The work is now expected to be finished at the Atkins corner in the middle of August.
State Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg talks with Amherst resident Robert Grose at Atkins Friday. Rosenberg and state Rep. Ellen Story held joint hours at the market to help during road construction outside.AMHERST – While traffic moved slowly and heavy equipment pawed at the earth outside Atkins Country Atkins Country Farms Market state Rep. Ellen Story and state Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg held court in the air conditioned dining room.
While the Amherst democrats have served the area for decades they have never held office hours together before.
But Friday they wanted to do what they could for the market that has seen a 30 percent drop in business since the end of May when the westerly end of Bay Road and about 400 feet of the adjoining sections of Route 116 in both directions were closed.
Atkins Country Farms Market sits at the corner the road project intended to improve safety and traffic flow with roundabouts at Route 116 and West Bay Road and at Route 116 and Bay Road.
The joint office hour venture was Rosenberg’s partner Bryon Hefner’s idea, Story said.
“With all the stimulus money, isn’t there something we can do?” Story said she was asked. But there is no money.
Hefner suggested the session would be a way “to support the store and to show it’s open.”
Pauline Lannon, the market president, has said some people don’t know the market has remained open during the latest round of construction.
She said she appreciated the legislators’ appearance. “Any type of announcement such as this helps. It makes us look like an all around business.”
A dozen, meanwhile, stopped to visit with the pair, more than they would get on their own.
Ellie Fraser stopped to thank them for coming. “Atkins…it’s a resource in Amherst it’s very important.” She worries about it.
Others took the opportunity of proximity to visit.
Wilfred Morin from Northampton, who was working on the road project for the state Department of Transportation, stopped on his lunch hour wearing his reflective gear.
He told the two “it’s going to look amazing” when the work is finished. State officials are now saying the roundabouts should be operational the middle of this month.
State Rep. Ellen Story, D-Amherst, talks with Randall W. Phillis, president of the Massachusetts Society of Professors at the University of Massachusetts, at Atkins Friday. She and State Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg, D-Amherst, held joint hours at the market to help during road construction outside.Morin also wanted to let the pair know he is concerned about Citizens United, the Supreme Court decision that allows unions and individuals to donate unlimited funds to Super Political Action Committees. “The only thing I’m worried about are the super PACS, they seem dangerous,” he said. Rosenberg said the state legislature had just approved a resolution calling for the U.S. Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
Randall W. Phillis, president of the Massachusetts Society of Professors at the University of Massachusetts, talked about higher education funding and suggested offering a new lottery game in which the jackpot would pay off a student’s loan, with other prizes paying different amounts.
He also suggested that proceeds from a dedicated game be used to pay off student debt.
Story and Rosenberg found the idea intriguing. Rosenberg pointed out that would require a statutory change since the money now is dedicated to municipalities.
Story and Rosenberg said they liked the informal format of the hour here. “It’s like gathering around a cracker barrel at the general store,” Rosenberg said.