WILLIAMSTOWN — Frail, ill and disabled residents of The Spruces mobile home park, many of them elderly, will be spared the ordeal of walking up to a quarter mile to retrieve their mail, thanks to an agreement worked out late last week.
Richard T. Delmasto, congressional aide to U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst, confirmed the agreement yesterday, and Spruces Tenants Association President Susan Fabregas said she was pleased with the outcome.
“Based on the fact that we’ll never get home delivery back for everyone, the agreement seems to provide for the needs of those handicapped and disabled residents, but it is yet to be seen if they follow through on that,†Fabregas said.
The agreement specifies that Fabregas will determine which tenants qualify for medical “hardship’ waivers, which will allow them to have mail delivered to their doors rather than to a central mailbox bank in the community center. Tenants will submit their applications to her, she will make the determination on who qualifies, then pass on the list to the Postal Service, she and Delmasto said.
“I already have a list of those people who are qualified for home delivery,†Fabregas said, “and I know who can manage without danger to themselves. We’re being very judicious about the way we do it.â€
Tenants had appealed to Olver, saying the U.S. Postal Service’s discontinuance of home delivery and its denial of hardship waivers to some seriously infirm residents, placed those residents in danger and imposed a severe hardship on them.
Some residents recounted their health issues which clearly restricted and, in some cases, prevented them from ordinary mobility, much less a hike to the bank of communal mailboxes.
Olver’s Sept. 30 letter to Postmaster General John E. Potter described the conditions of several Spruces residents who, despite manifest handicaps and illness, were denied waivers.
Yesterday, Fabregas said all those tenants “who are still alive and living at The Spruces, will get waivers.â€
Of the anticipated three dozen who originally applied for waivers over the past year, she said, “about eight have passed away or are in nursing homes now.â€
She said disabled residents who have able-bodied relatives living with them will not be granted waivers, because the relatives can get their mail. And for some, she said briskly, “Walking is healthy.â€
Fabregas said some residents will be on the list only during the winter months, and those recuperating from an injury will have temporary delivery.
Last Thursday Michael Powers, Postal Service district manager based in Reading met with Williamstown Postmaster John Bourdon and Fabregas in Williamstown, meeting later with Delmasto at Olver’s Pittsfield office. According to Delmasto, Powers said Fabregas would have “complete discretion†in compiling the list. Efforts to reach Bourdon for comment were unsuccessful.
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Former Harry's Supermarket Under Construction for Restaurant
Late last month, the Conservation Commission greenlit some tree pruning on the property. New windows and a new door can be seen in the front of the building.
"It's a substantial renovation that's currently underway here," Brent White of White Engineering said, speaking on behalf of the applicant and owner, Huajie Zhu.
A fire gutted the longtime Wahconah Street supermarket in 2023, and the following year, Zhu purchased the property for $460,000 two years ago to build a restaurant with hibachi in the existing footprint of the more than 100-year-old building.
White explained that the project has been ongoing for over a year, and the Community Development Board granted the property a waiver to reduce the minimum required number of parking spaces so that additional spaces aren't needed.
He noted that, looking at the site plan, there is very little room to do so. A mirror will be installed near the sharp turn on Bel Air Avenue to alleviate traffic concerns.
Pruning will be done on trees in the southeast corner of the existing paved parking lot, as a number of branches are hanging over. The new owners also intend to patch, sealcoat, and re-stripe the parking lot.
A fire tore through the building less than an hour after the supermarket closed for the day three years ago. An automatic sprinkler system is required for the new use.
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