Dear Updates:
Regarding the article on GE removing its toxic waste from the Housatonic in your last issue, I would like to add the concern over the amount of diesel particulate matter (DPM), as well as particulates from tire, brake, and road abrasion, that such a large number of heavy duty trucks carrying PCBs over so many years will add to the atmosphere. Imagine dozens of these trucks idling every day at the intersection of 102 and 183, waiting to turn for Main Street. Right next to the usually quiet Botanical Gardens. I presume these trucks return via the same route to the work site for each trip.
DPMs contain multiple known carcinogens and there is no safe level at which they may be inhaled. PM2.5s are fine particles that are particularly hazardous for children and the elderly. There are already increasing numbers of trucks using Rt 183 — car carriers come to mind — along with the usual local traffic. And of course, hundreds of heavy combination trucks daily on the Mass Pike. Trains also emit particulate matter.
There are significant wildlife corridors where GE trucks will pass. We are not the only ones affected. There will be no place in the region where the hazard will be avoided. DPM particles readily disperse via even mild wind currents over a wide area. Nowhere to hide…
This will go on for YEARS. I live on Rt 183. I am doing my best to create a protective screen near the road via plantings and researching fence barriers. Depending on what I find, I will consider asking the town for mitigation assistance based on its responsibility for accepting the GE deal and money.
Thermal desorption should be used here instead of dredging and a dump. Ask the folks on the Hudson how well GE dredging and capping has worked. This is the overriding issue. GE is not getting the results required on the Hudson. Why would it work here? Billions of dollars in economic damage has been done to Hudson communities. Fish and sediment remain contaminated.
GE’s mission statement says it will “usher in the next industrial era and to build, move, power, and cure the world.” Really. And in case you think $1.6 million from GE to Stockbridge is a good deal, GE’s profit last year was more than 64 billion dollars
Bruce Blair
Dear Carole
This is in response to your recent post
We are writing in response to your coverage of Monday night’s informational meeting about the Monument renovation project. Some important points we think people need to keep in mind:
The cost is not yet known.
Until we know the precise cost of the project and the amount of state reimbursement, we can’t calculate the cost to taxpayers yet.
Trust the process that is underway.
An experienced team of architects and designers who specialize in building Massachusetts public schools has been working closely with our district and the state to develop a clear path forward. We are in the final stretch of that multi-year process and seek community input to determine the specific plan to pursue.
Alternate ideas could rob us of this opportunity.
Well intentioned people can create false hope by suggesting solutions that are outside of those being explored at this stage. The vote 11 years ago failed in part because people put a lot of faith in ideas that weren’t fully developed or even feasible. As a result, we forfeited tens of millions of dollars and now face an even costlier project. Let’s not make the same mistake again.
The vote is more than a year away.
A lot more information, including exact cost, will be determined between now and then.
The bottom line is that while it’s unfortunate that building costs have increased significantly in recent years, our community remains in dire need of a functioning and suitable high school building. To suggest that Monument be shuttered is an unreasonable idea that is ill-conceived and cynical at its core. Our goal remains clear: to provide all students with exceptional learning opportunities in Berkshire Hills.
We appreciate everyone who attended the meeting and ask for their continued engagement and patience as more information is finalized in the coming months.
Peter Dillon, Superintendent of Berkshire Hills Regional School District and Jason St. Peter, Chair of the Monument Mountain Regional High School Building Committee
Dear Peter Dillon and Jason St. Peter,
First of all, thank you for the ways that Berkshire Hill Regional School District and its building committee offered for including the public and encouraging public involvement — attending hybrid information meetings and checking this web site, www.monumentbuildingproject.org
We hope they allow for interaction. During the course of this planning period you will encounter both support as well as push back. SU believes the best result will come from being open to both and incorporating the best ideas into a workable solution. Thank you for all you do
Carole
Editor’s note: Following are three screenshots of exhibits shown during the meeting. Those interested can watch the entire meeting on CTSBTV.org/ click on “Education” and then click on Monument Mountain Regional High School (MMRHS) Virtual Community Information Session, presented by the MMRHS Building Committee and the Monument Mountain Building Project.
o Stockbridge Updates:
“The option of sunsetting Monument High school must be considered.”
This breaks my heart. My sister was in one of the first classes to graduate. My brother followed in 1973, and I brought up the rear as a proud graduate of the class of ’76. My teachers were excellent. I learned incredible things and did well on the ACT, AP, and Achievement Exams. I even aced the math portion of the GRE because of what I learned at MMRHS. At my first two colleges, the University of Maine at Farmington and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, I was told by my professors that the required classes they offered were beneath what I already knew. I walked into two different professors’ offices and walked out with an A. (No hanky panky was involved.) I read books at MMRHS that my friends who grew up elsewhere never heard of. I read many novels twice: one time in a Literature class and the other time in French class.
And now there’s talk of sunsetting. It’s sad.
Wendy
Dear Wendy,
Oh, I am so sorry about your sadness and sense of loss. It is based on good memories though. Also, please do not forget, this was a suggestion voiced among attendees. It is not a final plan. In fact, we do not know what the final plan will be. Let’s hope if we all, Stockbridge Updates and its readers continue to monitor the planning process, the Building Committee will come to the best possible solution. If not, the voters of the three towns have the opportunity to vote for or against their final plan at a Town Meeting in the fall.
Get involved. Attend the next meeting. Read up and voice your opinion.
Best wishes, Carole
Dear SU:
I am writing to voice my dismay and extreme opposition to the new sign at the corner of 183 and Hawthorne Road. Among its many offensive qualities is that it is too big.
Prior to erecting this excrescence on the landscape, shouldn’t the Conservation Commission, whose responsibility it is to oversee Gould Meadows, have been consulted? This location is completely inappropriate for this pristine and pastoral scene.
Sally Underwood-Miller
Dear Carole:
The large, newly installed “Town of Stockbridge” sign at the corner of Rt.183 and Hawthorne Street, which lists points of interest in Stockbridge, is situated in a totally unsuitable spot. The driver or passenger in a car cannot read the information on the sign because the lettering is not large enough and there is no safe place near the sign to stop and read it. The sign belongs in a pedestrian friendly area where it can be read at close range, not along a busy roadway. I hope that whoever was responsible for creating and placing the sign will move it to a safer and more appropriate location. The sign also mars the view overlooking Gould Meadows — one of the loveliest views in our town. Let’s remove this safety hazard and preserve the natural beauty of that special place.
Lenore Sundberg
