Voters to speak out on town initiative

The Springfield Select Board is taking its fight against blight to town meeting voters. Residents will be asked whether they want to create a fund for the purpose of covering the costs of current and future plans for the revitalization and redevelopment of the town, with a special focus on the downtown area.

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Voters to speak out on town initiative Rutland Herald | January 18, 2017 By SUSAN SMALLHEER STAFF WRITER SPRINGFIELD Springfield Town Manager Tom Yennerell stands in front of two Main Street buildings the town will buy as part of its downtown revitalization plans. The buildings include the old Visiting Nurse building, in rear with cupola, and the old Springfield Bakery building, left. SUSAN SMALLHEER / STAFF PHOTO Springfield Town Manager Tom Yennerell stands in front of two Main Street buildings the town will buy as part of its downtown revitalization plans. The buildings include the old Visiting Nurse building, in rear with cupola, and the old Springfield Bakery building, left. SUSAN SMALLHEER / STAFF PHOTO SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Select Board is taking its fight against blight to town meeting voters. Residents will be asked whether they want to create a fund for the purpose of covering the costs of current and future plans for the revitalization and redevelopment of the town, with a special focus on the downtown area. A second article will ask voters whether they want to appropriate $100,000 for what will be called “The Springfield Revitalization Fund.” Select Board member George MacNaughton said the money would not go toward another downtown revitalization plan, and would instead support what he called “action, not more shelf candy.” Town Manager Tom Yennerell said the new fund would have “an emphasis on the downtown,” with the money being used as seed money for projects outlined in plans being finalized by Greenman-Pedersen Inc., an engineering and construction company with an office in White River Junction. The town received a state grant for the studies. “This isn’t going to fund more plans. The town has lost its appetite for plans,” said MacNaughton, who added that the revitalization fund could be a source of money for construction plans, “So we can actually move.” “I can support this strongly and I think the town will support it,” he said. The town recently entered into purchase agreements for two buildings in downtown Springfield: the former Springfield Bakery building and the former Visiting Nurse building. Town officials want to tear down the Visiting Nurse building to expand views of the Black River and the waterfalls in the downtown. The fate of the nearby bakery building is less clear, but both buildings have fallen into disrepair. Springfield Select Board Chairman Kristi Morris said the fund and the money source had to be created separately, which is why it was necessary to place two articles on the Town Meeting warning. He said the town was taking the same strategy it used in 2016, when Town Meeting Day voters approved a fund to pay for demolishing blighted buildings. Morris said that the proposed seed money of $ 100,000 “ i s not a lot, but we have to start somewhere.” “We’re being proactive, not reactive,” he said.