Dalton Sets Special Town Meeting for Berkshire Trail Roof Project
DALTON, Mass. — The Select Board has scheduled a special town meeting for Monday, March 3, to vote on funding for roof repairs at Berkshire Trail Elementary School.
The Central Berkshire Regional School District unanimously approved the borrowing of $872,620 in funds to install a new roof at the Cummington school during its meeting on Jan. 9. The authorization requires the approval of each of the the seven towns in the regional agreement, including Dalton.
The special town meeting will be held at Nessacus Regional Middle School at 7 p.m.
Last Wednesday, the Massachusetts School Building Authority approved a maximum grant of $468,253 toward the project, as part of a nearly $40 million Accelerated Repair Program, according to a press release.
The project is estimated to cost the district less than 50 percent of the total cost, thanks to the MSBA grant. According to roof committee member Sean Nyhan, MSBA contributions will total about 54 percent of the project's cost.
The designer is Tighe & Bond.
The proportion of funding contributions by each of the seven municipalities is based on the number of students enrolled at Berkshire Trails from each town. By this calculation, Windsor and Cummington will pay the majority of the local funding needed to complete the project, upon its approval.
On Monday, Town Manager Kenneth Walto explained that this number is adjusted annually according to enrollment. The town will incur no additional expenses if it does not enroll any students in Berkshire Trail.
Chairman John Boyle questioned the timing of the school district's request week's meeting, mainly because it is slated to be the only item on the warrant.
Tags: CBRSD, MSBA, school project, special town meeting,
