Lanesborough's Putnam Road Culvert Being Reconstructed

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Putnam Road will be closed for five or six weeks.
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The culvert on Putnam Road is finally being replaced.
 
On Monday, workers closed the road for the five- to six-week project.
 
The project was scheduled to be completed last year but was pushed back because the state requested additional environmental testing.
 
"It cost us at least another $50,000 for that," said Town Administrator Paul Sieloff of the Chapter 85 study requirement state officials sprung on the town.
 
The additional study forced the town to hire a new engineer for the project. Guntlow and Associates designed the bridge but did not have the qualifications to complete the study.
 
Overall, the construction is costing $239,000 after some $60,000 worth of engineering, studies and design. About half of the cost is being paid for through a grant for damage prevention from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. The town is matching the grant with Chapter 90 funds.
 
The culvert spans the town brook, which weaves its way along the western side of Route 7. The Putnam Road project follows last year's reconstruction of the Minor Road bridge, which, too, spans the waterway that heads to Pontoosuc Lake.
 
The town says the project will be done by September and is estimating five or six weeks.

Tags: culvert,   road closure,   road work,   

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Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation Scholarships

LUDLOW, Mass. — For the third year, Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation (BWPCC) will award scholarships to students from Lanesborough and Hancock. 
 
The scholarship is open to seniors at Mount Greylock Regional High School and Charles H. McCann Technical School. BWPCC will select two students from the class of 2024 to receive $1,000 scholarships.
 
The scholarships will be awarded to qualifying seniors who are planning to attend either a two- or four-year college or trade school program. Seniors must be from either Hancock or Lanesborough to be considered for the scholarship. Special consideration will be given to students with financial need, but all students are encouraged to apply.
 
The BWPCC owns and operates the Berkshire Wind Power Project, a 12 turbine, 19.6-megawatt wind farm located on Brodie Mountain in Hancock and Lanesborough. The non-profit BWPCC consists of 16 municipal utilities located in Ashburnham, Boylston, Chicopee, Groton, Holden, Hull, Ipswich, Marblehead, Paxton, Peabody, Russell, Shrewsbury, Sterling, Templeton, Wakefield, and West Boylston, and their joint action agency, the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC). 
 
To be considered, students must submit all required documents including a letter of recommendation from their school counselor and a letter detailing their educational and professional goals. Application and submission details will be shared with students via their school counselors. The deadline to apply is Friday, April 19.
 
 MMWEC is a not-for-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts created by an Act of the General Court in 1975 and authorized to issue tax-exempt debt to finance a wide range of energy facilities.  MMWEC provides a variety of power supply, financial, risk management and other services to the state's consumer-owned, municipal utilities. 
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