First year’s accomplishments
Daily Hampshire Gazette: LaChapelle touts first year’s accomplishments
Between overseeing the construction of a new $109 million consolidated school, ushering in marijuana’s legal era, and landing millions of dollars in state grants for several projects, Mayor Nicole LaChapelle had plenty to address in her state of the city speech on Thursday night.
Heading into her second year as Easthampton’s mayor, LaChapelle delivered a speech covering her administration’s accomplishments over the past year to a crowded chamber in the Municipal Building that included state and city officials, family members, high school students and business owners of the city.
“One year ago, you gave me the honor of serving as mayor of this great city,” LaChapelle said. “At my swearing-in, I promised to work on Easthampton’s long-standing strengths, especially our hard-working families and entrepreneurial spirit.”
Residents voted in May 2018 in favor of a consolidated pre-kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school, and the city was able to secure over $45 million in state funding.
“This, combined with a recently built state-of-the-art high school, ensures that every child in Easthampton will attend a new school by September of 2021,” LaChapelle said.
Moving forward, LaChapelle said the city will need to secure the highest bond rating possible for the school project.
With the legal sale of recreational marijuana beginning in December 2018, LaChapelle praised the police and fire departments for their work in “facing one of its largest and challenging projects.”
The re-utilization of the Keystone Mill building as the home of marijuana dispensary INSA posed code enforcement challenges for Fire Chief David Mottor’s department, according to LaChapelle.
Easthampton has become a “model” for other communities to follow for opening marijuana establishments, LaChapelle said, following a smooth opening day for INSA.
LaChapelle commended the work by the police department, as it has seen one of the highest volumes of calls in the department’s history, with 13,000 calls coming in over the past year.
The city was awarded nearly a dozen grants totaling in the millions of dollars from the state, which have made projects possible across the city.
Among the grants the city received was $3.5 million from the MassWorks Infrastructure program that spurred a $45 million investment to redevelop 1 Ferry Street by Michael Michon, a private developer and owner of Mill 180.
Other grants included $200,000 from the state’s Complete Streets Program to fund safety improvements to Cottage and Main streets; $225,000 to join the Valley Bike Share program; $798,000 to improve infrastructure in the Admiral Street neighborhood; and $50,000 for a downtown strategic plan for Cottage and Union streets, as well as exploring re-use options for Center, Pepin, and Maple Street schools.
“All of this is happening working with the city’s leadership team,” LaChapelle said.
Looking to the future, LaChapelle said her priorities include crafting a city communication plan to keep residents informed on developments of projects and current events. She plans on delivering quarterly reports on the state of the city throughout the year and holding meetings with regional, state, and federal agencies on housing and infrastructure.
After the speech, Sen. Don Humason, R-Westfield, said, “The agenda she sets for the city is very aggressive … Everybody around here now wants to be like Easthampton.”
“Easthampton has come a long way over the years,” state Rep. Dan Carey said. “I think it’s still on the rise … Hopefully, I will be able to be helpful on the state end of it to keep those grants coming.”