HUNTINGTON -At the Huntington Board of Selectmen’s regular meeting on Wednesday, Derrick Mason of Russell and Jeffrey Penn of Huntington spoke about a Department of Conservation and Recreation field trip on Friday, Nov. 17 with DCR Commissioner Leo Roy to Gardner State Park and several other area parks that were closed last year. Mason said they are looking for options for the DCR to reopen Gardner, which was gated since the spring.
Jeff Penn and Derrick Mason came before the Huntington selectmen on Wednesday to discuss the status of area parks.
“Our argument is that the park along with other state lands should be kept open as part of our economic driver,” Mason said.
Penn said the state’s attitude has been a management issue, and that the parks did not pay for themselves. Penn said such issues have been resolved in creative ways in other areas, and they hope to see whether the state will work with them to find a solution.
Penn also spoke about the River Walk behind the Town Hall which received a grant of $4,500 from Healthy Hampshire this year. He said due to other projects, the River Walk had not progressed. He said that he would like to put a Protecta mesh on the short trail behind the Town Hall. He said the mesh, which would cost $1,400 lays down on the grass and can be mowed, and creates a hard surface that a wheelchair can ride on.
The town of Huntington received a Healthy Hampshire grant of $4,500 to create a Riverwalk recreational area behind town hall on the Westfield River. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Penn said with the remaining funds he would like to build a kiosk on the walkway, but the quote from the company that built other area kiosks was too high at $4,800. He said he planned to speak to some carpenters, to see if he could bring the cost down to $3,000, keeping the same design.
Renauld suggested speaking to someone in town. After some discussion, Penn said he would speak to Gateway Regional, Westfield Tech and Smith Vocational. He said he also plans to speak to the Westfield Invasive Species Project about the poison ivy along that section of the river. The board then voted in favor of his plans for the River Walk.
Bill Millin, the new Huntington representative on the board of the Hilltown Community Ambulance Association (HCAA) came to bring the selectmen “up to speed,” and to discuss several issues between the town and HCAA. Millin gave the board a breakdown of last year’s profits and losses, and said the ambulance service is not yet at the profitability level to require an audit, which he was told had been requested by Huntington even though it was not required.
“We never required it. I don’t know where that came from,” Renauld said. He said they had asked whether there was one, and if so, they would like to see it.
McVeigh said they had sent the contract they had been given last year to their attorney, who said it “wasn’t a contract.” Renauld said the previous Board voted not to sign it. “I’m a firm believer, if I’m going to send something to our attorney, I’m going to take his advice,” he said.
Millin gave them a new contract with suggested changes. He also said that HCAA recently added a bylaw stating that if a town doesn’t sign a contract, it won’t have a vote on the board
Renauld said as long as the contract meets the recommended language of the attorney they would consider signing it. He said the talk of going out for a new ambulance service is “dead in the water,” because the other towns backed out. He also said that as a board, they never had a problem with patient care; it was always with the book work.
“Right now, we’re getting the same service as Highland (Ambulance Service), and we’re paying half the price for the same coverage,” Millin said, adding that Highland is the most comparable ambulance service to HCAA in the area. He said one of the differences is that Highland has gotten a few bigger grants, which has allowed them to progress ahead of HCAA. “In my opinion, for what you’re getting, you’re getting a bargain,” said Millin, who is himself an EMT and paramedic.
Renauld admitted there had been some bad blood between the service and the town, but that what they went through the last few years has brought the ambulance service forward. He said just having a report and a contract all came about due to the struggles they had with the service. “I think it’s come a long way,” Renauld said.
Members of the Board of Health also came before the selectmen to discuss the potential removal of the metal bin collection which benefits the Huntington Fire Department, and which was questioned by a recent Department of Public Health inspection of the transfer station. Chair Edward Renauld said the bin is more in the Highway Department area, which shares its space with the transfer station. “The Fire Department has gotten a lot of dollars from it. I would argue that it’s not part of the recycling center; it’s part of the Highway Department,” Renauld said. Selectman Karon Hathaway suggested putting a sign on it that reads for the Fire Department.
