I was present at the BPW meeting Monday, 5/21, and as both a resident of the Macomber/Pimental Park neighborhood and a member of the town’s Bikeway Committee I have some observations about what transpired.
While I applaud the BPW for their willingness to contribute to bike awareness in town, as evidenced by their work on the Phoenix bike path, the signage around town, the sharrows painted on many roads, and the installation of bike racks and crossing lights, I feel the heavy handed manner in which the Chairman conducted this meeting, ostensibly to get citizen input, was unprofessional.
Even though they are not bound to notify neighbors about the construction of the BMX track, neglecting to do so until most decisions had been made has instantly pitted the BMX advocates and the BPW against the neighbors around Macomber/ Pimental Park on Sconticut Neck.
It almost seems that they went out of their way to keep things quiet. Indeed, the BMX track was presented by the Chairman as a “done deal”. However only one person spoke for it and many of the 101 petition signers spoke against. Is the citizen support for the BMX track at the proposed location not as great as I am led to believe?
The initial discussion, brought by the BMX track advocates, was last November, with a subsequent mention in the Fairhaven Neighborhood News, and then almost nothing. Unless one is a BPW groupie, or a BMX advocate, you’d never know anything more.
Why was the Bikeway Committee left out in the cold on this issue? Why were they not told about this group of BMX track advocates who formed a committee? Why wasn’t the Bikeway Committee Chairman told of this Monday’s meeting?
To be sure, a lot of folks are apprehensive about how a BMX track will affect the admittedly “quiet neighborhood, the pristine setting by the seaside,” but there are other problems as well.
The park is not underutilized as characterized by the BPW. The Neck is a windy area and the dust from a dirt track promises to be considerable. Parking, or lack of it, is problematic. When it rains, the area where the track is to be located is soft as a sponge and low spots in a track will continue to be mosquito breeding grounds.
At the end of the meeting, members of all parties agreed to attempt to find a more suitable location for the pump track. One that will have much less of an impact on any Fairhaven neighborhood. Hopefully they will succeed.
The Conservation Committee will rule on the Macomber/Pimental Park location come June 11. Interested residents should attend.
Geoff Sullivan, Fairhaven
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