To the editor:
Berkshire County is a valuable tourism Mecca in Massachusetts. That being said, you would think that instead of letting matters worsen and become dramatically more expensive over time, state government would sound the alarm and find emergency ways to help create workforce housing, affordable housing, and more market-rate housing, as well as sorely needed bridge and road repairs.
Instead, due to regulations and financial constraints, we are told that repairing bridges and addressing the housing shortage will take many years. There may be ways to accelerate the process if people think outside of the box. Here is an example.
The borough of Paramus, N.J., has four major shopping malls that are near the intersection of Route 4 and Route 17, which was in need of a major fix that was estimated to take three years to complete. The construction company that was awarded the contract negotiated a fee that would have a bonus if the timeframe was accelerated. It took them approximately 18 months to complete the three-year project, earning them a well-deserved bonus people were happy to pay.
As for locations to solve our shortage of housing, among others, there is a 50-acre portion of the Egremont golf course property on Route 23 that could have been an affordable-housing, workforce-housing, market-rate-housing campus for all of South County, not just Great Barrington. I was told that there is a lack of funds for that kind of development and, making things worse, there is no sewer at that property, which is a costly obstacle.
It was estimated that creating a link to the Great Barrington sewer line would cost $6 million to $8 million. Because the property is on the South Egremont border, I felt South Egremont might consider applying for a state-funded sewer system that would benefit their town and that the housing development could tap into. A win-win. Due to a lack of enthusiasm from those I spoke to in Great Barrington, I never pursued this.
We seem to be trapped in a circumstance with no choice but to accept failure. We should not agree with that mind set. We need more aggressive ways to deal with what we are facing. If a group of concerned citizens went to Boston to present our case directly to Gov. Maura Healey, that may help. Accepting what we have been told is the same as doing nothing, and that should be unacceptable.
Frank Gunsberg
Great Barrington
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