The Gateways Beautification Committee, a joint project of the city's ward and neighborhood-based groups, held its first meeting tonight, and it was a very productive session indeed. We're off to a flying start, and I'm sending along a brief summary of our discussions and decisions for your information. We have a very good core group and hope to expand it with folks who are interested in helping spruce up the gateway entrances to our city. Here's the summary of our meeting. Jerry Budgar

1. Meeting of Gateways Beautification Committee
Wednesday, April 5, 2011
Northampton Fire Station Conference Room
Attendees: Arthur Apostolou, Smith Vocational School Superintendent
Alice Badecker, Leeds Civic Association
Gerald Budgar, Ward 3 Association
Deb Jacobs, Leeds Civic Association
John Kelly, Agricultural Coordinator, Smith Vocational School
Alison Kriviskey, Ward 4 Association
This project to hopefully improve and enhance the gateway entrances to Northampton is a joint effort
sponsored by the city’s ward and neighborhood-based organizations.
After introductions and a brief history of the project, attendees made a tentative list of the gateways
that we feel should be included in this project. They include:
-The area off Route 91 near the Hilton/Clarion on Route 5
-Route 9 coming into Northampton from Haydenville
-Route 5 coming into Northampton from Hatfield
-Route 10 coming into Northampton from Easthampton
-Route 66 coming into Northampton from Westhampton
-Route 9 coming into Northampton from Hadley over the Coolidge Bridge
-The Bike Path coming into Northampton from Hadley
-The Bike Path coming into Northampton from Easthampton
This list may be expanded after further study. Attendees thought it was important to include
welcoming displays on the bike paths to show Northampton’s commitment to bicycling.
We decided our next task would be a site inspection of these areas. Smith Vocational High School
will supply a 14-passenger bus and we will meet at the school on Saturday, April 30 at 1 p.m. for the
tour. At each site, we’ll look for land that would be appropriate for a welcoming display, determine
where public land is, check out topography, and the like. Members will take photos of the sites with
their cellphones. We hope more people will join us for this tour. In thinking about whether we should
propose a single design for each site or build in flexibility, several members said individual sites will
dictate what can be done at that location. We felt a sign should be part of each display, and Deb will
get the city’s sign regulations so we know what’s possible at these locations. Alison will contact
James at the Planning Department to get maps so we know more about each of the areas proposed for
gateway signs and plantings.
Among issues to be determine is what the overall “look” or “brand” we wish to communicate should
be, and a public design contest was suggested as one way to obtain suggestions from the community.
We will decide this question later. We do want to make certain our designs are sustainable and have
low-impact materials and plants. The issue of maintenance of the displays is also crucial.
We elected Jerry Budgar and Alison Kriviskey to co-chair the committee, and our next meeting will be
held on Wednesday, May 11 at 7 p.m. at the Fire Station to review and further discuss the site visits.

2. The committee was also informed that several groups in the community are interested in supporting
this project and want to be contacted about resources or expertise they might contribute. These
include the City of Northampton, the Northampton Chamber of Commerce, and the Business
Improvement District. Alison suggested we might also consider contacting the city’s service clubs and
organizations for assistance if needed.