Letter: Open Letter to Mayor Macksey on Notchview Logging
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To the Editor:
Dear Mayor Jennifer Macksey,
Almost two months ago I learned about the logging project that was going to use cancer-causing chemicals near our drinking water supply. Hearing this news terrified me as I lost my father to cancer. At the Sept. 12 meeting, we were told chemicals would not be used; however, when we questioned about future use during this 10-year plan, Mass Audubon and NEFF would not give us a definite answer. Management and operation plans are two different things; they can come back at any point during the next 10 years and use chemicals.
Even after your public apology, you still have not reached out to answer my questions so I will address them here in hopes they will finally be answered.
1. The original plan called for the use of chemicals, for two years you knew this yet stayed quiet. Why? You stood in front of your residents sharing a proclamation of September with Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. This took place right before our meeting, so again, how can you be OK with this plan?
2. NEFF wants to ask for an exception so they can cut more trees. This area is directly next to our water supply. If NEFF is allowed to cut this area, they will be digging within 50 feet of our drinking water. Have you given them permission to cut this area that doesn't need to be cut to begin with?
3. In 2021, NEFF sent a letter to then-Mayor Tom Bernard. This letter contained a proposal that would log our watershed. You inherited this non-binding agreement which means you can say no, but haven't. Why?
You claim you want to protect our water, but you have not sat with us to hear our alternatives that would still bring in money but not destroy our watershed or pieces of Mount Greylock. We tried to present some to you at the public meeting, but Mass Audubon tried to debunk them.
Mayor Macksey, I am inviting you to join us on Sept. 27 at All Saints Episcopal Church, North Adams, 7-9 p.m., to discuss what is going to really happen to our watershed. Please come and truly listen to our concerns. Let's work together as a community to protect our drinking water the correct way. It's time to protect Bellows.
Michaela Lapointe
North Adams, Mass.
