WILLIAMSTOWN — Frail, ill and disabled residents of The Spruces mobile home park, many of them elderly, will be spared the ordeal of walking up to a quarter mile to retrieve their mail, thanks to an agreement worked out late last week.
Richard T. Delmasto, congressional aide to U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst, confirmed the agreement yesterday, and Spruces Tenants Association President Susan Fabregas said she was pleased with the outcome.
“Based on the fact that we’ll never get home delivery back for everyone, the agreement seems to provide for the needs of those handicapped and disabled residents, but it is yet to be seen if they follow through on that,†Fabregas said.
The agreement specifies that Fabregas will determine which tenants qualify for medical “hardship’ waivers, which will allow them to have mail delivered to their doors rather than to a central mailbox bank in the community center. Tenants will submit their applications to her, she will make the determination on who qualifies, then pass on the list to the Postal Service, she and Delmasto said.
“I already have a list of those people who are qualified for home delivery,†Fabregas said, “and I know who can manage without danger to themselves. We’re being very judicious about the way we do it.â€
Tenants had appealed to Olver, saying the U.S. Postal Service’s discontinuance of home delivery and its denial of hardship waivers to some seriously infirm residents, placed those residents in danger and imposed a severe hardship on them.
Some residents recounted their health issues which clearly restricted and, in some cases, prevented them from ordinary mobility, much less a hike to the bank of communal mailboxes.
Olver’s Sept. 30 letter to Postmaster General John E. Potter described the conditions of several Spruces residents who, despite manifest handicaps and illness, were denied waivers.
Yesterday, Fabregas said all those tenants “who are still alive and living at The Spruces, will get waivers.â€
Of the anticipated three dozen who originally applied for waivers over the past year, she said, “about eight have passed away or are in nursing homes now.â€
She said disabled residents who have able-bodied relatives living with them will not be granted waivers, because the relatives can get their mail. And for some, she said briskly, “Walking is healthy.â€
Fabregas said some residents will be on the list only during the winter months, and those recuperating from an injury will have temporary delivery.
Last Thursday Michael Powers, Postal Service district manager based in Reading met with Williamstown Postmaster John Bourdon and Fabregas in Williamstown, meeting later with Delmasto at Olver’s Pittsfield office. According to Delmasto, Powers said Fabregas would have “complete discretion†in compiling the list. Efforts to reach Bourdon for comment were unsuccessful.
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WMMGA to Host Gardening Half Day in Lenox
LENOX, Mass. — The WMMGA will host a gardening half day on April 5 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at Lenox Memorial Middle and High School.
The event will feature eight workshops covering the following topics:
Ticks
Hydrangeas
Summer bulbs
Pollinator gardens
Good garden tools
Plant propagation
Heirloom tomatoes
Container gardening
The event will also include vendors, free refreshments, a sale table with puzzles, houseplants, and gently used garden books, and a garden-themed raffle.
Registration can be completed at wmmga.org. Class size is limited.
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