ATHOL — It may not have been a record, but Tuesday’s meeting of the Athol Board of Selectmen was certainly one of the shortest in recent memory, wrapping up business in a little over 20 minutes. During that time, board members were updated on plans to reconstruct the sidewalk on Pleasant Street, as well as efforts to recoup emergency funds for the town’s response to the winter storm that struck on March 13 of last year.
Town Manager Shaun Suhoski informed the board that a contract for just over $320,000 has been awarded to A. Martins and Sons Construction of Ludlow for the reconstruction of the Pleasant Street sidewalk, between Main Street and the school campus. The existing concrete section of sidewalk will be replaced with concrete. A new extension will be added to the current length of sidewalk, which will be constructed of bituminous concrete. A grass strip between the sidewalk and street will also be installed.
Funding for the project comes mostly from the debt exclusion which passed overwhelmingly at Athol’s annual town meeting in March 2018. At that time, $280,000 was set aside for the sidewalk, $2.64 million for the design, engineering and repair of the Exchange Street Bridge, and another $575,000 for the replacement of the roof of the Department of Public Works barn. The vote in favor of the debt exclusion was 134-6.
In response to a question from board Vice Chair Holly Young regarding the start and finish of the project, Suhoski said, “Once we get all the contracts signed, there will be a pre-construction meeting, so my expectations will be that it will begin after school adjourns and (finished) before school starts. I’m not certain, yet, but we’ll know better after the pre-construction meeting.”
Suhoski also notified the board that the town has sent a letter to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency seeking nearly $38,000 in disaster relief funding for the town’s response to the March 13, 2018 nor’easter. It was the third major storm to strike New England in a span of two weeks, brining traffic to a near-halt, causing power-outages in many areas, and causing the cancellation of both rail and air transportation. The storm dumped up to two feet of snow across the region, causing local and state public works crews to put in a lot of overtime clearing roadways. Suhoski said he believed much of the money sought from MEMA was to cover the cost of overtime put in by Athol DPW crews.
In his report to the board, Suhoski said, “Through the diligent effort of the office staff and administrators with the Dept. of Public Works, the town documented over $50,000 in labor and equipment expenses attributable to this storm, with 75 percent being eligible for FEMA reimbursement. I offer this so the board and citizens are reminded of the daily work being done to bring value to our taxpayers and publicly thank the DPW for a job well-done.”
In other action, Suhoski, in response to an earlier request from the board, reported that the Vacant and Abandoned Building Committee will be re-activated. He said he had contacted previously-appointed members of the committee, all of whom agreed to continue with their participation. As most recently constituted, the committee consisted of: Chair, Building Inspector Robert Legare; Vice Chair, Fire Chief or Designee Deputy Chief Jeffrey Parker or Chief Joseph Guarnera; Secretary, Board of Health Chair or Designee Deborah Vondal; Select Board Chair Rebecca Bialecki and member Lee Chauvette, and; residents Bruce Winters and Robert Matthews.
The next meeting of the VABC is set for May 21.