ROLAND HEBERT, 1944 - 2011

On February 14, 2011, SRPEDD lost a great friend with the premature passing of Roland Hebert at age 66.  One year into his retirement, he was on vacation in Fiji when he suffered a fatal heart attack.  Roland is survived by his mother Hilda, his wife Pam, daughters Rae Anne and Yvette and their husbands, seven granddaughters, and an extended family of SRPEDD staff and professional colleagues who are trying to cope with losing their friend.

His impact on Southeastern Massachusetts and our transportation system cannot be overstated.  Roland was a staff member at SRPEDD from 1980 until his retirement in 2010 and every major transportation project in this region has his fingerprints on it.   From the new Brightman Street Bridge to the Route 79 relocation in Lakeville to South Coast Rail, Roland influenced where it would go, how it would be paid for and when it would happen.

Tributes to Roland have been pouring in to SRPEDD and can be viewed at our website or in the "Discussions" section of our Facebook page.  They are serious, humorous and sad - but all are heartfelt for a beloved colleague.  SRPEDD and Southeastern Massachusetts will never be the same without Roland.

SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTALISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY:

Conference on March 17 at Wheaton College

The Southeastern Massachusetts Council on Sustainability is presenting a forum on sustainable environmentalism on March 17, 2011 from 1:00 - 4:00pm at Wheaton College in Norton, MA.  The Council is a venture of SRPEDD, UMass Dartmouth and many other partners.

The forum will examine the new realities and responsibilities that make it necessary to reinvent what it means to be an environmentalist in the 21^st century.  We will explore the state's goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the environmental implications of commuter rail, the regulatory climate surrounding renewable energy, the role of science in environmental decision making and how citizens can make a difference.  We hope that you can attend to listen, learn and contribute.  Admission is free.

For more information, please visit our website.

COMPREHENSIVE 911 DISPATCH SERVICE DELIVERY FEASIBILITY STUDY

Municipalities Participating in the Regional 911 Dispatch Study

As part of SRPEDD's planning assistance to 27 cities and towns in Southeastern Massachusetts and in response to the current local government financial crisis, SRPEDD is offering assistance to our communities to deliver goods and services on a regional basis.  This effort encompasses a Regional Cooperative Purchasing Program and is expanding into helping regionalize other municipal services. This is an opportunity for interested cities and towns in the region to combine their purchasing power and to share resources.

SRPEDD received a grant from the Massachusetts State 911 Department to study the feasibility of combining 911 communication services in the hopes of improving public safety, increasing operational efficiency and subsequently easing the burden on local budgets. GeoComm, a public safety communications consultant, was selected to provide consulting and project management services to all aspects of the six month study.

The study will determine the feasibility of establishing one or more Regional Emergency Communication Centers (RECC) or one or more consolidated Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) that will serve some or all the public entities involved. GeoComm will be in the region throughout the project to work with participating agencies and to welcome input from residents as well as public officials.

Each of the 27 communities in the SRPEDD region was invited to participate in the study and 18 municipalities agreed. They include the cities of Taunton, New Bedford and Fall River and the towns of Acushnet, Berkley, Dartmouth, Dighton, Fairhaven, Freetown, Lakeville, Mansfield, Marion, Middleborough, Norton, Raynham, Swansea, and Wareham, as well as UMass - Dartmouth campus security.  One non-SRPEDD Region town, Easton, is also participating.

Contact: Ross Perry, Municipal Management Specialist

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SRPEDD TOWN PROFILE: Norton, MA

By Jennifer Carlino, Norton Conservation Agent

Originally purchased from Plymouth County in 1637 and from Taunton in 1668, the Town of Norton was founded in 1711, making this year its 300^th anniversary. Norton is an inland community characterized by five major rivers (including the Canoe and Three-Mile Rivers), four large water bodies, many streams, extensive wetland areas (nearly 40% of the land area) and associated floodplains (16%). Norton has three Areas of Critical Environmental Concern and one federally-designated Sole Source Aquifer. Early Norton industries included farming, working bog iron, gristmills, lumbering, textile mills, bleacheries, a wool-combing mill, manufacturing of straw hats, basket-making, jewelry manufacturing, and producing boxes for the jewelry trade and the copper disks from which the old-style large copper pennies were minted. The keel of the frigate "Constitution" is said to have been cut from oaks found within the Norton Great Woods.

Suburban Norton has retained some of its industrial history with businesses like Kilburn Glass, Sinclair Manufacturing, TJ Holmes Inc, and Reliable Electroplating and has grown with the Poland Springs, Tournament Players Club golf course, and the Extended Stay America hotel. Wheaton College remains an important contributor and focus in the center of town. Norton is home to the Massachusetts Golf Museum and Winslow Farm, a non-profit animal sanctuary. The Girl Scout Council of Southeastern Massachusetts and Attleboro YMCA operate the Edith Read Girl Scout Camp and Camp Finberg (at the Norton Outdoor Center) here, respectively.  The Land Preservation Society of Norton contributes significantly to the town's open space land, which now makes up nearly 23% of the land area. All in all, Norton is a wonderful place to live and work.  Come visit us!

SOUTH COAST REGIONAL BIKEWAY SUMMIT RECAP 

"I thought of that while riding my bicycle." - Albert Einstein, on the theory of relativity

Riding a bicycle is one of the simple joys of life. It can be fun, good exercise and it's even how some people commute to work. More and more people are incorporating biking into their way of life and many share the vision of a bike trail network that extends throughout the SRPEDD region.  Sixty-five (65) bicyclists rode from Fall River to New Bedford last November in support of regional biking.  Again, two weeks ago on February 15^th, more than 100 people participated in the South Coast Regional Bikeway Summit held at the ATMC in Fall River.

So far, the proposed 50-mile South Coast Bikeway, which would extend from the Rhode Island border in Swansea to just short of the Cape Cod Canal, only has a few segments in place.  The longest segments are a one-mile stretch in Mattapoisett, the three-mile bike path in Fairhaven, followed by a 2.5-mile path on Rodney French Boulevard in New Bedford and smaller segments in Swansea and the South Watuppa Pond Path in Fall River.

Other segments are at various stages of planning, including a 10-mile segment in Wareham and a four-mile segment in Fall River. Continued planning efforts to extend the existing Mattapoisett trail are also underway and the new Veterans Memorial Bridge (Brightman Street) will include a bike path when it opens in the spring.

The ideal bike path would extend from the Cape Cod Canal along rail lines through Wareham and Marion, through the centers of Mattapoisett and Fairhaven, into New Bedford along a reconfigured Route 18, into Dartmouth and Westport, into Fall River and finally into Swansea to the Rhode Island line, ultimately connecting with paths in Rhode Island and on Cape Cod.  To see an interactive map of the project, please visit the SRPEDD website.

So grease up those old bike chains, dust off those helmets and get biking!

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