It takes a village

On Friday, May 1st, Holliston celebrated the collaboration of town, local, state and federal officials to secure funding for the Holliston Downtown Sewer District Project, an investment expected to spur economic growth in the town. Attendees included town officials as well as US Congressman Jim McGovern, MA Senate President Karen Spilka and MA Rep. James Arena-DeRosa.

“Today we are here for a big announcement for Holliston, said Congressman McGovern, “The town is receiving $1,092,000 in federal funding to be used to upgrade their wastewater infrastructure. And I’m proud to say we were able to secure this through the appropriation process in Washington…additional wastewater infrastructure will be built in downtown Holliston, enabling economic growth through proper environmental management, and with this upgraded wastewater infrastructure, it will pave the way for economic development in downtown Holliston. This will draw visitors who will generate significant economic activity for local businesses, and in doing so, the project will help create new jobs as well, and by attracting both residents and visitors, this town is providing sustainable local economic growth.”

McGovern lauded town leadership for this look ahead, which he admitted was “not sexy, but you can’t grow without the appropriate infrastructure … What I love about these projects, they’re prime examples of true local partnerships to make every dollar go further. This is exactly what people are looking for, local government and community partners coming together to deliver smart efficient solutions that solve real problems, respect taxpayers and minimize waste,  and I want to thank Karen and James for all they have done to support this in the legislature. You can’t get anything done anymore without a partnership, and I’m proud to be the wind at your back that moved this forward…”

MA Senate President Karen Spilka thanked not only Congressman McGovern but her partner James Arena-DeRosa in the House for helping secure state funding. She also thanked Town Manager Frank Gervasio and his team, the Holliston Select Board, Deputy Director Robert Walker, Economic Development Director Melanie Hamblen “and so many other who helped bring this project to fruition.

“We know it takes a village to get this done,” continued Spilka, noting “This has been talked about since I became senator 20 years ago. You all deserve a round of applause. It’s a great  example of municipal, state and federal partnership that works well and is truly symbolic of the way Holliston works. We have been united in believing that improving our infrastructure will support residential development, diversify business opportunities, and further expand the quality of life in Holliston. The town has done a terrific job of managing the funds they’ve received in the past and have used them to engage thoughtful planning and a long-term process. I’m extremely grateful to the town of Holliston and the leadership for addressing these infrastructure issues which are so critical to economic health, and it will really change downtown Holliston in the years to come, because it will bring so much vibrancy, economic development and revenue to the town.”

Rep. Arena-DeRosa echoed those sentiments thanking McGovern and Spilka for being “champions for our town. We’ve been talking about downtown sewer and wastewater treatment since I got here in the early 90s,” he said, “For anything like this to succeed, it takes this long-term collective effort, as Senator Spilka and again, I want to thank this select board and the one before them, the finance committee and the one before them as well. I want to give a shout out to John Cronin and the sewer team and the DPW, because they’ve been working really hard on this for several years. I know we have more work to do…these things are only successful with partnerships bet state and local and federal government. I will continue to do what I can … we need a vibrant downtown. We want to come up with something that works for the residents of the town as well as the business community here. If we want to grow, we want to do it in a way that’s smart and wise, and having efficient wastewater is going to be an important part of that…”

Select Board Chair Benjamin Sparrell again thanked all who helped direct funds to the project, noting in particular the efforts of Facility Director James Keast, who, he said, “has done a ton behind the scenes.” 

Sparell continued, “I look at this as an opportunity, and this is not the culmination, this is the beginning of new things for Holliston. It’s very exciting, and there’s lots of work to be done, so thank you everyone and I look forward to the future of Holliston.”

John Cronin, Holliston Sewer Commissioner, shared the sentiments of gratitude to all aforementioned who worked to secure funding “on behalf of my fellow commissioners, Kevin Cornwell and Stacia Gelineau. We’ve been at it for about a year. We’re staring at a $7.6M project. It’s not big in terms of public projects, but it is big on economic impact in this community …  I think the scale and size of this project is what’s making it work. It’s very scalable, it’s very impactful, and we think, at the end of the day, very affordable. Our goal is to try to get this done in the next 2-3 years…” Cronin noted, “You’ll hear from us in the next several months, hopefully at Town Meetings, as we begin to build out our bylaws and start building this thing, hopefully, by the end of the year.”

Town Manager Frank Gervasio echoed the praise of those mentioned, from the state, federal and local community, as well as lauding efforts of his predecessor, Travis Ahern, and again, the efforts of James Keast.

Following the comments, town officials took elected officials for a walk to specific points in town to point out their vision for the town with the introduction of sewer.