Williamstown tree battle could end up in court

By Linda CarmanPrint Story | Email Story
The range war in Williamstown appears headed for court, and the city of North Adams is expected to use videotapes of Luce Road residents refusing tree-cutters admittance to their property as ammunition against them, if necessary. The taking of the videos prompted charges of bullying from residents, some of whom have charged that cutting their trees to protect the “glide path” of Harriman & West Airport is unnecessary and illegal. In a terse statement issued yesterday, after residents blocked workers from J.H. Maxymillian from moving heavy equipment onto the properties, the North Adams Airport Commission said, “This project is important to the city and the Northern Berkshire area, and it needs to get done.” The prepared statement added, “We need to prepare whatever legal recourse we have in the courts, including damages if necessary, and it appears at this point to be necessary. The Airport Commission is fully confident we have the legal documents enforceable in a court of law.” The court action the city is expected to seek would require property owners and easement holders to grant admission to tree-cutters and possibly also pay damages for delaying the tree cutting the airport claims it needs. The city issued a “notice of stop work” to Maxymillian as of Wednesday and received notice from the company that it would need a time extension for the project and seek damages for time lost from work. In the showdown’s latest chapter, embattled Luce Road residents again turned back attempts by tree-cutters hired by the commission to take down the trees. But not before giant green-and-yellow logging trucks pulled onto the residential street, accompanied by a contingent of North Adams officials, acting, at least in effect, as an escort. After the confrontation with angry residents, one orange-clad employee of Northern Tree Clearing of Palmer, a stocky, gray-haired man who refused to give his name, was overheard saying, “We’ll take one tree to make a statement.” He then designated a maple in Raymond Bergmann’s front yard at 156 Luce Road. Bergmann termed the selection of his tree “retaliatory,” made “because of my vocal opposition to this project.” But the standoff continued and Northern Tree workers departed, having cut no trees. The Airport Commission maintains it must cut trees that extend into the glide path for the runway whose threshold, or touchdown point, it wants to move 1,100 feet towards Williamstown, in order to qualify for $5 million in federal funds for runway repair and other renovations. Residents of the area slated for tree cutting have disputed the validity of the airport’s easements for the first phase, some of which were obtained for $1 in the 1960s. They said the airport used measurements from the 1963 end of the runway, not the 1965 length. The difference, they maintain, could spare their trees. Bergmann, when approached earlier yesterday by the tree-cutting contingent, informed them that he considered them to be trespassing on private property and that, as such, that they would be subject to legal action. Williamstown Selectmen have asked the Airport Commission to suspend tree-cutting until they provide the board with data on certain potential results – specifically the hydrological effects – of such widespread cutting. The second phase, for which the airport is now seeking to obtain much broader easements, would take an estimated thousands of trees. In a related development, opponents of the tree-cutting raised questions about crucial numbers in the airport’s master plan to the Selectmen at their meeting Monday. Philip Guy of Holly Lane charged that numbers cited in the airport’s master plan – numbers which provide the crucial underpinning for the commission’s designation of a specific “design aircraft” — and thus the need for a longer runway — are inconsistent with numbers provided on Turboprop East’s Web site. Turboprop East is the aircraft repair and refurbishing company operating at the airport and owned by Harry Patten of Williamstown. Residents say the discrepancy calls into question the validity of designating an aircraft that would require a 4,300-foot runway. “The design aircraft is the linchpin of the master plan,” Guy said. The “design aircraft” used in the airport’s master plan is the Beech King Air B100. A design aircraft is simply the most demanding aircraft expected to use the airport on a regular basis. According to Federal Aviation Administration guidelines, 500 operations – an operation being a combined landing and takeoff – per year are required for an aircraft to qualify as an airport’s design aircraft. The most recent version of the airport’s master plan prepared by New Hampshire-based Gale Associates engineering consultants asserts that the King Air B100 performs 800 to 1,000 operations there a year. That figure is based on a June 11, 1999 letter from Turboprop East CEO Robert Scerbo to Airport Commission Chairman Alfred “Bud” Dougherty. An earlier master plan had estimated 500 operations but was revised after the FAA questioned the use of airplanes with 10 or more seats as design aircraft. But, Guy told the Selectmen, Turboprop East’s own Web site contains a link to a company press release dated Sept. 13, 2002, citing 240 King Air operations per year, only half the 500 required by FAA for the design aircraft designation. “Clearly, this is a direct contradiction to the letter from Turboprop East to the airport commission claiming 800 to 1,000 operations a year... Furthermore, we have recently learned through the manufacturer’s Web site that only 350 King Air B100s were ever produced (between 1969 and 1984),” one objector wrote in a letter to the board. “If there are truly 800 to 1,000 operations of this aircraft at the airport, then Turboprop East would need to service every single King Air B100 ever produced more than once per year, which sounds extremely unlikely. Williamstown Town Manager Peter Fohlin said yesterday that town counsel has advised local officials that they do not have any standing in the matter of the Phase One easements. “It is a private, civil matter between each of the property owners and the airport commission, he said, adding, “We will be watching carefully to make sure they don’t cut down trees on town properties.” Chairman John Madden characterized his meeting last week with Airport Commission Chairman Dougherty as “friendly.” Madden said he had been given “some hope we could work out a compromise.” He also stressed that the board became involved “as soon as we realized the extent of the cutting.” “This is not just an issue that involves individual homeowners,” Madden said. “It involves town-owned trees and drainage. And it involves one municipality that tries to take another’s property by eminent domain, and we can’t sit idly by and let that happen.” Madden recalled his recent letter to Dougherty asking for cutting to be suspended until the commission provided data on the hydrological impact of the cutting. He also asked the commission to consider a 100-foot incremental change in siting the threshold, and to consider the safety of residents in the glide path. Considering the apparent disparity in the number of operations by the Beechcraft King Air B-100, Madden concluded, “It seems the commission is making decisions on data that are not reliable.” According to Madden, “Williamstown residents are paying the price.” Specifically, he said, cutting the trees would let planes fly lower and make more noise. And, he maintained, the scope of Phase Two easements is so broad that if an airplane dropped fuel and it ignited, the homeowner would have no recourse. Selectman Charles Schlesinger noted that the airport belongs to North Adams and that Williamstown was “not willing to bear the brunt of the problems and unmitigated deterioration from its expansion.” On Monday, the day tree cutting was scheduled to start, Williamstown Police Chief Arthur A. Parker Jr. told Gale Associates site engineer Eric Strand to seek a court order for access to Luce Road properties. But Gale Associates personnel maintained that delivering copies of the disputed easements would be sufficient to allow them to proceed. Later in the morning, Berkshire County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. David Tyburski arrived, hired by the city of North Adams, to keep the peace. Some neighborhood residents left to go to courts in Pittsfield and North Adams to demand to be heard if Gale Associates should seek to obtain court orders. Apparently neither the city nor the airport’s consultant sought them. The targeted maple in Bergmann’s yard bears a “Sold” sign, and, he said, all trees on his property are slated to be cut. Other signs say “Trees for Sale, Cheap, Five for $1. Monday, about 20 residents clustered on his lawn awaiting a possible denouement. Earlier in the morning, the East Williamstown Neighborhood Association, to which many of them belong, had presented Strand with a lengthy notification of no trespassing. On the scene yesterday were North Adams City Solicitor Patrick Rondeau, Mayor John Barrett III’s Administrative Officer Mary Katherine Eade, and Public Safety Commissioner E. John Morocco. Yesterday morning, a smaller group of umbrella-clutching residents watched the logging trucks roll in, then out again. Some said they considered the downpour that greeted that arrival “a divine reprieve.”
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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."
 
The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School. 
 
The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday. 
 
The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season. 
 
The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations. 
 
"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said  interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.  
 
"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."
 
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