50 Years Ago
- Four councilors who are retiring from the City Council at the end of the month were honored last night at the council’s last meeting of the year. Councilors Eugene H. Arnold, Harry H. McColgan, Harry S. Chapman Jr., and Edward P. Gross were given standing ovations by fellow councilors and the audience in the council chambers.
- Faced with the prospect of increasing demands from the municipal unions, the Northampton City Council last night voted unanimously to set up the position of city personnel director, who will have charge of the classification of city employees and the administration of all city personnel matters.
25 Years Ago
- For the first time in Northampton’s history, the city may be required to filter its municipal water supply, possibly by installing a system that could cost upwards of $14 million. Two members of the Board of Public Works said the construction of a filtration plant is “inevitable,” both because of the possible presence of a bacteria in tests taken in 1999, and because federal water quality standards will be stricter starting in December 2001.
- The owner of a 57.6-acre parcel off Route 9 in Leeds has submitted three different proposals to develop the land, including a conventional cookie-cutter subdivision plan and two that would cluster development to preserve open space. The three plans were submitted last week on behalf of developer John Hanley.
10 Years Ago
- In what looks to be the final chapter of Northampton’s former Business Improvement District, the city is returning about $23,000 collected by the BID last fall from property owners who had originally opted out of the organization. “It’s been a hard year, to try to get it wound up and get everyone in agreement about the dissolution, but it’s over,” former BID chairman Charles Bowles said.
- Amherst officials this week gave their approval to continue studying how to bring a regional bike-sharing system to Amherst, Northampton, Holyoke and Springfield. The Select Board Monday endorsed a feasibility study for the program, which commits the town to remaining a partner in the proposed Pioneer Valley Bike Share System.