Dear Friend:
Below is a copy of the Resolution that will be before the City Council on Thursday August 19 at 7 pm. Please post on your website/blog and ask Northampton residents to call their City Councilor and the Councilors-at-Large to ask for them to support this Resolution that works to save the Upper Roberts Meadow Reservoir and Dam, looks to install micro-hydro on this dam, protect wildlife, and save this historic site.
We have learned much in the months that we have been working to save this site; including the viability of micro-hydro, that the concern that a worst-case scenario of a dam break would flood all of Leeds is not accurate, that the dam is indeed a historic site, and much more. We also ask anyone interested in learning more to visit our website and www.saveourdam.org. Anyone interested in posting a Save the Dam Sign is invited to email us via our website.
Also, if you missed The Dam Art Show, check it out during the Easthampton Art Walk on Sept. 11th. We will have work on display- plus historic photos courtesy of Forbes Library – at the Pioneer Valley Ballet gallery at Eastworks.
Thank you!
The Friends of the Upper Roberts Meadow Reservoir
A Resolution of the City Council on the Preservation of the Upper Roberts Meadow Dam
Whereas, One of the Guiding Principles of the Sustainable Northampton Comprehensive Plan is to, “encourage conservation and use of alternative and renewable energy sources throughout the community,” and
Whereas, The Upper Roberts Meadows Dam has been identified as a potential hydro-power facility that could produce 114 – 130 megawatt hours annually, enough to power 25 to 30 homes, from a generator that will produce 26 kilowatts on average per hour, and
Whereas, The new Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard reflects the Green Communities Act goal of meeting 20% of Massachusetts’ electricity consumption from new renewable and alternative energy generation by 2020, and
Whereas, the Sustainable Northampton Comprehensive Plan targets 25% of its municipal energy to be supplied by renewable sources by 2017, and
Whereas, Goal 3 of the Energy, Environment and Climate Protection section of the Sustainable Northampton Comprehensive Plan is, “Protect valuable and sensitive ecological resources… including to Protect rare and endangered plants and animals and important wildlife corridors,” and
Whereas, the Upper Roberts Meadow Dam has formed such an ecological resource by providing a habitat noted by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife’s Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program as a “Core Habitat” that is home to Species of Special Concern including Four-toed Salamander, Jefferson Salamander, Spotted Turtle, Spring Salamander, Wood Turtle, Elderberry Long-Horned Beetle and Spatterdock Darner, and
Whereas, Goal 1 of the Heritage Resources section of the Sustainable Northampton Comprehensive Plan is, “Protect and preserve the City’s heritage resources,” including objectives to “educate and inform decision makers about heritage resources,” and “protect heritage resources from degradation or destruction by public or private actions or inactions,” and
Whereas, The Upper Roberts Meadow Dam is such a city heritage resource in that the dam is an historic granite block gravity-arched structure which was built to create a drinking water reservoir, and the Roberts Meadow district was purged of homes, farms, and businesses, similar to the Quabbin, to protect the quality of the drinking water and to create a watershed, and
Whereas, The Upper Roberts Meadow dam is being considered by the Massachusetts Historic Commission for placement on the state Registry of Historic Places, and its consulting engineer, Clemens Herschel, became an engineer of international renown still honored today for inventing the Venturi meter that measures water flow, and
Whereas the micro-hydro dam could generate up to $20,000 annual revenue via net metering that could be used for future dam maintenance and repairs, and
Whereas, the remaining balance of the revenue raised by the micro-hydro dam could be added to the City’s general fund, thereby meeting Goal 1 of the Municipal Governance and Financial Stability section of the Sustainable Northampton Comprehensive Plan, which calls for the City to “Diversify revenue streams to support municipal operations.”
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED
The City Council advises the Board of Public Works to seek a change in the current “high hazard” classification of the dam;
And furthermore, if there is a clear understanding that the project will be revenue neutral and does not burden the City with additional costs, the City Council endorses the preservation and restoration of the Upper Roberts Meadow Dam and Reservoir;
And also advises the Board of Public Works to consider that the dam and reservoir are, collectively, more valuable to the City economically, ecologically, historically and aesthetically intact than if they were removed, and if so determined, the Board of Public Works will cease its’ planning for the demolition of the dam and the draining of the reservoir.
Angela Plassman — angela@angelaplassmann.com
Paul Spector — gwanorth@aol.com
Marianne LaBarge — mlabargeward6@aol.com
Gene Tacy — genetacy@comcast.net
Dave Murphy — david.murphy8@comcast.ne
Pamela Schwartz – pschwartz77@gmail.com
Maureen Carney – mtcarney@comcast.net
David Narkewitz – dnarkewicz@comcast.net ( At Large)
Jesse Adams – jesse.michaeladams@gmail.com ( At Large)
