboard Chair Pandora Hague, said allowing public access could cause problems. “We could have the same problem as we have on the river,” she said. “Why open a can of worms?”

 

Visitors might leave large quantities of trash on the beach and shoreline, as they do at popular sites along the river. Hardie, however, feels the trash problem along the river is due to picnickers who come from the cities, primarily on weekends and holidays. He doesn’t think fishermen would create those problems, but he has also offered to buy a trail camera and give it to the town. The cameras are well camouflaged and could be mounted where they would be difficult to vandalize or steal.

 

“If people cause problems they could be punished financially,” he said, by imposing fines.

 

The council has indicated that it closed access to avoid liability, but according to Hardie, state law exempts property owners from lawsuits brought by fishermen injured on private property.

 

There are other problems to consider, including possible legal issues such as use of Birch Hill Road, which provides the only access to the town beach. A few weeks ago Selectman Keith Cortis pointed out that the town does not own the road.

 

“I don’t see how we can grant access to the general public when the town only has a right of way,” he said.

 

Of immediate concern is allowing access for fishermen who will participate in an ice fishing derby in January.