BTES Advocacy Letter - 3/31/23

On February 15, 2023 several residents attended a community forum at the Community House to hear about the existing conditions at the Berkshire Trail Elementary school and Community House buildings. At this meeting Dave Christopolis of the Hilltown CDC and Tom Chalmers, Architect for Austin Designs shared with attendees information on the buildings, the work that the Ad Hoc Committee has done so far, and what plans have been made to rehabilitate the Berkshire Trail Elementary School building.  Cummington residents provided feedback and ideas to the town and the architect as work moves forward to determine the costs associated with getting the school open again as a town facility that can generate some revenue for the town. (More information about this forum, maps of the building layouts and PowerPoint presentations can be found on the Town website on the BTES Project Recent News or BTES Ad Hoc Committee page.

Advocacy for funding was also discussed at the meeting, and it was suggested by some residents that supporters should reach out to their State Legislators for financial investment and requested a template letter. Link to  a template you can use to send to our legislators, Senator Paul Mark and Representative Lindsay Sabadosa.  Their addresses are in the letter, both e-mail and snail mail. Feel free to edit this template as you feel appropriate. Additionally, it is always meaningful to include a personal story in your letter. That is always helpful to legislators when they make their case in Boston on our behalf. Both of our legislators are aware of the town’s efforts to rehabilitate this building and they want to help.