Thursday, July 1, 2010
Not to mention that other $275,000
So if you watch our illustrious town leaders, otherwise known as the Chair of the Select Board and the Town Manager you would think the only thing given Atkins Country Market (a perennial top-ten employer in town) for a little bit of land required to complete a huge, expensive infrastructure improvement project in their front yard was this modest property tax break: $79,000 over the next ten years.
Of course the Select Board just a few months back approved the last beer-and-wine license in town to Atkins (a somewhat low-cost license to mint money.) And the town is also currently in the process of giving them another $275,000: $258,000 worth of paving to their private parking lot courtesy of the DPW, plus $17,000 in cash.
Umm, must have just slipped their minds.
The real beneficiary may not be Atkins, but rather Hampshire College (which can use all the help it can get in these tough times - this Q & A dates from April 2009, by the way):
ReplyDeleteQ. But here's the puzzle - why is Atkins coming out $275K short, and thus getting its lot repaved by the Town? Is it because the Town is using
even more of the Atkins land for a "ring road" around the store and parking lot, rather than just shifting Rt 116 to the east?
A. Yes, I believe that is the major part of the loss for Atkins. For those who don't know, this project includes building a "ring road" to the west and south of the Atkins property (currently, West Bay Road is the north border and West Street/Rt. 116 is the east border, so this will enclose Atkins in a square with roadway on all sides). The purpose of the ring road is: (a) to ease congestion at the Bay Road/116 intersection by allowing southbound traffic coming from West Bay Road to bypass the new roundabouts; (b) to provide frontage access to Atkins itself that is not on Rt. 116 (i.e., customers will have to turn onto the ring road to get into the Atkins parking lot; I can't remember if the driveway on West Bay Road will still be available); and (c) to provide frontage for all of the Hampshire College property that lies between Atkins and Applewood, which it intends to develop to complement its (currently stalled) Veridian Village project. Hampshire College is the driver for the push to make this area a village center; Atkins is just along for the ride (though in the short and medium term, it appears to be the main beneficiary).
I just want a four lane divided highway (posted at 65MPH) from UMass to the Pike. Every other decent sized college has such a connection to trunk interstates connecting to its primary cities. Why not UMass?
ReplyDeleteHave we all forgotten which politician lives in the area and doesn't want efficient vehicle traffic in his backyard???
Don't be so hard on the folks who gave away the concession, Atkins threatened to relocate their orchards.
ReplyDeleteEd,
ReplyDeleteYou should reasearch the once planned Rt. 9 Bypass. It was killed 3 decades ago and the traffic problems it would have relieved are here to stay.