Future Plans

GOALS AND AGENDA FOR 2007

Sponsor improvements to the Rt. 9 railroad overpass downtown. These will include refurbishing the “Dream” mural, powerwashing the entire bridge and masonry, adding lighting and benches, and adding rain protection for the sidewalks below. We will also install some landscaping barrels near the underpass that would be sponsored and maintained by nearby businesses. We will send a letter to the Railroad with the Mayor asking for permission to restore the mural and install some lighting. The City will pay to repair the railing and install the lighting. We will also ask the Railroad to provide rain protection that will prevent ice from building up on the sidewalk due to dripping from above after the City has removed the snow. We have heard many complaints about this problem. , We will need to raise some money for this project. The Arts Council has committed the money that they have received over the year from trucks hitting the Bridge to the restoration of the mural. They have about $1000 in this account. We think the entire project, including police for traffic control, will cost about$10,000. We hope that we can find a local architect who will produce a rendering of the site as we envision it which we can use in our pitch to the Railroad and our fundraising. We are working actively with the Chamber of Commerce on this project. The members of the Board who are most involved in this are Jim Nash and Bob Reckman. Steve Rogers, our former vice-president, is willing and able to do the work. We hope it might happen this year.

We will work actively with the City and Mass Highway to facilitate communication about the proposed changes to Exit 19. We sponsored a community meeting at Bridge St. School on Jan 17 which was attended by about 70 people. We have written a letter to the Metropolitan Planning Organization via the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission which makes preliminary comments on the 5% plan. We will meet with the Mayor and the Planning Department to hear their views. We have begun to create a list serve of people who are concerned about the project. The address will be I-91Exit19Information. Gerry Budgar, our vice-president, has agreed to chair a subcommittee about this issue. If you would like to be on the list serve for Exit 19, please e–mail him at gbudgar@rcn.com. We have drafted a letter that we will send to Mass Highway as well as a number of people in City government and the press offering our assistance in communicating with the public. We will sponsor an event on Saturday in late April or early May which will combine a walk around exit 19 (so that people can look at the spots where proposed work may happen), another public information session and a social event. The public information session and social event will take place at the Northampton Airport.

--We will sponsor another Meadows Cleanup Day in the fall. This event may also include a social event such as a hayride.

--We are in the process of upgrading our web site substantially.

--We will continue to work on Sustainable Northampton and the Three County Fair Neighborhood Advisory Committee.