Hilltown Community Development Corporation Executive Director Dave Christopolis, left center, and Housing Director Paul Lischetti, to his immediate right, talk with U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, top right Thursday afternoon in Chesterfield. Bryan Bowman
For the Gazette
CHESTERFIELD — Saying they’d like to get rural Massachusetts “on the map,” a group of officials representing the Hilltowns rapped with Congressmen Richard Neal for an hour Thursday.
While the discussion formally centered around a $1.7 million federal grant Neal helped secure for the Hilltown Community Development Corporation to address affordable housing and homelessness in the region, local officials also bent Neal’s ear about infrastructure problems and underfunded municipal governments, among other topics.
Following the meeting, Neal said he thought it opened up a “terrific dialogue.”
“Like every great orchestra, I want to make sure every instrument is heard,” said Neal, D-Springfield.
Hilltown CDC Executive Director Dave Christopolis said the $1.7 million from the Continuum of Care Grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development will be broken down into several categories, including case management, rental assistance, operation costs and data collection.
During the meeting, Christopolis told Neal that there are a number of challenging and interwoven issues facing people in the rural Hilltowns. In addition to inadequate infrastructure and financially-challenged town governments, communities are dealing with aging populations and stagnating economic development, he said.
Overriding all of these issues, Christopolis said, is a perception that the Hilltowns are often overlooked and forgotten by public officials.
“It’s always going to be the Hilltowns last unless people like us make a lot of noise,” Christopolis said during the meeting. “I’d love to get rural Massachusetts on the map.”
The Hilltowns are a loosely defined group of 38 towns spanning Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties that share common rural features and topography.
Discussing infrastructure, Christopolis said that the Hilltowns are economically handicapped by a lack of broadband internet and natural gas heating availability.
“We don’t even have broadband here,” Christopolis said. “I’m trying to run a $5 million nonprofit with DSL.”
Christopolis and other Hilltown CDC staff stressed to Neal that the lack of widespread broadband is hurting rural towns’ ability to attract new residents and investors. They fear long-term economic and population decline if the situation isn’t rectified.
Paul Lischetti, the Hilltown CDC’s housing director, told Neal that “if the infrastructure isn’t here, this area is going to end up ... like a national park, abandoned … we need to make an investment in order to maintain the community.”
Also hurting the Hilltowns’ economic development is a lack of public bathrooms, visiting centers, signs, gas stations and cellphone service, making the area a daunting place for visitors, Lischetti said.
Neal encouraged the Hilltown CDC staff to begin drafting an earmark funding request related to infrastructure and economic development for next year’s fiscal budget. He also took a shot at President Donald Trump, saying he hasn’t yet made good on campaign promises to invest in infrastructure.
“The Democrats are ready to go,” Neal said, referencing a proposed infrastructure bill.
Following the meeting, Christopolis said he fears the recent tax reform bill, signed by Trump on Dec. 22, could ultimately result in reduced funding for Hilltown CDC.
With lowered taxes, Christopolis is worried that he’ll see a reduction in annual federal funds. He also explained that donations to community development programs like his could dwindle as there will be less incentive for wealthy individuals to donate and receive a tax credit.
“I’m afraid that the trickle down funds we get are just going to trickle away,” Christopolis said.
