Hot Topics at This Week’s Charter Meetings So Far

[Correction: Ward 3 City Councilor Owen Freeman-Daniels did not participate in the debate over preliminary elections on January 10.] Northampton’s Special Act Charter Drafting Committee is holding an intense series of meetings this week to prepare a proposal for City Council. See the city calendar for meeting times and places. We will post videos from […]

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Video: Leaders Speak with Charter Drafting Committee

Here is a YouTube video plus highlights from the 12/14/11 meeting of Northampton’s Special Act Charter Drafting Committee. These videos were recorded by Emily Odgers.The 12/14 meeting featured a Leadership Round Table that included Clare Higgins, Pat Goggins, Mary Ford, Michael Vito, Jim Dostal, David Murphy, Paul Spector, Stephanie Pick and David Narkewicz. Topics of discussion […]

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Video: Urban Forests = Cleaner, Cooler Air

This four-minute video from the American Society of Landscape Architects describes how trees benefit cities. “…a single large healthy tree can remove greater than 300 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year… Through their leaves, trees also provide evaporative cooling, which increases air humidity. Shaded surfaces may be 20-45 degrees cooler, and evapotranspiration […]

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Video: Northampton Planning Board Rejects Cumberland Farms Proposal for Florence

Here is a YouTube video of the 12/8/11 meeting of Northampton’s Planning Board. This recording was made by Emily Odgers. As you can see from the news accounts below, the Planning Board denied a special permit for a proposed Cumberland Farms in downtown Florence. The hearing on the Cumberland Farms proposal begins at 0:49:18 on the video.Here […]

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Video & Presentation: Charter Drafting Committee Public Forum II

Here is a YouTube video of the complete 12/6/11 public forum held by Northampton’s Special Act Charter Drafting Committee. This video is 2 hours 7 minutes long and was recorded by Emily Odgers. See the committee’s web page for meeting dates, agendas, minutes and related materials. Here is the presentation shown at the forum. City […]

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Video: Special Act Charter Drafting Committee, 11/30/11

This is a video and agenda of the complete 11/30/11 meeting of Northampton’s Special Act Charter Drafting Committee. This recording was made by Adam Cohen. Among other things, the committee discusses whether low signature thresholds for petitions expose the City Council to the risk of being clogged by excessive petitions. The committee also discusses how […]

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Videos: Community Discussions on Zoning Changes; Concern for Conz Character

Here are two YouTube videos of recent community discussions of proposed zoning changes organized by Northampton’s Office of Planning and Development (see meeting flyer). Streets to be affected include Hawley Street, Conz Street, Damon Road, and areas of Florence (West Farms, Pine Street). Also proposed are new rules to facilitate the reuse of former educational and […]

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Video & Presentation: Charter Drafting Committee Public Forum

Here is a YouTube video of the complete 11/15/11 public forum held by Northampton’s Special Act Charter Drafting Committee. This video is 2 hours 50 minutes long and was recorded by Emily Odgers. See the committee’s web page for meeting dates, agendas, minutes and related materials. There will be another public forum on December 6, […]

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Video: “An Illustrated Talk on The Natural History of Our Meadows”

Here is a YouTube video of “An Illustrated Talk on The Natural History of Our Meadows”, a presentation by naturalist Laurie L. Sanders, author of Rediscovering Northampton: The Natural History of City-Owned Conservation Areas. This presentation was part of the 11/16/11 annual meeting of the Meadow City Conservancy Coalition. This recording was made by Adam […]

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