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The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission listen to the CEDS presentation Thursday night in Pittsfield. The strategic plan is required every five years by the federal government.

BRPC Hopes to Gain Louder Voice for Rural Communities

By Jeff SnoonianiBerkshires Correspondent
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BRPC Executive Director Tom Matuszko, lefft, and commission Chairman Kyle Hanlon at last week's meeting.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — For the last two years, Thomas Matuszko, the executive director of the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, has been intermittently traveling the commonwealth listening to concerns of citizens living in rural areas along with his colleagues from the Rural Policy Advisory Commission. 
 
The entity was created by the state Legislature to "enhance the economic vitality of rural communities" and put together a master plan. What the RPAC ultimately wants is a voice in the State House.
 
"There isn't any centralized department or agency in state government that is really dealing with issues of rural communities. There's no centralized way that somebody is looking at this on a consistent basis," Matuszko told the BRPC on Thursday. "So we are recommending that there be an Office of Rural Policy that can help provide this focus and this leadership on rural issues." 
 
Rural areas are defined by a population density of less than 500 people per square mile and face a wholly unique set of challenges compared to that of the Metro Boston area. Declining and aging populations, education and health-care shortfalls, and unequitable state funding mechanisms are just a few of the challenges the RPAC has identified. 
 
Matuszko pointed out one unexpected finding the commission discovered in the course of its research.
 
"In Berkshire County 54 percent of someone's income is spent on housing and transportation. We don't have mass transit out here. We have distances that are fairly large that need a lot of driving. Our transportation costs are really high even though our housing costs are low," he said. "When you compare that with Suffolk County, that's a pretty urban area around Boston, they're only spending 38 percent of their income on housing and transportation. It's a real difference in how people spend their money. What they need to spend their money on."
 
Even with median home sale prices in Berkshire County at about $214,000 compared to about $600,000 for Suffolk County, residents are still paying a much heftier percentage of their income to merely pay for housing and transportation.
 
The RPAC found education and health care, a huge strength in other parts of the state, severely lacking in rural areas. Matuszko spoke specifically to the Berkshires.
 
"The challenges that we find related to some of the demographic changes and the declining enrollments in our high schools are problematic in terms of offering class choice for a lot of our schools. This is not necessarily uniform, we have some high performing schools, but there are school enrollment declines that are dramatic ... in Berkshire County," he said. "And if you've tried to find a primary care physician in Berkshire County, it is very hard to do that."
 
As a result of a declining and aging populace, rural towns see less revenue through property taxes and are unable to staff town halls to deal with the financial shortcoming properly. 
 
"Financial resources and staff capacity is not [sufficient] in many of our small towns across the state," Matuszko said.
 
Despite all these problems Matuszko believes rural areas can benefit the state by solving some of its pressing issues.
 
"One of the important aspects that we found is that Massachusetts and the urban area around Boston is really facing a crisis in terms of housing prices and land availability to accommodate an increasing population. Within a relatively short time period, the population of the Boston area is projected to grow significantly. I think it's by about 30 percent. Where are those people going to go?" he asked. "Our assets could solve a statewide problem in terms of housing and land. Quality of life really is a strong asset that will draw people to rural areas."
 
The commission wants to review and revise the important allocation formulas used for funding education and infrastructure in the state as well by implementing a "Rural Factor." The funding formulas are based mostly off of population and enrollment. They don't take into account travel costs for large regional school districts, seasonal population swells, or the lack of mass transit.
 
"We have a lot of road miles in [Berkshire County] and not a lot of population so that formula may not be adequate," Matuszko said.     
 
 He outlined where the now completed, first of its kind, plan will go from here.
 
 "The next step is to really advocate for some of the legislation that is being proposed and we can do that as a group. We can come up with a legislative agenda that is important for us," he said.
 
 The RPAC meetings are open to the public and will be on the BRPC calendar on its website.
 
Senior Planner Laura Brennan also presented the commission with an update on the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) update for Berkshire County. The report is required by the federal Economic Development Authority. It is done every five years and is updated annually. The report focuses on demographics, infrastructure, economic development efforts, and other regional concerns.
 
Perhaps most importantly it recognizes key development projects throughout the county and identifies funding vehicles for them. Inclusion in this report is actually necessary to be eligible for those funds.
 
Brennan provided a list of some of those projects that include: The Greylock Glen and Blackinton Mill in North County, Berkshire Mall reuse and new Pittsfield police station in Central Berkshire, and the Great Barrington fairgrounds and Eagle Mill in South County. Plus countywide projects like Broadband For All and the brownfields program.
 
One high-profile project that benefitted from CEDS in the past was the Linde Center of Music and Learning at Tanglewood in Lenox.
 
The CEDS plan update was unanimously approved by the commission.

Tags: BRPC,   CEDS,   rural policy,   

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Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
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