BY DAN VALENTI

Just take a long look at this and overlay it in your mind onto Springside Park. Do you Morningside neighbors want this? Stand up and be heard……………or sit still and bare the consequences!
https://www.facebook.com/powderhorntrailco/
Take it all in! The pix, the lack of testimonials save one.
Do you want Springside to be raped of it’s lumber, fauna & flora for a few “gear heads?”
And, as Dan said, it will fall into disrepair as most of the parks have in the Pitts!

They are working in BVW and in a resource area. The plan for this “pump track” is 3ish acres and at a projected cost of over $1.2-2 million.
This is a “foot in the door” project, with at least three “phases”.
All you have to do is ask for the full plans. It’s a public document.
They are pretending that it is not in a resource area and are saying the project is limited in scope AND that the surfaces are already impervious to get around concom and DEP requirements.
The concom was in on it from the beginning, BNRC stayed out because they want their pet projects to go through.

Saying that this will bring kids and teach them how to interact with nature is pretty stupid. Arguing that low income families and children will have greater access to nature is an outright lie.
What’s easier and cheaper to do, walk in the woods or drive across town with a $2000 mountain bike on car rack that costs $350?

Want to get poor kids into nature, that the million plus dollars and sponsor day camps, nature walks, lecture series.

Alison McGee is inconsistent to the point of hypocrisy.
On the one hand she talks about this being an economic engine for tourists, then claims it’s for the “poor kids”.
It’s not going to be both. It’s going to be a place where a special interest group will have near exclusive access to this resource.
Some facts, the bike group supporting this, the average cost of their bikes based on photos from events is over $2000.
They have already made an informal agreement to “run” the facility and plan to have six events as soon as it opens.
The Garden plans to sponsor events and when they put the full dirt track and stunt course they plan to sponsor more events.
There are other places that would work for this limited scope activity if it were just this one phase. The old Osceola Park tow rope hill would work except it wouldn’t accommodate the other planned phases.
Ask Allison how many comped trips she’s gotten and how much free product she’s gotten while doing this.
Her saying it’s for the kids is nuts. This isn’t about underprivileged and implied poc. This is about a bunch of privileged white folks doing what they do, lying to get what they want.
The argument that people mountain bike there anyway, we’ll people camp there anyway, people live there anyway, why not turn it into a camp ground and condos? Maybe some section 8 housing units.

Another issue I have today, and sorry it’s off topic, but why is the President making the tragedy in Florida political? Before any investigation is done and the families who have lost their loved ones are done grieving, he is out spouting that climate change was the culprit…really??? Classless!!

GOBSIGS to Planeteers- Go Eff Yourselves. We don’t care about the little people.

Attempting the visualize the affected location of the proposed Jeremiah Johnson unicycle Cirque du Soleil which will ultimately grow exponentially as the money trail expands. It must be where we as North Junior High students were mercilessly forced to run cross country in P.E. class while wearing our gym uniforms by Coach Kowalski.
Maybe MEMBA should talk to Howie Commander as another addition to his Valley of Speed.

Mr. Valenti – You need to learn to do research to help understand what you are referring to.

The location is approved, as Ms. McGee correctly states – See: https://www.iberkshires.com/story/63885/Parks-Commission-OKs-Location-of-Springside-Pump-Track.html

City source claims this is Phase 1 – Someone needs to remember not to bring the Mary Jane brownies to work. 4 times as large would make this about the largest skills park in the country, as big or smidge larger than skills area of Valmont in Colorado. Springside Park doesn’t have the topography for that kind of expansion, nor the associated infrastructure requirements. If said “source” can’t produce a map or document to back up their claims, its false.

Conflict of interest – To use an altered quote from Princess Bride, I don’t think that term means what you think it means. NEMBA is a regional 501(3) non-profit, of which Ms. McGee is a volunteer of. NEMBA has retained the services of a New Hampshire based company, Powder Horn, to consultant on a project. Ms. McGee, as the local volunteer representative, is representing NEMBA, not a company nor any commercial entity. As a member of the education committee, what would be the benefit to herself or said committee? “Education opportunities” are an ill defined benefit, especially since it could refer to anything, from the Little Bellas to PE classes. In order to be a conflict of interest, Ms. McGee would have to benefit finically from the project or create some sort of secondary benefit to herself through her being on the education committee. We all where different hats, and are members of different organizations, including clubs or political parties that benefit from our volunteering. As an example, your writing here could be a considered a larger conflict of interest to some other group you are part of, like a political party or city committee or vice versa.

Project impacts, i.e. Conservation Committee – As discussed in various meetings (read the minutes people), the project is under the minimum required size to trigger an environmental review under the NEPA or the MEPA and does not involve impacts to waterways or wetland (401 WAF). All the requirements and existing conditions are available for all to look at, including OLIVER (GIS data viewer for MA, including topography), NRCS Map (soil types), NWI Map (wetland location) & the associated statues. Literally 20 minutes of Googling and reading would easily illuminate the situation as to why review by these bodies isn’t what is legally required.

dan, your points and questions are right on the mark. there are so many unanswered questions and issues that have not been discussed over the 8+ months this has been formally proposed. here are a few, why was the meeting last night the first where roughly equal time was given for people to speak on the issue, as opposed to 7 month of proponents being allowed unlimited time and others restricted to 3 minutes?

when an alternative proposal for considering the parks and city’s own approved master plan to make the entire park an arboretum was stated at last night’s meeting, why was there no attention or discussion given to it? the only discussion was for and with the biking proponents, an (un)conscious bias?

there is a wide discrepancy between the number of original and current items of the proposals and the actual items given in the design, which is far larger.

statements by the bike advocates themselves and the NEMBA website document their aim is for the whole park.

the NEMBA website also contains false statements – that the park is unused and in disrepair; it is actually used daily by many people and is in good shape, in part because of the friends’ cleanups, and despite the city’s lack of maintenance. this is typical hidden agenda strategy to starve a site and then accuse it of being in need of ‘development.’

there are other appropriate places in pittsfield for this activity that would not violate the unique character of springside, and they were noted at last night’s and previous meetings. why no discussion of same?

why is springside considered the only viable place?

we were told that alternate sites were looked at and ruled out. follow up questions on that –

where is the documentation for the alternate site visits?

when did they take place?

what were the sites?

who was present at the walk throughs and analysis of the alternate sites?

what were the factors used in judging a site?

where is the documentation for each site considered

when will all these items be made available to the public?

who is supplying the money for this and why?

if the actual proposed bike park is to be confined to an acre (or now, 2, 3, 10, or more acres) why would the bike industry, IMBA, NEMBA, and other private/non-profit funding organizations drop $400,000-500,000, unless there is far more to their expected outcome, like the entire park, as was noted in your article. it wouldn’t be ‘cost effective’ with half a million dollars for an acre or two.

youth of all backgrounds, including so-called ‘low income’ and people of all ages are already are coming into the park to connect with and enjoy nature, and they don’t need to be on a $500 mountain bike to do that. in fact that would prevent meaningful connections.

‘giving youth an education about nature’ is done by bringing them into nature, here springside park and teaching them slowly while walking, seeing, smelling, and touching plants, trees, flowers, hearing birds, etc. this is only possible in quietude and concentrated awareness. it cannot be done while seeing only the few feet of a path in front of you while on a moving and usually speeding bike. if you don’t, you’re falling off the bike, and this guarantees you can never seeing anything is depth while riding on a mountain bike on trails that change rapidly.

there are two differing views of the natural world, wildlife, and one’s environment – one is that humans can control nature and use it for their singular pleasure as a dominion; the other is that humans are part of nature and wildlife, responsible for its custody, honoring it as an equal. the first is parallel to the historic thirst for control of the planet, its resources, and peoples in the never-ending quest for power on a national, community, or individual level; the second is a consciousness of all humanity as part of the world and equally responsible for all its living things, and the environment. mountain biking in inappropriate places like springside is reflective of the former, while our reverence for nature, springside, and all things natural – real and through our actions for over 40 years – as opposed to scripted sound bites, reflects the latter.

this is the choice that the city must make for springside park: adventure for the few, or reverence for all.

So wrong way is screwing up again.
Remember those backpacks? The dozens they bought to accommodate the 3 human trafficking victims? Well realizing they are taking up space and actually have things that will age out of use, the brain trust at the DA’s office decided to give away some of the backpacks to the homeless (in violation of the grant terms). What are those homeless folks doing, trying to sell components from the backpack to people on the street and trying to trade the gift cards included in the backpack at liquor stores.

I’m on the group chat/IM of a merchant association and I got this today.

“Warning some of the homeless have been coming into my store with stop and shop gift cards. They are trying to sell them to me at 50-75% face value for either cash or nips.
Three of these new north street wanderers have come on. Today.
I thought it was a sting but they got them for the DAs office. It’s part of a homeless backpack giveaway.
I’m telling you don’t fall for it It might be sting by the DA.”

So wrongway is handing out the backpacks and the homeless junkies are trying to trade them for cash to buy booze and drugs.

The National Education Association, the largest teachers union, has said teaching Critical Race Theory to K-12 is reasonable. Even as the liberal media has been telling us that they do not teach this to very young children. They want to partner with BLM on October 14th, George Floyd’s birthday, to spread their message that America is structurally racist and white people are the oppressors. They are now being very transparent about what they want to do to this country and it’s time for Americans to not allow their children to be indoctrinated with their lies.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/largest-teachers-union-critical-race-theory-reasonable-and-appropriate

Springside Park is on the National Registry of Historic Places. SO, aren’t there rules as to what “special interests/friends of the mayors” can and cannot do to such hidden gems? Also when corrupt/inept city clowncilors and Ruberto gifted Shaker Village $250,000/$500,000? taxpayer $$$$$$$$$$ in exchange for analysis of paint chips from the money pit Springside House so that it could be restored to it’s original glory disabled/defective screw the taxpayers Yon was absolutely giddy with excitement. Another lie told was that the students attracted to Shaker Village off campus college would come to Pittsfield and enrich downtown/up-street restaurants/business/rental properties, as they would need someplace to eat, shop and live while enrolled at Shaker Village, thus saving Pittsfield.