Alcombright Address Lauds North Adams Investment, Progress

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Mayor Richard Alcombright lays out the potential and the challenges facing North Adams in the coming year.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Mayor Richard Alcombright gave a wide — ranging "state of the city" address at Tuesday's City Council meeting, touching on subjects ranging from economic development, substance abuse and budgetary issues.

The mayor, entering the last year of his third term, is hoping to bring to fruition a number of projects, including the redevelopment of Western Gateway Heritage State Park.

"When I had the idea of privatization four years ago, I never anticipated the work that would be necessary and the bureaucracy that is involved in crafting this lease," he said, adding that a contract may be ready this March.

He also referenced the near completion of the Armory into a community center, two new playgrounds and the beginnings of a plan for a new public safety building, and listed a number of public and private investments under way in the city, including the massive Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art expansion.

Unemployment is down but substance abuse and policing continues to be an issue within the city.

"It is unfortunate that 'budgets rather than circumstances' determine the level of police personnel in this community," he said. " I will continue to keep public safety very high on the priority list as we build this next budget."

Despite presenting the first balanced budget in some time last year, and the possibility of free cash at the end of this fiscal year, the city is entering fiscal 2016 with an anticipated $800,000 deficit.

"Couple all of this with our infrastructure woes and we have a lot of work to do," said the mayor.

 

Mayor Richard Alcombright's State of the City address for 2015

As I come into my sixth year in office, I am here tonight to give you my thoughts relative to our fine city for this year to come.

The heavily redundant piece of my message is that we faced many fiscal challenges over the past five years as we tried to strengthen our financial position. This fiscal year, thanks to some creativity, continued consolidation, cooperation of our employees and the support of the City Council and School Committee, we passed the first "balanced" budget since my involvement in City government in 2001.

Additionally, this was the first year in four cycles that we have received "Free Cash" and I am hoping that we can close this fiscal year in a way that will once again help us maintain and grow reserves.

As we begin to build our FY2016 budget, I must be certain that this Council and our School Committee, as well as residents, understand that this will undoubtedly be the most difficult budget this City has seen in recent memory. It seems as though I say this every year, however, very initial numbers would indicate that our FY2016 budget will be some $800,000 out of balance. Couple all of this with our infrastructure woes and we have a lot of work to do. More to come as [the Finance Committee] will be meeting.

As you know, Governor Baker is facing a shortfall in the FY16 state budget of some $700 million.

At the recent MMA conference, it was clear that his commitment not to reduce local and Chapter 70 school aid was firm, and while not the worst news, as we all know, level funding is truly a 2 to 3 percent cut.  

It was also stated by [Administration and Finance] Secretary Kristen Lepore that the administration was not going to dip into the "rainy day fund" to balance the budget or extend further local revenues. Reductions in state revenues since 2009 have truly been the financial kiss of death for the city.

I know that our Berkshire Delegation will work very hard to bring forward better revenue numbers. I will continue to keep this council very well informed.  

My past five years of tough fiscal policy, significant sacrifice by staff, programmatic cuts an consolidations, while difficult proved to have kept this city's fiscal position in check.   

Public safety and the safety of our first responders will continue to be a priority as every day it appears that the world around us becomes more volatile. It is unfortunate that "budgets rather than circumstances" determine the level of police personnel in this community. I will continue to keep public safety very high on the priority list as we build this next budget.

Opiate use that leads to heroin addiction is everywhere in our greater community, region, state and country. I can say with great confidence that addiction and the underlying mental health issues that contribute to the addiction is one of the largest and fastest growing social issues in this country.

We continue to engage with several law enforcement agencies as well as the district attorney to crack down on the drug activity in the City.  We have seen significant arrests, confiscations and state prison convictions. Investigations continue and we will not slow our efforts.

The NBCC's Prescription Drug/Heroin Abuse Task Force and the Systems of Care Committee, are both efforts that deal with prevention, education and eradication and the stigma surrounding mental health and addiction.  

I actively sit in on both of these groups.   

Additionally, I have been appointed to sit on the Mass Municipal Associations Heroin/Opiate Abuse Task Force. I meet monthly with other community leaders across the commonwealth and we work to strengthen legislation and push ideas and solutions up to the governor's desk.

What is sorely missing around this issue is education. As we know, the DARE program has been out of our schools for several years due to lack of funding and while I am hopeful that today's addicts find treatment, I am convinced that we need significant and immediate funding to put programming in our schools beginning as early as third grade.

This is imperative as the new "normalization" of drugs — most specifically marijuana and opiates — needs to be beaten back so that we are not simply allowing a next generation of addicts to take root.  

Governor Baker and Attorney General Healey have both made very strong statements regarding addiction and I am anxious to see what they will do.

While I am never offended by differences of opinion, I must say that I continue to be disheartened by ugly and personalized politics that are pervasive here in the City. While everyone has a right to their opinion, to get in the way of ideas "simply" to get in the way is destructive, defeatist and debilitating.

There are people in this community who simply thrive on being divisive always with a criticism, never with an idea or better yet a solution. I truly hope for the sake of what we all want, which is simply a better North Adams, that these people will find a way to turn "harmful into helpful."

As I did last year, I will once again ask this question: If there was no North Adams and we were to build one, what would it look like?  

Our people, our beautiful physical environment, our museum, our college, our business community, our schools are all assets that are necessary to build a community. How do we more effectively link them all to fully maximize their role and relevance in this "new" North Adams?

Last year, I mentioned the "Rope of Hope" and that as a community, we needed to pull that rope all in the same direction if we wanted to grow. Since, I have seen many put their hands on that rope and pull

1. People with new and fresh ideas

2. People who are providing expanded private sector investment

3. More private and public projects on the burner

Collectively, we have a lot going on; some things point to true economic development and some will simply create a better environment that will bring people and business to the city.

We will continue to move forward with our Master Plan Vision 2030.

This platform combined with the efforts of the Partnership for North Adams and private investors will assure for many good things to come.

As I stated last year, if we wait for the government to do it, if we wait for others to do it, then it will never get done. The re-invention of this city is in our collective hands and on our collective backs.

I am very happy to report:

That the privatization of Heritage State Park continues to move ahead through discussion with the principals of the Greylock Marketplace. When I had the idea of privatization four years ago, I never anticipated the work that would be necessary and the bureaucracy that is involved in crafting this lease. The work and the time spent will be well worth it as we have two things very much in our favor: the developer and the investors, both with proven ability to get this done and a strong commitment to its success.

I am confident that I will be discussing and making public, the terms of the lease before the end of March and discuss next steps.

We have been permitted by MassDOT to operate our scenic rail in a partnership with [Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum] and the town of Adams. Some of the equipment is here and we are anticipating rides to begin in early summer.  

That said, the new administration has placed a hold on all pending projects and I am working with the lieutenant governor's office to see if we can get the "green light" on this fully funded and previously approved project.

With the redevelopment of [Heritage State Park], we have worked with the local Historical Society to find a suitable and visible solution for our local historic museum and we continue to work with [the Department of Conservation and Recreation] to assure they maintain a presence in the city most specifically on the HSP footprint. I am confident both will happen.

The MoCA Phase 3 project is under way and this multimillion dollar expansion will create an incredible new experience for visitors and will guarantee a larger visitor base each year.  The city, through its Mass MoCA Commission, will have certain fiscal oversight.

Our solar project on the site of the capped landfill will be completed by late spring and it will be partially online by May and fully online in September.  



This project will provide significant savings in electricity costs to the city and School Department.

I am very excited to say that the Colegrove Park Elementary School project remains on budget and the school will open this September.

As I stated at the onset, this project is all about creating the infrastructure consistent with providing state-of-the-art services to our students.  Additionally, and as a renovation of an historic structure, this investment is also about economic activity and will provide long-term benefit to the neighborhood and our greater downtown.

As we open Colegrove, our School Committee, administration,

teachers and support staff recognize the challenges facing so many of our student and our district. We struggle as a district in many ways and I have learned after many years of serving school districts that to simply throw money at problems is not the best solution.  

That said, our district has taken a beating over the past six years due to underfunding on so many levels and we have to do two things:

1. Assess how we deliver academic services

2. Assess how we rebuild the budget so that it provides the best bang for the buck to those we serve: our students.

I cannot be more pleased with the medical services that have been rebuilt since the closure of our hospital. Thanks to our government and BHS/BMC partners so much has been restored. I continue to meet every two to three weeks with David Phelps, CEO of [Berkshire Health Systems] to discuss the resumption of additional services.

Suffice to say that restoration of more services are being discussed and from what I am told, nothing is off the table

We are in the last phase of the Armory renovation and it is the quest of this administration to see it open as a Community/Youth Center this summer. A [request for proposals] has been developed and it will be issued in very early March. Our vision is that it be leased and operated by a "lead agency" who would solicit other agency involvement and programming that would fulfill the requirements of the RFP.  

We envision this center to provide services for our youth, elderly, veterans, community theater groups, youth sports groups and others.  

I will continue to work with our community partner MCLA, on a sustainable project that will breathe life into the Mohawk Theater once a new president is on board.  

With continued engagement and commitment of the state and federal government for additional funding, I am very hopeful that we will be able to find a solution.  

MCLA as a partner guarantees a project with long-term sustainability providing daily use, revenue, management, programming and other attributes that will assure success.

The Hoosac River Revival project is moving along due to the great work of Judy Grinnell and her team of river enthusiasts. As you know, through the good work of Sen. Downing, Rep. Cariddi and with the support of Gov. Patrick, HRR is in the Environmental Bill pipeline to the tune of $9 million to begin a project on the South Branch of the river in the vicinity of the Joe Wolfe Field complex. Several months ago, $500,000 was released to craft the design for the first phase of this expansive social, economic and environmental project. Engineers are currently in the field doing surveys and site assessments.

Last year as you know, I approached state leaders and agencies for additional city funding for capital needs. The idea to do this right after the closure of our hospital was due to the creative thinking of City Solicitor John DeRosa. John was instrumental in helping me create a strategy and an actionable idea that I put in front of Sen. Downing and Rep. Cariddi and then in a sense "sold" to state leadership. As a result, we were given $750,000 for capital needs.

We have prioritized those needs and projects are under way and equipment has been ordered. So far [the Department of Public Works] has acquired a new  piece of snow-clearing equipment, the library finally has a gas heating system that will back up the geothermal system in place and two new cruisers are being delivered [Wednesday].

We have just received documentation relative to additional Chapter 90 funds and with that, are currently measuring out work to be done that will begin in the late spring. Right now we are planning to do the following:

  • Demond Avenue from Mass. Avenue to the trestle
  • Pattison Road from approximately the water plant to the Williamstown line
  • Notch Road from the reservoir approximately 1 mile easterly
  • Brown Street from the trestle to River Street
  • Daniels Road from Oak Hill to the culvert, approximately 2/3 of a mile

Additionally, when the fiscal 2016 numbers are announced, a very large project will be done to finish Rand Street, the site of a major water break last spring.

The private sector has once again stepped up and is funding a complete renovation of the former Homestead Bar on River Street into the UNO Community Center. This building will house neighborhood programming for the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition.  

We are very thankful and excited to bring this center to that neighborhood.

We are in the midst of site selection for a skate park in the city and and new playgrounds at Windsor Lake and Kemp Park have been built and will be completed and opened this spring.

It is my intent to issue RFPs for both Sullivan School and the former Notre Dame Church and school in the early spring. I am hoping that both properties will get noticed and attract developers with some great ideas for re-use.

Work actively continues on the development of the bike paths both from the south (Ashuwillticook) and from the west (Berkshire Bike Path)

We will again be applying for a MassWorks grant to begin work at the site of the former Brien Center on the corner of Main and Marshall. This will be a collaborative public/private project with Mass MoCA.

A new center for entrepreneurship and social innovation called Lever opened this summer based at 85 Main St.  

This team is working to contribute to economic development in Northern Berkshire by creating and growing enterprises that leverage local minds, talents and assets.

Out of Lever and the Partnership for North Adams, we just cut the ribbon at Cloud 85 on 85 Main St. This initiative provides ready to use workspace for business services to support independent professionals and entrepreneurs.  It features a variety of personal work spaces, high-speed Internet, copiers and printers, meeting rooms, networking and truly tailors the needs of its users from all backgrounds and professions.

Another great private sector project has been the Union Street Center, the former location of Shapiro Chevrolet. The building has gone through significant physical improvement and is the home of several businesses and the future home of NBCTC.

The Mohawk Tavern building is under complete renovation and we will soon be seeing that building brought back to life in a spectacular way.

We will be embarking on a Public Safety Building Study very soon.  

This will be funded with CDBG dollars and will be the beginning of our search for a new public safety building solution. This in part due to the decrepit physical condition of our building and also to comply with our ADA/U.S. Department of Justice settlement.

We have slated CDBG money for a study for the adaptive re-use of our churches and historic structures. More information will follow on this initiative

We have contracted — again with the use of CDBC money — the Collins Center for Public Management at the University of Massachusetts Boston to craft a formal capital plan outlining the short, mid- and long-term needs of the city. This list will include everything from vehicles to building infrastructure to our water and sewer systems and will allow us to proactively plan projects and seek grants. This process will begin on Jan. 28 with folks from the Collins Center meeting with all department heads.

Finally I am very pleased to say that while not yet ideal, the North Adams "micro" market unemployment rate, which is more reflective of this region, is at a 6.2 percent, down 1.7 percent from last year and down from 9.5 percent in 2009. While higher than the state average of 4.8 percent and county average of 5.2 percent, we have managed to keep pace with state and county reductions over the past six years.

This list is expansive however not all-inclusive. I am certain all will agree that we have much going on and that everything mentioned will provide social and/or economic benefit to the city now and into the future.

I look forward to working with this council, the School Committee, our School Building Committee, and all of our boards and commissions. I very much appreciate the guidance of my neighboring town leaders and our local delegation. I truly value the wonderful employees of our city and school system, and I am very thankful for the patience and support of the people of this great city.   

I will close with the same words as last year: "The wheels of government grind slowly" and that they do! But with continued support and patience, we will continue to grow and make "our" city, nestled here in the palm of God's hand, a place of pride for all of us.


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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime. 
 
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather. 
 
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5
 
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
 
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure. 
 
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
 
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
 
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