The City Council on Feb.1 unanimously approved a complete revision of the zoning ordinance regulating outdoor lighting that was last updated in 2007.

The new ordinance reflects current light-emitting diode (LED) technology and fine-tunes restrictions on glare and other impacts of outdoor lights on neighboring properties and the sky.

It caps the color temperature of outdoor lights at 2700 Kelvin, in an effort to reduce the emission of blue (or “cooler”) light linked to eye damage and “sky glow” that obscures the stars.

The ordinance also requires that commercial lights be turned off no more than one hour after the close of business. However, lights may be set to motion controls after close of business if they are timed to turn off five minutes after motion is detected.

In my remarks supporting the ordinance, I noted that Northampton joins 55 other communities in Massachusetts with similar bylaws recognizing that light pollution requires the same level of regulation as air and water pollution.

The ordinance is available here:

https://northamptonma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/22601?fileID=188891

Joint meeting on municipal budget

A looming deficit in the Northampton Public Schools budget dominated reaction to Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra’s presentation Jan. 30 on the financial condition of the city and revenue and expenditure forecasts. The three-hour session was attended remotely by the City Council, School Committee, and trustees of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School.

As required by the city charter, this is the first formal step in developing the municipal budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Sciarra again pledged a 4 percent increase to Northampton Public Schools, while asking other municipal departments to limit their increases for fiscal year 2025 to 2 1/2 percent. I support that continued commitment to education spending, particularly because students are still recovering from learning losses during the pandemic.

However, the 4 percent increase would still leave the School Department with a $2,750,208 gap in its budget for the year beginning July 1, Superintendent Portia Bonner told the School Committee in December. Both she and Sciarra said that resulted from spending down one-time emergency pandemic relief funds and school choice reserve funds for operating expenses.

Bonner also pointed out that the School Department had added a total of 47 teachers and paraeducators since fiscal year 2018, and that increases in the contract bargained with the Northampton Association of School Employees exceeded revenue growth starting in fiscal year 2023.

Education continues to be among my top priorities for the city budget, and as vice chair of the City Council’s Finance Committee, I will be part of the conversation with my colleagues, the School Committee, the union, parents and other taxpayers who I expect will work together to address the projected budget deficit.

Voters likely will be asked to approve another Proposition 2 1/2 override to take effect during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, to replenish the city’s fiscal stability plan established in 2014, Sciarra said. The last override was approved in March 2020, but it did not take effect until fiscal year 2022 because of the pandemic.

Sciarra’s presentation is available here:

https://northamptonma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/24640/FY25-Budget-Presentation-1-30-24-PDF

Bonner’s presentation is available here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PT3T5TTt1sm_c6vTbnhORmI5KFj7Q_wz/view

Northampton Rehabilitation and Nursing Center redevelopment

Valley Community Development Corp. offers this update about its project to redevelop the former nursing home at 737 Bridge Road into 60 units of affordable housing:

Prospect Place at 737 Bridge Road was awarded the remaining project funding from the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities on Jan 22. Valley CDC expects to start construction for the 60 new affordable and workforce apartments between June and August this year. Construction is expected to take 12 to 15 months. Valley CDC will provide an updated construction timeline as we get closer. Any questions may be sent to William Womeldorf at [email protected] or Laura Baker at [email protected].

Stan