New Bedford’s Deal With Parallel Products Is the Right One
Parallel Products and the City of New Bedford have reached a deal that should make everyone happy.
The business gets to operate its facility and create at least 75 jobs in the city. The City gets a new stream of revenue from the tipping fees at the site and a significant bump in property taxes at the site.
Best of all, the company has agreed to halt plans to import sewage into its Ward 1 facilities. The neighbors were alarmed at the prospect of sewage being trucked into the far North End industrial park near their homes. Trucks are banned from Phillips Road with the agreement.
Mayor Jon Mitchell stood firm and battled Parallel Products in defense of his city, but Parallel Products has rights and its services and jobs are needed in the region.
This agreement between the City and Parallel Products preserves local control for the citizens of New Bedford through their elected representatives.
Had this dispute ended up being decided in a distant courtroom, it very well could have been a total loss for the neighbors. Parallel Products didn't spend millions of dollars at this location on a whim. This company did its research and moved forward because it had experts assuring them that they weren't wasting their time and their capital by doing so.
Communities can't block new industrial development if the corporation has the proper plans and is within the bounds of the law. The business of America is business and this is still America.
I'm completely sympathetic to the desires of the neighbors who are concerned with their quality of life and the value of their property. I understand how they feel but their anger is partially misdirected. They should be angry with the elected officials who made them falsely believe they had the power to completely halt the expansion of Parallel Products.