New Ashland Arboretum At Cadillac Paint Site
In his Newsletter dated June 6th, Ashland Town Manager Michael Herbert writes about important progress at the former Cadilac Paint site (photos by Ed Hart):
“One project with a very long history is reaching an important milestone this week.
For more than thirty years, one of the first things you saw coming into downtown Ashland was a fence around a problem nobody could solve.
The old Cadilac Paint property…contaminated soil, contaminated groundwater, a $300,000 state lien, and a remediation bill that stopped administration after administration cold. Not because anyone lacked the will. Because the math didn’t work.
This Tuesday, June 9, that same parcel gets dedicated as the Ashland Arboretum.
It happened because in 2015, EPA, MassDEP, MassDevelopment, and the Town stopped working around each other and started working together. It happened because Town Counsel and the Town Manager’s office spent 2017 securing grant funding for half the cleanup and negotiating away a lien most people assumed was permanent…roughly $700,000 in combined relief. It happened because Representative Jack Lewis and Senate President Spilka worked hard on Beacon Hill to deliver funding for the project. It happened because residents stood up at Town Meeting and voted to take the property so the Town could finish what the partnership started. It happened because a very small staff, consultants at Tighe & Bond and Nobis, and a network of volunteers…including BSA Troop 11 pulling invasives…kept showing up for years after the cameras left.
This is a real win; and it took more than a decade, three levels of government, an eminent domain vote, and dozens of people whose names will never be on the ribbon. Having said that, I want to particularly thank resident Ed Hart, Assistant Town Manager Beth Reynolds, and Conservation Agent Becca Solomon for their strong advocacy and work in making the Arboretum a reality.
The gap between “contaminated liability” and “permanent community asset” doesn’t get crossed in one leap. It gets crossed by a lot of people holding that gap open long enough for the next person to do their part.”
-Michael Herbert, Ashland Town Manager