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| Hopedale Pond Clean Up Gets $250,000 State Grant. Selectmen accept ceremonial check signifying major grant to restore Hopedale Pond. (Left to Right) Selectman Louis Arcudi III, Selectman Chairman Alan Ryan, Selectman Mike Collins, Sen. Moore, and Rep. Parente. |
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September 6, 2006...With a grant of $250,000, state and local officials are hoping for a plan that will keep beautiful Hopedale Pond from becoming a weed-choked, algae smelling swamp in the future. Senator Richard T. Moore (D-Uxbridge) and Representative Marie J. Parente (D-Milford) visited the Hopedale Board of Selectmen this week for a ceremonial check presentation to announce the plan.
Senator Moore, after hearing the concern of several Hopedale residents, inserted the $250,000 appropriation in the state’s FY ’07 budget, and Representative Parente successfully retained the amount on the House side. Parente then had to work even harder to make sure that the House (which takes up vetoes first) overrode a veto by Governor Mitt Romney of this and other budget items.
Moore recalled that, as a youth, he learned to swim in Hopedale Pond and that his mother, the late Helen E. Moore of Hopedale, was the matron at the town’s Bath House for several summers. “Hopedale Pond is a terrific asset to the community and, I believe, is essential to the town’s quality of life,” he told the selectmen. He said that efforts to rejuvenate the Draper facility for housing and mixed commercial use will be enhanced if the Pond is a healthy, attractive amenity for potential future tenants of the massive plant.
During a discussion of the Draper Re-Use Committee report, Committee Chairman Michael Ruane echoed Moore’s position, noting that the Committee believes that the Pond is one of the town’s assets in trying to restore the mill property. He also noted that restoration of the Pond would present another opportunity for the town to cooperate with mill owner, Philip Schwactman of First American Realty, since the firm controls the water rights to the Pond.
Senator Moore said that the first step should be a meeting between state and Hopedale officials and residents to develop a scope of the Pond study. Selectmen added they hoped that any plan would include a proposal for control of the Canadian Geese population which has contributed to the Pond’s pollution. Once the scoping study is held, an environmental engineering firm would be retained to conduct the study and outline an action plan for the pond’s future.
Parente added that she joined the Senator in support of the project because of concern that some sections of the Pond were becoming overgrown with weeds and that water quality had seriously deteriorated. Selectmen expressed genuine pleasure with the state’s help and financial support on this project, as well as the added appropriation of $25,000 to help with the work of the Draper Re-Use Committee.
Moore, a Hopedale native and former three-term Selectman, has been involved with Parente in supporting the efforts of the Re-Use committee. Both have attended or sent staff to the meetings of the committee for the past year.
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