West County News - April 12th, 2001
Fire District Voters Say 'No' To Neon Art On Bridge Of Flowers
By CLARK
JOHNSON
Managing Editor
There will
be light reflecting off the Deerfield River below the Bridge
of Flowers but it probably will not be red and blue neon.
A request
by a local neon light artist, Tony Palumbo of Colrain, to install
lights on the five arches of the popular tourist attraction
in Shelburne Falls, was soundly defeated at the polls and on
the annual meeting floor by members of the Shelburne Falls Fire
District, on Monday, April 9.
The two
water commissioners had earlier voted against the proposal,
because, as water commissioner Frank Field said, 11 we saw no
financial gain but some disruptions. We saw no benefit to the
district."
That was
the opinion of the vast majority of the water district members
who came out in large numbers to the polls during the afternoon
to defeat the nonbinding referendum question by an 82 to 19
vote. Although no hand vote count was taken at the annual meeting
at Buckland Shelburne Elementary School that evening, the vast
majority said "no" to the project.
Mr. Palumbo
had hoped to begin installing the temporary art in June 2003.
It would have been kept on the Bridge of Flowers for 13 months
then removed.
"I feel
sad for the art community. I may try it again next year and
try again to explain what I had hoped to do. All I really wanted
to do was show the Bridge of Flowers in a different light,"
said Mr. Palumbo after hearing the results of the vote. "It's
too bad for the artistic and business community of Shelburne
Falls and Buckland. We were not allowed to take the lead in
free and innovative expression. ("Variations on a theme.") It's
the secret of all good art and music. They surely missed the
boat on this one." He did not attend the annual meeting.
Ted Merrill,
of Shelburne, said the lights would not be "appropriate historically"
and would set a precedent "we do not need." Shelburne Police
Chief Mark DeJackome also objected, saying that the lights could
be a public safety issue and raise problems with extra tourists
in the village at night when there are few police officers on
duty.
But Mr.
Palumbo's art project had supporters. John Taylor, former fire
chief of the district, said "I trust his artistic taste and
support the idea. It is not a crisis and is only temporary.
Another district member, Amy Love, said it would not cost anything
and urged fellow voters "to support new ideas."
The issue
of the neon lights was a big draw to the polls and the annual
meeting. Janice Jefferson, clerk of the district, said that
only a handful of people normally go to the polls to elect new
officials or attend the annual meeting.
Besides
the neon light question, voters at the annual meeting approved
the operating budget for 2002 that showed a 5.1% hike in the
costs to district members. The total operating budget for 2002
is $283,584.
While most
of the articles passed with little or no discussion there was
an attempt to amend an article to move $100,000 from free or
available cash into a stabilization account. The amendment asked
to place $50,000 of that amount into the account and use the
other $50,000 to reduce the district tax rate.
Water commissioners
said the new account would help defray future costs to the district
when a new fire station is built. "It would be only a short
term effect if we used $50,000 to reduce taxes," said Mr. Field.
"We have some major costs coming and don't want to take a big
hit all at once."
Another
article asked to spend $5,000 to help in the application of
a new federal grant program that will match money on a nine
to one ratio to buy fire fighting equipment. That article was
passed unanimously.
More than
100 voters turned out at the polls during the afternoon and
elected Sharleen Moffatt as a write-in candidate for water commissioner.
Ms. Moffatt will fill a vacancy created earlier in the year
with the resignation of one of the three commissioners. She
received 16 votes. Other officers elected were John Shippee
for assessor, Gregg Gilmore for moderator and Ray Scott for
auditor.
