Channeling danger

By OWEN BOSS

Drivers crossing the Connecticut River on the Coolidge Bridge generally obey rules of the road because they're wary of police vigilance.

Below them, though, people speeding through a no-wake zone on the river in a rented powerboat aren't required to have any boating experience or a state-issued boating license. And due to budget cuts and a recent regional consolidation, local Environmental Police say they are having a harder time than ever this summer enforcing regulations on the often rain-swollen river.

The combination of decreased enforcement and lax operating requirements, officials say, has created a crowded and often reckless environment on local reaches of the Connecticut - creating dangerous conditions for even the most seasoned boaters.

Inexperienced boaters

Paul Benjamin, a Hadley resident who regularly takes his 25-foot Crownline Cruiser out on the Connecticut, said he has witnessed inexperienced boaters causing problems on the river in the past.

Recently, when Benjamin took his boat out of the Oxbow, he saw people fishing from a boat parked under a nearby bridge, which can make navigating through the narrow corridor especially dangerous for larger watercraft.

"You are never supposed to block an active channel, and there are plenty of places to fish on the river," Benjamin said. "Where they were fishing forced people to go around them into one lane of oncoming traffic, and the problem is that people can't always see you coming - and boats don't have brakes."

Despite the unusually rainy summer, Benjamin said he has been seeing as much weekend traffic on the river as he has in years past. But he hasn't seen as much of the Environmental Police.

"I haven't seen them out there in weeks," Benjamin said. "I used to go down to the marina and have a reasonably good shot of seeing their boats patrolling out there on the river."

But when he travels south and crosses state lines into Connecticut, Benjamin said he regularly sees police in full force, monitoring the speed of boat traffic and checking to be sure boaters are properly licensed and have the necessary safety equipment.

"The times I've been on the lower Connecticut River near Hartford they have had both local police and state police down there at the mouth of the river and they are frequently on station, eyeballing all of the boats on the river."

Another area boater frustrated with a lack of police presence on the river is Steven Pratt, who launches his 28-foot Carver "Silver Beaches" from the Oxbow.

"There is an Environmental Police boat parked right over there, but I've never seen it move," Pratt said. "In my experience on the river I have never seen them out there."

Pratt, who hails from Michigan and notes he got his boating license when he was 12, said influxes of inexperienced boaters cruising the Connecticut on weekends make the waterway dangerous.

"It's such a narrow river and it can get pretty crowded on the weekends. It would be nice to see someone out there making sure people stay safe," Pratt said. "Basically when you see other people out there, you just obey the rules of the road. You watch them until you're sure which way they are going and you just point your boat the other way."

Not enough officers

Lt. Cameron Davis, who works in the Environmental Police's Montague office, said enforcing boating regulations on the Connecticut has become increasingly difficult over the last couple of years because the department has being losing funding and personnel.

In the past, Davis said, Environmental Police coverage of the state was divided into three law enforcement regions. Several years ago, the state consolidated two of those regions into one. Now, he said, because of budget cuts, eight officers must cover a area from Orange to Williamstown, south to Pittsfield and back east to the western edge of the Quabbin Reservoir in Belchertown.

"For all intents and purposes, the region we watch encompasses Franklin, Hampshire and half of Berkshire county, and in our geographical region we are short five officers," Davis said. "That is pretty challenging for us because we have a lot of duties."

Among the department's responsibilities, Davis said, are enforcing hunting and fishing regulations, monitoring the traffic of both boats and off-road vehicles, patrolling state parks and conducting search-and-rescue operations.

"There are eight of us covering that area, and we run two shifts a day, a morning shift and an evening shift. On any given day you have two or three officers with the day off and it becomes a matter of getting guys together," Davis said.

The Environmental Police has a patrol boat docked at Northampton's Oxbow Marina that is responsible for regularly patrolling the Connecticut. They alone have the power to issue tickets for safety infractions such as speeding, not wearing life jackets and operating under the influence of alcohol. The boat, however, is often berthed - and not out on the river.

Coast Guard Auxiliary

The only department he has seen patrolling the river, Pratt said, is the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, which can issue warnings and offer free inspections but does not have any law enforcement power over boaters.

Vice Commander Doug Taylor, of the auxiliary's Flotilla 93 out of Holyoke, said the lack of police presence this season has resulted in inexperienced boaters making dangerous decisions. They know the auxiliary has no law enforcement power, and are aware of a reduction in the Environmental Police presence.

"I think the general public is realizing that and taking advantage of it," Taylor said. "You get people out there with personal watercraft that have no regard for the rules of the road, and some of them are out there without life jackets on."

Recently, while watching a waterskiing competition at the entrance to the marina, Taylor said members of the Flotilla watched helplessly as boaters traveled through the paths of competitors, nearly hitting them as they passed.

"Whenever we would stop one boat, another one would come right around the corner and drive through the course," Taylor said. "We can jump on our radio and call the Environmental Police for support, but they just don't have anyone they can send us."

One of the most dangerous times on the river, Taylor said, is at night, when it becomes populated with canoes, kayaks and anchored boats, many of which he said do not use lights to alert other boats to their presence. "We regularly see people out there in kayaks and canoes in the pitch black without any lights on and there is no way for other people to see them," he said.

Connecticut's solution

Capt. Rick Lewis, of Connecticut's Environmental Conservation Police, said his state has responded to similar budget cuts and the loss of personnel to retirement by hiring seasonal police officers from other departments to help enforce environmental regulations.

"The last couple of years we have gotten members of town and state police to work for us part-time on a seasonal basis," Lewis said. "We have two officers on two patrol vessels out there five days a week and then several times during the summer we hold boating under the influence initiatives."

Without support from local and state police departments, Lewis said, completing all of the department's various duties would be impossible. "We have the same issues that Massachusetts does in terms of budgets and having people retire, but these officers give us a hand during the recreational season."

Operator requirements

Massachusetts and Maine are the only states in New England, and two of six in the nation, that do not require operators to complete a boating safety course before hitting the water. In all other states, to legally operate a boat, residents must complete an eight-hour training program in which they learn the basics of boating safety.

John Annino, head of boating education for the state of Connecticut, said state residents looking to acquire a boating license must pass a standardized course approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators. That association sets educational standards for the country, he said.

"There is a 50-question test that requires that boaters know everything about life jackets, fueling safety, emergency preparedness and speed regulations," Annino said.

Although the test doesn't require any hands-on boating experience and can be completed online, applicants have to answer at least 80 percent of the questions correctly to pass it, Annino said. "There are about 10 or 12 questions specific to Connecticut law, but the rest are on regular boating safety, which are standard on tests in every other state."

In Massachusetts, any resident over the age of 18, regardless of boating experience, can rent a vessel and launch into the Connecticut, as long as they can provide a valid driver's license.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.

Conway man hurt in car crash

NORTHAMPTON - An elderly Conway man was taken to the hospital Wednesday night after he reportedly fell asleep at the wheel and rolled his car over on a windy section of Sylvester Road, police said.

At 6:16 p.m., city police responded to a reported rollover accident on a section of Sylvester Road they call the "S turns"- a stretch that Sgt. Jodie Casper said is frequently the scene of car accidents.

Casper said the driver, Raymond Rice, 73, told police he had nodded off at the wheel of his 1986 Toyota before striking a tree and rolling the car Rice was taken to Baystate Medical Center to be treated for his injuries, which police said included cuts on his face and a possibly dislocated shoulder.

A spokesman at the hospital said he was in fair condition Wednesday night.

- OWEN BOSS

New superintendent wants to hear from community

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

BELCHERTOWN - The school system is welcoming a new superintendent this year, an administrator who said she plans to hear from the local community before deciding what financial challenges to tackle first.

Superintendent Judith C. Houle, who formerly worked as director of curriculum in Somers, Conn., recently replaced Richard Pazasis, who retired after 11 years as superintendent and 15 as a Belchertown school administrator.

Houle said she realizes that due to a struggling state economy, she has to be prepared to take control of the school system amid challenging budget cuts and less available state aid - but said she wants to hear from local residents before making any major decisions.

"I'm currently having preliminary discussions with the town about how to account for less funding that we anticipated," Houle said.

"I want to listen to people over the next few months and hear what their concerns are. I want to know what are some key issues so we can figure out how to make the quality of education here the best it can be."

In order to make herself more accessible to town officials and the parents of local students, Houle created a "superintendent's corner" on the schools' Web site, including a link to a document outlining her general entry plan for the district.

The first step in the entry plan, Houle said, will be conducted this month, when she meets with various members of the schools' committees, staff and town officials to gather a better understanding of the district and the financial obstacles it faces.

"I really want to hear from the community, the fiscal issues that we face are what we are going to be looking at," Houle said.

"The state department has come out with some framework about what they want children to know and do, so we have to examine our curriculum to see how we line up with that framework."

Houle said she is encouraged with recent progress made toward the development of 35 acres around Lake Wallace, which was purchased by selectman in July for use as athletic fields and as a learning laboratory. "We are excited to see the progress on the purchase of Lake Wallace and Foley Field," Houle said in an announcement on the schools' Web site.

"This project, which is a cooperative venture on many parts, will allow us to have access to Lake Wallace as a learning laboratory for our students. Everyone who has been involved in this project deserves a hearty congratulations on a job well done," she said.

Residents with questions about the upcoming school year or who are interested in viewing Houle's entry plan are encouraged to visit the department's Web site, www.belchertownps.org.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com

Springfield man nabbed after assault

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

HATFIELD - A Springfield man allegedly assaulted his girlfriend Monday night, fled the scene drunk with a 12-year-old child in the car, assaulted a police officer and damaged a cruiser when he kicked out the back window, police said.

Joel Gonzalez, 27, of Springfield, pleaded innocent Tuesday in Northampton District Court to charges of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, child endangerment while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, disorderly conduct, malicious damage to a motor vehicle, carrying a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer and two counts of assault and battery.

At 9:38 p.m., Lt. Timothy Paciorek responded to a reported domestic dispute at "The Shallows," a known late-night party spot off of Little Nonponset Road. Paciorek learned from a caller that the aggressor in the dispute had fled the scene drunk in a white Lincoln, according to court documents.

Several minutes later, Paciorek reportedly saw a vehicle matching the description speeding down Elm Court. While attempting to pull the car over, Paciorek reported that Gonzalez shouted out his window at him and nearly hit his cruiser. After stopping the car and drawing his weapon, Paciorek ordered Gonzalez to the rear of the Lincoln, where he became combative, according to court documents.

After placing Gonzalez in the back of his cruiser, Paciorek spoke with several witnesses, who said Gonzalez had attacked his girlfriend by holding her down and choking her.

Although she did not want to press charges, the victim had red marks on both sides of her neck and was covered in mud, according to police.

Upon hearing he would be placed under arrest, Gonzalez kicked out the back window and bent the door frame of the police cruiser that he was being held in, police said.

When he tried to crawl out of the cruiser, Trooper Brendhan Shugrue of Northampton's state police barracks sprayed him with pepper spray. An inventory of Gonzalez's car revealed several knives, including a double-edged switchblade in the driver's door pocket, according to court documents.

Hatfield Ambulance was called to the scene to treat minor injuries that Gonzalez sustained while trying to escape; he was transported to Cooley Dickinson Hospital, where he continued to be uncooperative, according to court documents.

Gonzalez has two open cases on his record that were continued without a finding until Sept. 9, one of which was for disorderly conduct. He has several other assault and battery offenses on his record, some of which involved knives, according to court documents.

Judge William Hadley ordered Gonzalez held on $500 bail or $5,000 surety, and he did not post bail Tuesday. Gonzalez is scheduled to reappear in court for a pretrial hearing on Sept. 17.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.

Summer's first heat spurs air quality alert

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

Area residents who have been looking for a break in this summer's unusually rainy weather now find themselves confronted with the season's first heat wave, prompting safety officials to remind them to do whatever they can to stay cool.

Although the definition varies, News 22 meteorologist Brian Lapis said that in order for this current trend to be officially labeled a heat wave, temperatures must reach 90 degrees for a third consecutive day today - a mark he said they will likely exceed, with the National Weather Service predicting a high near 95.

Temperatures Monday hit 94 degrees in Boston. Officials in Springfield and West Springfield opened cooling centers to deal with the heat wave, and senior centers in Chicopee and Westfield were available as cooling centers as needed.

The sudden blast of summer heat can be attributed to a seasonal weather system off the East Coast that hasn't been seen much this season, Lapis said.

"For the fist time in a while we have a good old-fashioned "Bermuda high" just off the East Coast," Lapis said. "That Bermuda high is pushing warm air from the south and southwest right into New England and that's a big part of why we're headed toward a heat wave this week."

Along with higher temperatures, Lapis said he expects the system will produce air that is unusually humid, which can enhance the production of ozone and cause unhealthy air conditions, especially for those particularly susceptible to hotter conditions like children and senior citizens.

"I do expect muggy air in the area through the end of the week. The elevated levels of humidity will make it seem a little hotter than it actually feels," Lapis said.

The drier the air, Lapis said, the easier it is for humans to cool themselves by sweating. Unusually humid weather, like today's, makes that process harder, and residents should make more of an effort to stay properly hydrated.

The combination of hot weather and muggy air has caused the state's Department of Environmental Protection to issue an air quality alert for sensitive groups across the area. The warning, which indicates that most residents will be able to work through the heat, urges those with asthma, lung disease or heart disease and active children and seniors not to engage in prolonged outdoor activities.

Also, the alert asks people to ensure that animals left outdoors have shade and water.

Although the current pattern will cause high temperatures early in the week, Lapis said scattered showers will generate noticeably cooler weather into this weekend. "Instead of 90s, we'll be looking at mid- to upper 80s," Lapis said. "As for a long-term pattern, that's always tough to say ... by Sunday, we're expected to be sunny, dry and in the 70s."

Residents with questions about air quality or heat safety should visit the department's Web site, http://www.mass.gov/dep.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.

Fire shuts Northampton YMCA

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - The state fire marshal and Northampton Fire Department are investigating a two-alarm fire that caused heavy damage to the Hampshire Regional YMCA early Monday morning.

The Prospect Street blaze broke out shortly before 2 a.m. on the building's second floor and caused an estimated $350,000 to $500,000 in damages, according to the Fire Department. No one was injured. Although the fire was confined to the women's locker room, officials reported that other parts of the building had suffered minor smoke and water damage.

Firefighters found heavy smoke pouring from the center of the building when they arrived as dispatchers took multiple 911 calls. Cleaning crews, who had been working inside the building, alerted firefighters to the blaze, which took about 45 minutes to control, said Deputy Fire Chief William Hurley.

"The second floor sustained fire, water and smoke damage," Hurley said. "The heat was unbearable because it was a windowless area."

Hurley said firefighters had to cut holes in the roof to ventilate the building at 286 Prospect St. Firefighters from Easthampton, Hatfield, Amherst, Williamsburg and Greenfield responded to the fire. The local American Red Cross chapter, utility crews and Northampton Police Department also were on scene providing assistance, including crowd control.

YMCA CEO David Marks said a fire marshal's report placed the blame for the fire on a malfunction in the electrical control system outside the women's sauna.

At a meeting Monday afternoon, Marks met with YMCA officials, a variety of contractors and insurance inspectors and worked to hash out a timeline for repairing the building.

"I just wanted to get everybody in the same space," Marks said. "The meeting went very well, because this is the Y - people really care about it and the sense of cooperation we had was phenomenal."

Although he said those at the meeting didn't arrive at a specific date for completing repairs, Marks said they worked toward finding the right place to start.

"Getting inspectors and electricians in there to get the building up and running and getting all the water out and cleaning up are among the first things that have to happen," Marks said. "Then, in the next day or two, we need to get a portable office set up that I can work out of."

Repairing all of the damage caused by the fire, Marks said, will likely take about three weeks and until the building is repaired, residents who are members can visit the YMCAs in Greenfield, Westfield, Holyoke, Springfield and Wilbraham free of charge.

While officials work to get a telephone at a portable command center up and running, Marks said residents with questions should check the organization's Web site, HRYMCA.com, which he said he will be updated twice daily with details about repairs.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com

Landfill study eyed in detail at local forum

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - The first of two public forums aimed at discussing a study outlining alternatives to expanding the Glendale Road landfill Monday night offered a crowd of area residents a closer look at the study from the people who created it.

The majority of the meeting, which drew about 30 local residents to the Community Room at John F. Kennedy Middle School, allowed representatives from Canada-based Stantec Consulting Service and HDR, of Omaha, Neb., to break down into layman's terms a 142-page report outlining the city's options.

The city's landfill, which provides for trash generated across the city and that of 16 other local communities, is currently scheduled to close in June 2011.

The report, which took the consulting firm nearly two years to complete at a cost of about $110,000, examines several options, though it makes no recommendations. The options include closing the landfill completely, starting a curbside collection program and having a third party take over landfill operations.

To clearly explain the complex report, the city's Board of Public Works arranged for John Murphy, a representative from Stantec, and Alan Cohen and Shawn Worster of HDR to present an hourlong PowerPoint presentation examining the costs associated with each option as well as how they came up with the numbers.

Also considered at the meeting were examples of new and emerging technologies used to control waste in other American cities and internationally. However, Cohen said implementing those technologies would be expensive and would be risky without being able to see how they would operate locally.

"When proven feasible, the emerging conversion technologies may be an important part of the solution but as it stands right now we don't think we can do it because it doesn't make sense for Northampton," Cohen said.

Because most regional landfills are also reaching capacity, sending waste to other removal sites in Massachusetts or out of state would prove to be an expensive option for local taxpayers, Worster said.

"An important point to remember when you look at alternatives to keeping the landfill open is that the closest other option to you is somewhere between 20 and 30 miles away," Worster said. "So the haul from the collection point to the disposal point would be 20 to 30 miles, as opposed to 4 miles if we use the landfill in Northampton."

Other area alternatives, Worster said, are landfills in South Hadley, Chicopee and Granby. While all three are scheduled to close shortly after the Northampton landfill, Worster noted that South Hadley may expand, and a location in Westminster will remain open through 2017.

Toward the end of the meeting, several residents asked representatives questions about the report, including Richard Guzowski of Nonotuck Street in Florence, who thought that predicting future costs based on likely projections could be misleading.

"If diesel fuel goes up to $6 or $8 a gallon in 20 years that could affect these numbers. Is that being taken into account at all or are you just assuming that this will continued on a curve as it has been going?" Guzowski asked.

The study, Cohen said, took into account sudden increases in fuel costs and considered several possible scenarios where transporting waste outside of the city would become much more expensive.

The DPW has set up a discussion group through Google where residents can read and discuss the alternatives report. That site is at www.groups.google.com/group/nton-swalts. The report can also be found at the Forbes and Lilly libraries.

Another forum, at the same time and location, has been scheduled for Sept. 14.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com

Quabbin reopens Monday

State will allow washed boats in; mussels not found

By OWEN BOSS
Staff Writer

BELCHERTOWN — Fishermen, start your engines.

Officials with the state Department of Conservation said local boat owners can return to the Quabbin Reservoir Monday morning, a month after the water body was closed to outside boats over concerns about an invasive species of mollusk.

Although all three Quabbin fishing areas will reopen at 6 a.m. Monday, before hitting the water, private boat owners must have their vessels cleaned, free of charge, at one of two decontamination stations set up in Orange and Belchertown, according to DCR Commissioner Richard K. Sullivan.

“People can start calling in this weekend to set up arrangements to have their boats cleaned at one of our approved boat-washing facilities,” Sullivan said. “We don’t just want to make sure they are clean of zebra mussels, but all of the invasives that pose a potential threat to water bodies across the commonwealth.”

Since July 15, the reservoir has been closed to private boats, which are blamed elsewhere for transporting zebra mussels, an invasive species found in a Berkshire County lake in July, from one body of water to another.

State Sen. Stephen Brewer, D-Barre, has criticized the decision to close the reservoir to private boats, but this week stressed the need to look forward.

“I was not pleased with that decision. I thought it was a rush to judgment,” Brewer said of the closing. Media coverage in the Boston area, including “a couple of front page stories in the Boston Globe,” probably influenced the decision, he said.
But this week he said, “I don’t want to dwell on history.”

The important thing now, he said, is to have a reasonable, cost-effective way for boats to again take to the water.

Local fisherman react

The reservoir’s reopening is great news for those who regularly fish the Quabbin, like Ware resident Gary Barnes, who said he was on the water four days a week before it closed.

“I’ve fished there for the last 20 years. To me it is a sacred place, and I didn’t know what I was going to do if they closed it up,” Barnes said. “I’m just glad we are going to be able to get back on the water.”

Although he said he understood that the DCR’s decision to close the reservoir was in the best interest of the millions of people it provides water for, he felt the inquiry should have been handled differently.

“I feel like it was a knee-jerk reaction from Boston, and as it turned out there was no reason to close it,” Barnes said. “They should’ve known that zebra mussels cannot survive in this kind of water, and had they bothered to check that first rather than just close it down, I think things would have gone better.”

Another Ware resident glad to see the Quabbin open again is Tony Swiercz, who said he and his wife have been boating on it regularly for 35 years.

“We are looking forward to its reopening not just as fishermen but as custodians of the water,” Swiercz said. “It is a great asset to have here and it needs to be appreciated and used wisely.”

The temporary closure of the 17.9-mile-long reservoir also translated to a drop in business for local store owners that depend on fishing, like R&R Sport Shop on Federal Street in Belchertown, where employee Dan Coyer said the decrease in sales has been noticeable.

“It wasn’t just the bait, anything to do with fishing was put in the back seat,” he said. “We depend on the Quabbin because it is so close and it being closed really caused a snowball effect.”

Now that local residents know they can get back on the water, Coyer said he hopes their
business will boost the store’s sales before the summer ends.

“Hopefully we’ll see a rush on some of those items next week,” he said.

DCR review

During the month the Quabbin was closed to outside boats, Sullivan said DCR dive teams inspected and tested the water and found no signs of the organism.

“We were confident that because of the water quality at the reservoir, it would not support zebra mussels, and we didn’t expect to find any,” Sullivan said. “The closure and search were just extra precautionary measures because it is such a significant drinking water supply.”

The department’s decision to reopen, Sullivan said, can be linked to the success of last weekend’s Special Olympics fishing derby, which was monitored by area biologists. Boats used in the derby were washed off-site and then sealed to trailers to guarantee that they were not used in waters that might contain the mussels.

“We thought we had good protocols in place, and it was well-timed that we could try them out during the competition,” Sullivan said of the derby’s boat-washing program. “It was very closely monitored by our staff and biologists, very good records were kept of the cleaning operations and afterwards, we were confident that we could take those protocols and offer them to private boaters.”

Created in the 1930s as the municipal water system for the Greater Boston area, the Quabbin Reservoir holds 412 billion gallons of water and provides water to more than 2.5 million people. Each year, about 9,000 boat launches are recorded at the reservoir, according to the DCR.

To schedule an inspection, boat owners should call the Quabbin Visitors Center at 1-888-550-0048, Ext. 102, starting Saturday, between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Walk-in appointments for cleaning will not be available.

Before arriving, Sullivan said boat owners should be sure to have their boat registrations. Excessively dirty boats with gas or oil leaks or any signs of the presence of an invasive species of any type will not pass inspection.

“The DCR is not only committed to addressing the zebra mussels, but also to looking at the bigger picture including all invasives,” Sullivan said. “There is a 50-year tradition of fishing at the Quabbin, and this is the only way to ensure that the water is pristine and can remain open to the public.”

Every boat that has been washed will be certified and tagged with a wire marker that will offer reservoir employees evidence that the boat was cleaned properly and hadn’t entered any water bodies since the decontamination process.

William Pula, the Quabbin superintendent for the DCR, said he has slots for appointments for 500 to 600 boats to be cleaned over the next two weeks.

The decontamination and inspection process was developed and refined the day they washed the Special Olympics boats for the Aug. 8 derby, Pula said. He said the washing took 20 to 30 minutes per boat.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com

Meadowbrook management to rebuild on existing foundation

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - Almost four months after a fire ripped through an apartment building at Meadowbrook Apartments, all that remains on site is the concrete foundation.

But, as preparations are made for a new building where the last one stood, management reports that all 22 displaced tenants have since found permanent housing.

Alexa Dailey, asset manager for Preservation of Affordable Housing Inc., the company that owns the complex, said that in the days following the April 13 blaze, finding housing for the tenants of Building 21 was their top priority.

"We wanted to find housing for the displaced tenants - that was the first thing we had to do before anything else," she said. "That was the most important thing to us."

Immediately following the fire, many of the building's tenants relied on Red Cross support and were temporarily relocated to the Clarion Hotel in Northampton, while management found other open apartments within the complex.

Along with the search for available housing, management kicked off a city-wide relief effort to replace the items families lost in the fire, in collaboration with several area businesses and the Northampton Survival Center.

Since that time, Dailey said, all of the residents have found new living quarters. Six were relocated to other units at Meadowbrook, four have moved into Northampton Housing Authority units and two families made living arrangements on their own.

Following a tour of the building by Building Commissioner Anthony Patillo, it was deemed structurally unsafe and was torn down to the foundation in June.

Dailey said plans are now in motion to rebuild the apartment building exactly as it was, only with some structural and safety modifications to bring it up to current building standards.

"We are in the process of working with a contractor, going through the code and making a plan to rebuild. It will most likely not be ready for occupancy until 2010," she said. "The reason it may take a while is that we have to replace a building that was built 30 years ago, and you have to have it up to today's code. You don't just snap your fingers and have something like that happen."

Required changes, Daily said, will include installing updated handicapped-accessible entrances and exits, sprinkler systems, and reconfiguring space available to emergency vehicles in the building's parking lot.

Although the company has already chosen a contractor for the project, Dailey said she doesn't expect construction to begin until sometime this winter.

"We are currently working internally on a timeline. We are looking at about a seven-month construction period once the plans have been approved, which will bring us into 2010," she said. "The insurance company has been very cooperative, and once we settle that, it is just a matter of dotting the i's and crossing the t's."

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com

After devastating fire, Meadowbrook family buys home with aid

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - Miguel Candelaria was one of many Meadowbrook Apartments tenants who stood helplessly outside Building 21 in April, watching everything inside his family's home burn to ashes.

But in a remarkable turn of events, the fire that consumed his home of six years initiated an unexpected outpouring of support that helped him and his wife, Chrystal, become first-time homeowners.

Candelaria's third-floor apartment was situated directly above the unit where a discarded cigarette ignited another tenant's bedroom. After smelling smoke, he was among the first tenants in the building to see the fire, which destroyed the building, killed many pets and left 22 tenants homeless.

"My apartment was one of the worst hit in terms of damage," Candelaria said. "Everything in our bedroom was completely destroyed."

Incredible recoveries

Several days after the fire, Candelaria found himself in line with other displaced tenants outside the gutted building, while management allowed them inside one at a time, granting each 15 minutes to survey the damage and collect any belongings that survived the blaze.

Candelaria's priority, he said, was the hard drive to his desktop computer, which contained hundreds of pictures of his family and videos of holidays they had celebrated together.

After retrieving the severely damaged computer, Candelaria said, he raced over to a local electronics repair store and asked an employee if the shop could save the hard drive.

"I believe in God, and I was praying the whole time I drove over there that they could save my memories," Candelaria said. "While she was transferring the data, the girl at the store kept warning me that my hard drive was going to die at any second, and as soon as the last tiny bit of data transferred, it shut down. It hung on just long enough to save the files."

Another irreplaceable belonging that survived the fire was Chrystal's wedding dress, which Candelaria said was the only item in his bedroom that wasn't consumed by flames.

"My apartment was decimated and there was one tiny little spot in the bedroom that didn't burn and that was where my wife's wedding dress happened to be," Candelaria said. "I have pictures of that room and if you saw them you would never have thought that anything would have made it."

Candelaria's family was one of many who were relocated to another of the complex's apartment buildings. They were moved to Building 5, less than a hundred yards from their former home.

Outpouring of support

In the days following the fire, the Candelarias found themselves looking to replace not only burned furniture and electronics but even the bare essentials. Candelaria said it was only through selfless donations from their neighbors, friends, co-workers and family that they were helped back on their feet.

Employees at Amherst Woodworking in Northampton, where Chrystal Candelaria works, provided the family with financial help as well as the basics, including pots, pans and comforters. Miguel Candelaria's co-workers at Valley Machine Knife in West Springfield collected donations aimed at replacing common household items lost in the fire. And the Candelarias' church, the Cornerstone Chapel on Bridge Road, held a tag and bake sale to benefit his family.

"People helped us out immensely," Candelaria said. "They did so much for us."

Days after the fire, Candelaria's friend, Owen Mohan, started a fund at the Bank of Western Massachusetts to help the family make ends meet. He knew the Candelarias had been hoping to some day own a home of their own.

"I saw Chrystal two days before the fire, and I never saw her more excited about becoming a homeowner," Mohan said. "They were talking about getting some help from some family members to put together a down payment. Then two days later, we all got the news about their apartment."

After getting permission from the Candelarias, Mohan said he started the fund and began sending out emails to everyone he knew, explaining their situation.

"We spread the word at a grassroots level. We all opened up our address books and our email accounts and crafted a nice email that would explain their story, and even attached the photos and links to the Gazette articles," Mohan said. "I have to say, people were great and opened up and gave back to this family. You couldn't ask for a nicer couple."

Within a few months, donations from the Candelarias' friends, family and co-workers enabled them to make a down payment on the family's new Spring Street home. They were able to close on the purchase of the home late last month, paying $197,750 for the dwelling, according to Registry of Deeds records.

Although support from the local community helped all of the displaced tenants replace items lost in the fire, Candelaria said he never would have dreamed the fund Mohan started would put him in the position to move his family into a house.

"Before the fire, we were at the point where we were fed up with apartment life, but we never thought we could ever afford a house," Candelaria said.

The current state of the local housing market, government incentives for first-time home buyers and information gleaned from classes provided by the Valley Community Development Corp. all contributed to their success in finding a new home, Candelaria said.

"Everything came to a head at the right time," Candelaria said. "When I look back on everything that happened, I just realize that God works in mysterious ways and that everything happens for a reason."

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.

UMass to scale back new fees

Increase falls by $1,100 due to aid from U.S. stimulus

By OWEN BOSS
Staff Writer

AMHERST — Thanks to an increase in federal stimulus funding, in-state, undergraduate students at the University of Massachusetts will receive a $1,100 rebate for the coming school year, reducing an approved $1,500 fee increase to $400.

Earlier this year, when the college was facing a $102 million revenue shortfall for fiscal 2010, the college’s board of trustees instituted the fee increase with the hope that government support would allow them to reimburse students for a portion of the $1,500.

“We are able to go forward with this rebate because of funding steps taken by Gov. Patrick and the state Legislature,” President Jack M. Wilson said Friday. “The Governor and the Legislature have made excellence and affordability at UMass a top priority.”

While the exact details of the rebate are still being hashed out, Wilson said it will most likely be distributed by way of a $550 rebate in the fall semester, followed by another $550 in the spring.
The rebates will help make the coming school year the sixth consecutive year that the student-charge increase at the college will be at or below the rate of inflation — a statistic about which Wilson said he is particularly proud.

“It’s a tremendous record,” Wilson said. “I feel good about that. I’m glad we were able to do it this year. Frankly, I thought the record was going to end and I’m glad we got it all worked out.”

The rebate will be extended to every in-state student at all of the college’s five campuses, Wilson said, but those receiving financial aid may not see much of a change in their net cost of education because for many aid recipients, the fee increase had already been offset by an increase in financial aid.

Of the college’s 60,000 annual students, about half receive financial aid, Wilson said.

Although federal support bailed out this year’s students, Wilson said he doesn’t expect the college will receive the same amount of stimulus money next year.

“We have a challenge ahead of us and it’s uncertain how we’re going to cope with the setback if we’re level-funded next year. Without the stimulus, we’d be looking at a $115 million budget cut. That would be daunting,” Wilson said.

However, Wilson is remaining optimistic that an economic turnaround in the coming year could bring more savings for students attending the college.

“At least this buys us one year,” Wilson said. “We of course are very hopeful that the state’s economic situation will improve and if that happens, we might see some additional funding in the future.”

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com

Motorcyclist said to flee police at speed of 100 mph

HADLEY - A motorcyclist led police on a high-speed chase Tuesday night across Hadley before being apprehended in a parking lot.

Stephen D. Orrell, 42, of 2 Amherst Road in Hadley, pleaded innocent Wednesday in Eastern Hampshire District Court to charges of failure to stop for police and negligent operation of a motor vehicle.

According to court documents, at 8 p.m., officer Christopher M. Cacela was observing traffic from the Barn Shops parking lot on Russell Street when he clocked Orrell traveling east at 63 mph in a 40 mph zone. When Cacela tried to pull the motorcyclist over, Orrell reportedly turned down West Street and began weaving in and out of traffic, nearly hitting several vehicles while trying to get away.

During the chase, Cacela reported that Orrell reached speeds in excess of 100 mph and at one point became airborne. After losing sight of the motorcycle, Cacela and several other officers scanned the area for Orrell and eventually located him in a parking lot off Huntington Road, about a mile from where he was last seen, police said.

Judge John Payne Jr. released Orrell on his own recognizance. He is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Aug. 25.

- OWEN BOSS

Hatfield man faces firearms charges following DUI stop

SOUTHAMPTON - After pulling over an alleged drunken driver Tuesday, police found three loaded handguns in his car, none of which was secured with a gun lock, police said.

William J. Sicard, 53, of 17 Primrose Path, Hatfield, pleaded innocent Wednesday in Northampton District Court to charges of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, improperly storing a large-capacity firearm, two counts of leaving a firearm in a vehicle, three counts of carrying a firearm while intoxicated, and two counts of improperly storing a firearm.

According to police, at 1:01 a.m., Sicard was witnessed crossing over the centerline on College Highway in his 2006 Dodge Durango. After being stopped, Sicard was asked to perform seven field sobriety tests, of which he reportedly failed six. After Sicard was placed under arrest, police found three fully loaded firearms in his truck, none of which had safety locks. One of the weapons, a Glock 17 pistol, had three large-capacity magazines, one of which was loaded into the handgun.

While being interviewed by police, Sicard admitted that he left the guns unattended from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., while he was at a bar for a birthday party.

Judge W. Michael Goggins released Sicard on his own recognizance and he is scheduled to reappear in court on Sept. 18.

- OWEN BOSS

Williamsburg golf tourney benefit set for Iraq War vet

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

WILLIAMSBURG - Some 178 Hilltown residents will gather at Beaver Brook Golf Club Saturday to participate in a benefit golf tournament to raise money for a new house being built for an injured Iraq War veteran.

The tournament, scheduled to begin at the Main Street course at 7 a.m., will help fund the construction of a specially equipped house being built in Worthington for Army Sgt. Peter Rooney and his wife Susanne.

The home is being built through the nonprofit organization Homes for Our Troops, which helps veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with serious injuries and disabilities to be equipped in homes specially adapted to suit their needs.

Rooney was driving as vehicle commander during his third tour of duty in Ramadi, Iraq on April 16, 2007 when he was injured by an improvised explosion device, which led to two above-the-knee amputations.

Although all available spots in the tournament have already been filled, Daryl Springman, a local resident who volunteered to publicize the event, said area residents and businesses can still get involved.

"We are looking for sponsors for the tournament and several other events," Springman said. "We will be accepting donations from residents at the tournament and if other people want to contribute, they can do so on the organization's Web site."

Rooney's house, which is being built on Kinnebrook Road in Worthington, will be some 22,000 square feet and on one level with wide corridors. The concrete foundation for the home was poured in early July and construction on the home itself is expected to begin next spring.

Residents with questions about the tournament or about donating to Homes for Our Troops can call 413-348-6047 or visit http://www.homesforourtroops.org.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com

Easthampton man denies gun charges

NORTHAMPTON - An Easthampton man who allegedly had 21 unregistered guns hidden in a closet in his Chestnut Street home denied the charges Tuesday.

Jeffrey S. Parrish, 46, pleaded innocent Tuesday in Hampshire Superior Court to a charge of unlawfully possessing a large-capacity firearm and three counts of possessing a firearm without a firearms identification card.

According to court documents, on May 22, Parrish's wife went to the Public Safety Complex and told Officer Robert J. Pouska she was returning from getting a restraining order against Parrish and that she wanted a police escort to collect her belongings.

Once inside the house, she reportedly led officers to a back bedroom and showed them two large gun safes holding the weapons.

Among the weapons in the cases, officers reportedly found a .30 caliber U.S. M-1 semi-automatic carbine rifle and a Taurus 9-mm handgun, both of which are considered large-capacity firearms and carry a more severe punishment for unregistered possession.

Judge Judd J. Carhart released Parrish on his own recognizance on the conditions that he no longer possess firearms and avoid illegal drugs and submit to random screenings.

Parrish is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing on Oct. 5.

- OWEN BOSS

Man charged with UMass rape

AMHERST — A Dartmouth man has been charged with raping a woman living in UMass Amherst’s Thoreau dormitory after she told police he sexually assaulted her in her dorm room on two different occasions.

John S. Gibbs Jr., 24, pleaded innocent Friday in Eastern Hampshire District Court to two counts of rape and he was released on his own recognizance.

According to court documents, at 11:30 p.m. on July 30, UMass police officers responding to the reported rape found Gibbs, who is not a student at the college, standing outside the victim’s dorm room in his underwear.

The victim reportedly told police that earlier in the week, she had awoken after taking a powerful prescribed medication and found Gibbs lying on top of her, and that again on Thursday, he had entered her room and forcibly raped her.

A spokesman for the college, Patrick Callahan, said he believed the victim was a student in UMass’ summer program. He said he didn’t know how the man gained access to the building, but the details would be released during court proceedings.

Gibbs is scheduled to reappear in court for a pretrial hearing on Aug. 31.

— OWEN BOSS

Lazy day on the river turns into hair-raising journey

By OWEN BOSS
Staff Writer

When a friend of mine called me Saturday morning and suggested we make the most of the beautiful weather by taking a lazy tubing trip down the Deerfield River, I immediately jumped out of bed.

During my time as a student at UMass Amherst, I had enjoyed floating down the river many times and found that it was a calm and effortless way to spend an afternoon with friends.

Had I known when I got out of bed that morning that the ride the river would offer Saturday would be neither calm nor effortless and would end in a frantic search for a missing tuber, I would have suggested that we all wear life vests and probably would have rented a tube with a little more air in it.

We were unaware that this summer’s unusually rainy weather had caused the river to swell to a level that the locals we spoke with hadn’t seen in more than a decade, and that the flow, which usually runs between 700 and 800 cubic feet per second, was greater than 6,000 cfs.

Although everyone I went with that day was an experienced swimmer, when we pushed out from under the Bardwell’s Ferry Bridge in Conway, all five of us were immediately flipped out of our tubes. The current swept two of us toward the shoreline, and by the time I got back on my tube, the five of us were scattered across the river and moving far too quickly to regroup.

By hanging onto tree branches along the shoreline and kicking against the raging current, we were able to hook onto each other in a group after traveling about a half-mile down the river.

The first thing we noticed was that we were moving much faster than we had in past trips and that just staying together was a constant struggle. The boulders that we had bounced off in the past were missing, and the current pulled us through the rapids so quickly that using our arms to steer did very little. We found ourselves completely at the mercy of the river.

As each familiar group of rapids and landmarks passed, we all commented on what great time we were making and wondered how quickly we would reach the Stillwater Bridge in Deerfield, where we had left a car.

In the past, when the river was running as it normally would, the trip from Bardwell’s Ferry to the Stillwater would take us 2 to 3 hours. On Saturday, we reached the Stillwater Bridge in about 45 minutes.

When we docked at a popular beach near the bridge, which has a rope swing and is usually frequented by a large group of locals, we found that it was missing. A man standing up to his chest in the water told us that where he was standing was where the beach normally was and that in his 15 years in Deerfield, he had never seen the river like this.

Deciding not to tempt fate by swimming across the current to the rope swing on the other side of the river, we all trudged up the hill to the parking lot. There, we heard from a local firefighter that emergency responders were rescuing a group of three tubers who had been swept downriver and were still looking for a fourth member of the group.

The realization that we had ridden the river on a day when someone may have lost her life was a stark reminder of its power. As someone who was there that day, I urge all residents considering tubing this summer to wear life vests and to be prepared for a river that is deeper and running faster than it has in a long time.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com