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Since its acquisition by the AMC in 1931, Noble View
has been a rustic destination. For the many years that a tight-knit
community of Berkshire Chapter members enjoyed Noble View, the absence
of sanitary plumbing and washing facilities wasn’t detrimental to
folks’ enjoyment of the property.
We began to spread the news about Noble View
throughout the AMC and our
local community in an effort to make the property available to a larger
population of potential guests and users. The ease of travel to Noble
View makes it accessible to many who wouldn’t choose a remote
destination, and their expectations are higher. Many people aren’t
interested in spending a weekend at a facility that has no
potable water or sanitary facilities.
It became apparent that we would have to build a
bath house and ensure a
supply of potable water if we expected to serve the type of population
who’d be likely to use the facility.
The southwest corner of Noble View was affected by fires caused by a
lightning strike in 2002,
and local authorities came onto the property. At the same time, the AMC
was conducting risk management audits of all its properties. It was
evident that there were some health and safety code issues that we’d
have
to correct. Funding was also an issue.
The Conservation Restriction
Gary Forish, past Noble View chair, had the idea
that we could generate funding for building a bath house and renovating
some of our buildings by selling a conservation restriction. Through a
conservation restriction, a land owner
sells its right to develop or use its land in specific ways.
Several years of effort and an extraordinary partnership between the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and
Environmental Affairs, Russell Select Board, Planning Commission,
Conservation Commission, Springfield Water Commission, Winding River
Land Conservancy, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, and AMC staff and
volunteers culminated in the closing of the conservation restriction
sale on
May 24, 2008.
The conservation restriction permanently protects most of Noble View’s
358.5 acres from development, and it generated $675,000 in funding to
the AMC. With the permission of the AMC's Board of Directors, Noble
View will be able to draw on these funds to move forward with
renovations. The Town of Russell's share of the conservation
restriction was fully funded by a Self-Help Grant of $472,500,
announced by the Executive Office of Energy and
Environmental Affairs in December 2007. The remaining share of the
conservation
restriction was funded by the Springfield Water Commission.
We express our deep gratitude to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the
Springfield Water Commission; the people of the Town of Russell and the
Russell Select Board, Planning Commission, Conservation Commission;
Winding River Land Conservancy, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, and
AMC staff members Roger Scholl, Paul Cunha, and Joe Carper. Many thanks
especially to Gary Forish, whose idea this was, and whose commitment
and perseverence is largely responsible for producing these fantastic
results.
Together, we’ve achieved:
- The permanent protection and preservation of the open space
at Noble View through a conservation restriction.
- The permanent protection of that part of Noble View that
lies within the Springfield Water Commission’s watershed.
- Funding for ongoing renovations at Noble View, including
the new bath house.
Bath House Plans
The bath house will be equipped with two toilets and
two showers on both the men's and women's sides, and with a fully
handicapped-accessible toilet, sink, and shower room. There will also
be two sink areas for washing dishes.
The building will utilize the latest design standards for passive solar
construction, including "Solar Wall" technology to pre-heat fresh air
used for ventilation. Solar panels on the roof will generate a portion
of the electricity, and on-demand hot water heaters will minimize
energy use.
Download the floor
plan.
Here's an architect's rendering:
Many thanks to Erica Gees of Kuhn Riddle Architects
for her fantastic work on this design project.
Bath House Construction
In 2007, we blasted for the sepic tanks, septic
field, and bath house foundation, and we poured, insulated and
backfilled the foundation, and installed underground plumbing, propane,
and electrical work. Construction was put on hold for the winter, with
the hope that we'd be able to proceed at full speed
once the ground thawed in the spring of 2008.
However, a May 1, 2008 change in the regulations governing water supply
and septic systems forced a revision of plans. Under the new
regulations, our existing well was too close to the buildings, making
it necessary to drill a new one. Additionally, the septic field needed
to be re-designed and relocated.
Throughout 2008, Gary Forish worked on evaluating
the percolation rate of the soils in the facility zone (the portion of
the property on
which development is not prohibited by the conservation restriction) so
that a new septic field could be designed and permitted. With the help
and support of Tighe and Bond, one of the oldest continuously operating
engineering firms in New England, a successful perc test was performed
in late 2008, and it looks as though
we will be able to site a gray water septic field in the meadow
to the southwest of the Double Cottage.
The site was surveyed in
December 2008, and Tighe and Bond is currently preparing a septic field
design
for submission to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection.
The new design calls for composting toilets, which will necessitate
changes to the bath house plan, and will likely require the partial
demolition and rebuilding of the bath house foundation. The final step,
assuming we
succeed with the gray water system and the composting toilet design and
permitting, is successfully drilling a new well. After that, we’ll be
ready to build!
In the “silver lining” category, we've learned that, due to the
consistency of the soils in the area where we previously planned to
site the septic field, the septic field as originally designed would
have failed within three years.
We hope to re-start construction in 2009.
Assuming that
everything proceeds without a hitch, the bath house should be completed
sometime in 2010.
We’re very grateful to David Pinsky, P.E., President
and Chairman of the Board of Tighe and Bond, for the gracious donation
of resources to
this project. Thanks, also, to Glen Ayers for his time, energy, and
expertise.
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