Clarksburg's Chapter 90 Boost Clears Way for Gates Ave Bridge

Clarksburg officials heard good news Wednesday on the road funds front.

CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The town is getting a boost in highway funds this year.

The release by Gov. Charlie Baker of $100 million in state Chapter 90 funds has put some $37,000 into the town's coffers and relieved worries about the upcoming Gates Avenue bridge project.

"They have released it and we have received confirmation from the DOT that our allotment for the fiscal year we are currently in has risen from $75,287 to $112,930," reported Town Administrator Carl McKinney on Wednesday night. "And this is really good news for us in a couple of ways, because we were at about $270,000, our balance in our Chapter 90 account.

"Looking at the Gates Avenue bridge, talking with engineers, we were somewhere between $260,000 to $280,00 to replace that culvert. ... It looked we were going to be about $10,000 to $12,000 short."

Officials had been considering asking for the extra funds — if needed — at town meeting or waiting to bid the project after the beginning of the fiscal year.   

The infusion of $37,000 brings the account to about $308,000. Minus $2,200 for a study with the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission and $26,000 for engineering on Gates Avenue, the account will be about $280,000, the high side of the construction estimate.

"This is great news," McKinney said. "We won't have to hold up Gates Avenue."

The town will also be getting back $46,656.90 from the state in reimbursements for work on the East Road Bridge.

The state had held back free cash a couple years ago because of erroneous accounting. McKinney said the town's auditor, Thomas Scanlon of Scanlon & Associates, had identified expenses mislabeled as "sewer repairs." McKinney said one was the $17,000 for the East Road project, which was straightened out at town meeting by transferring funds from the sewer enterprise account; the second should have been a reimbursement from the state, also for the East Road Bridge.

That reimbursement has now been approved.

"So that zeroes out that deficit in that account for $64,000 ... that's $64,000 more in free cash they will allow us to use,"  McKinney said. "This will add to our free cash certification for fiscal year '17.  We can't use it for 18 months."

Pittsfield Celebrates Robert 'Bob' Presutti on Arbor Day

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:33PM / Friday, April 26, 2024

Bob Presutti, right, is presented the Hebert Award in 2017 for his volunteer efforts at Springside Park. He died in 2023 at age 88.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A tree has been planted next to the Berkshire Athenaeum in honor of local "giant" Robert Presutti.

Officials celebrated Arbor Day on Friday by installing a commemorative plaque next to the American elm sapling. This is a tree that James McGrath, the city's park program manager, said Presutti would have been particularly proud of.

"Today is a day where we yes, celebrate trees, but today is also a day where here in the city we intentionally try to acknowledge the good work of folks in our community who spend their time and their efforts and their talents to make Pittsfield a more beautiful place," he said to a crowd of about 20 people.

"Today we are honoring a longtime community volunteer named Bob Presutti. I'm sure a lot of you here know Bob and know his contributions to the city, not only when it comes to trees and parks but also to the Retired Senior Volunteer Program."

The longtime volunteer passed away last year at the age of 88. He contributed more than 10,600 hours to RSVP and had great impacts on the Parks Department over the years from sharing his knowledge and talents to ensuring that workers were safe when working on trees.

"This morning I went through my emails to see how many emails Bob Presutti sent me since the year 2001 when I started with the city. Bob Presutti sent me 14,000 emails and nearly every single one of those was about trees," McGrath said, prompting laughter and smiles from attendees.

One thread struck him as particularly important because it showed Presutti's empathy when it comes to the safety of city workers while caring for trees.

"There were multiple emails from Bob about the need to get the Parks Department maintenance guys into a program learning about chainsaw safety and learning about ladder safety. He was really into making certain that our city workers were well cared for and had all of the instruction that they needed and in fact, he even offered his own time and services after he became certified to teach our city workers," McGrath said.