Parks Commission OKs MOU for Springside Pump TrackBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:31PM / Thursday, January 18, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With a memorandum of understanding settled, the pump track at Springside Park is closer to becoming a reality.
The Parks Commission on Tuesday approved a final draft MOU between the city, New England Mountain Bike Association, Shire Shredders, and Berkshire Mountain Bike Training Series. Milestone dates are currently not included in the document and will need to be updated once the project is closer to fruition.
NEMBA plans to place a bicycle skills park and pump track near the north playground of the park at no cost to the city.
"This MOU that's in your packet is identical to the last MOU that you saw and tacitly approved several months ago. The only change with this version that's in your packet is the addition of two new additional partners," Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resource Program Manager James McGrath said to the panel.
Since late 2021, McGrath and Commissioner Anthony DeMartino have been negotiating an MOU with NEMBA. In this form, the Shire Shredders and BMBTS are included to add further support.
The parties came to an agreement that half of the initial cost is given back in a five-year period and the remaining 50 percent is given back in a 10-year period.
"The funds raised by NEMBA for the removal of the Bike Skills Park shall be held by the City in fund available to pay for the removal of the Bike Skills Park (the "Removal Fund"). Fifty percent (50 percent) of the funds for removal shall be released to NEMBA or its designee on the 5th anniversary of the opening of the Bike Skills Park," the MOU states.
"The balance, if not expended for the removal to the Bike Skills Park shall be released to NEMBA or its designee on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Bike Skills Park."
It also stipulates that NEMBA maintains the park under a plan that is developed as part of the formal design process, obtains an insurance policy naming the city as an additional insured and that either party can terminate the agreement if there are insufficient funds raised for the construction and removal.
Milestone dates are left blank in the approved draft, as the city has not heard back from NEMBA on the matter and assumes they are still figuring out the timeline.
"If the respective parties sign this, then this is basically saying that if construction goes ahead, then they agree to all the points on here," Commissioner Simon Muil observed. "If construction never goes ahead it states it becomes a moot point."
McGrath explained that the first step would be design and if they initiate design, there are guardrails around it.
"It characterizes every step of the way," he said. "Protective measures not only for the city but for them and their partner groups."
This project has been on the table since 2020 and was officially approved at the end of 2021.
Opponents of the track have argued that it will destroy the natural beauty and ecology, create heavy traffic that would ruin the road, disrupt the enjoyment of the park, and cause severe damage to a treasured natural resource in the heart of the city. They have urged the commission to reject or relocate the skills track.
Daniel Miraglia, who has regularly spoken against the proposal, criticized that there is no language about a timeline for how long the bike group has to raise the necessary funds.
In October, NEMBA reported raising more than $17,000 of the $400,000 price tag.
"I think that's one condition that needs to go into the MOU," Miraglia said.
The commission also approved a three-year licensing agreement for the longtime Springside Greenhouse Group. It effectively allows them to lease the building.
"The group has been operating out of that greenhouse since the '80s and they have a very robust membership and they do great work. It is a great partnership between the city and the greenhouse group to maintain the building and to offer a greenhouse space and instruction around plants and other things that they do up there," McGrath said.
"This license agreement simply spells out the terms of how they operate out of the greenhouse, their occupancy, what they're required to do, carry insurance, and minor maintenance versus major maintenance. This is not dissimilar to what we have approved in the past. This has been updated by the city solicitor. It will also be signed by the city's building maintenance director and the mayor."
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