Page 8 - BusinessWest July 11, 2022
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   Karl Stinehart, left, and Russ Fox say Southwick’s goal is preserve its high quality of life while also creating needed business tax revenue.
time, voters have rejected hosting any retail dispensaries in town.
“We are in the early stages of this project,” Stinehart said. “They have done
some site work but have not yet built the facility. Once complete there will be a lag time before the business is productive, so we are a long way from seeing any revenue for the town.”
Meanwhile, the Greens of Southwick is a development of custom-built homes on the land that was formerly Southwick Country Club. Located on both sides of College Highway, the west side of the development features 25 lots, with only two still available. More recently work began on the east side of the property where 38 lots are planned. Phase one of the east side has only three lots available.
On the other side of town, a 100-unit condominium project near the intersec- tion of Depot Street and Powder Mill Road has also been approved.
“When those are built, the people who live there will have close access to the Rail Trail and can easily walk to the center of town,” said Stinehart.
While all these new homes will create additional tax revenue, residents who live on Lake Congamond are begrudgingly contributing more to the town’s tax coffers due to improvements to their current homes.
For several years, many of the modest homes on the shores of the lake are get- ting major renovations by their owners. As a result, these lakefront residences are now assessed at a higher tax rate than before the reno work.
“People are very upset with us about their increased taxes and we tell them how the state sets the tax rate, we have nothing to do with it,” said Fox.
For this, the latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at Southwick and the ongoing efforts to create that bal- ance that Fox spoke of.
Work and Play
Calling the lake a tremendous asset to Southwick, Fox also noted that part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds the town received were used to install weir gates on Congamond.
“Weir gates help us address flood control and keep contaminated water from flowing into the lake,” Fox said. Every spring the town treats the lake with alu- minum sulfate or “alum” to keep algae blooms down and improve water quality. Without the weir gates, contaminated water from flash floods would back up into the lake and negate the alum treatment. That affects the health of the lake, and the town budget, as Southwick spent $600,000 for the alum treatment.
Looking longer term, Fox said the town would like to dredge certain areas of the lake to keep it healthy.
“Lakes die naturally from sediment that keeps increasing over the years on the lakebed,” he explained. “Right now, there is an estimated six feet of sediment on the bottom of Lake Congamond.”
Because Congamond acts as a recharger for the aquifer, Fox is also hoping to start a dialogue with Westfield and West Springfield, as both communities get their water from the aquifer.
“It might be beneficial for all three towns to kick in to dredge the lake to make sure it keeps providing clean water,” he said.
Most of the $1.4 million Southwick received in its first allotment of ARPA funds was spent on a water project of a different sort, a new water pump and filtration
    8 JULY 11, 2022
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT BusinessWest








































































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