Wahconah Park: Is This Really Happening?
Posted by - Bruce Winn : Category - Conservation Commissions, Pittsfield City Government, Wahconah ParkBerkshire County resident Jim Bouton had an idea. He would use private funds to renovate Wahconah Park. It wasn’t just a business venture. It was motivated in part by his and his partner’s, Donald “Chip” Elitzer’s, sheer love of baseball. Almost as soon as their organization, Wahconah Park Inc., had their plans drawn up they sought input from area environmental groups. BEAT had some concerns, but clearly these were people who were listening and who wanted to do it right.
Enter the City of Pittsfield. I firmly believe that the purpose of the current city government in Pittsfield is to take tax money and grant money and dole it out to a small number of friends for projects that often don’t make sense to people who have other ideas about what city government is supposed to be. Somehow the Wahconah Park Inc. project that the city frowned upon and disparaged was killed and then taken over by the city, and it is now all-important. (For the full story on how Pittsfield discouraged Jim and Chip in favor of a more costly city-funded project I would suggest reading Jim’s book on the topic, Foul Ball.)
Is the city’s project the same as that proposed by Jim and Chip? BEAT doesn’t think so. Many of the environmental safeguards are gone. But some parts of the plan remain; notably the permits and plans that Wahconah Park Inc. had put so much time, effort, and money into. How do we know? The City of Pittsfield submitted the plans to the Conservation Commission as if they were their own and forgot to remove the Wahconah Park Inc. title from the plans. BEAT (yes BEAT) called Jim Bouton and notified him. His partner Chip immediately sent a cease and desist order to the City. It reads in part, “Jim and I are the sole owners of the plans, designs, studies, estimates, and filings that these firms performed at our expense. Neither the City nor any of its agents are authorized to possess or use any of these materials. We hereby notify you that the City should cease and desist any such use, and return any and all materials to us as soon as possible.”
The City’s lawyer responded by saying in part. “I have reviewed the concerns raised in your letter with various officials within the City as well as Jim Scalise of SK Design Group. I have also reviewed the City’s recent filings with the Conservation Commission regarding Wahconah Park. My review reveals that none of the plans, designs, studies, estimates or filing previously produced for Wahconah Park, Inc. are currently in use by the City.”
Here’s the tricky part. The original permit was granted to Wahconah Park Inc. When the permit was about to expire the City asked for an extension on what was now the City’s project. They got an extension (over BEAT’s objections) to the permit, but this was the City’s extension to a permit that wasn’t theirs. Later, they asked for an amendment to the original permit so that they could pave the Wahconah Park parking lot. But to what are they seeking an amendment? Is it to the plans and permits that their lawyer says they aren’t using? At the hearing of the Pittsfield Conservation Commission on January 29, 2009, Jim Scalise of SK Design Group representing the City told the Commission that the original permit was issued in 2004 (this is clearly Wahconah Park Inc.’s permit). He then tells the Commission “Because this is an amendment I think it’s important at least to understand what the original notice said.” (Note: The word notice here refers to the Notice of Intent which is Wahconah Park Inc.’s initial filing with the Conservation Commission.)
Now things get really strange. Mayor Ruberto apparently decided to send an email to Peter Marchetti who is a City Councilor and voting member of the Conservation Commission. Instead (you can’t make this stuff up) he accidentally sent it to BEAT’s executive director, Jane Winn. (Jane forwarded the email to Peter Marchetti and called him to let him know what had happened.) The email from the mayor says in part, “If the City seeks a new permit, the grant will probably expire before we get DEP wetlands approval. The long and short of it is we’ve created a problem for ourselves as it gives opponents one more issue to raise. We should have approached this differently.” You think?
The City is still moving forward on Jim’s and Chip’s plans and permits as if none of this is happening. Only in Pittsfield.
July 5th, 2010 at 6:51 am
[...] repeated violations of environmental law at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). The violations continue. To minimize flooding in the parking lot, which is in the floodplain [...]