Williamstown to Close North Hoosac Road to Through Traffic this Week

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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North Hoosac Road will be closed from Cole Avenue to the North Adams line for reconstruction and repaving beginning this week.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — North Hooosac Road from Cole Avenue to the North Adams line will be closed to through traffic during the day beginning this week.
 
The town's Highway Department will be conducting a thorough repaving of the stretch, a popular alternative to Route 2 (Main Street).
 
The project will include grinding and grading the existing pavement, repaving and the installation of new curbs and driveway aprons.
 
The project is expected to take between two and three weeks depending on weather. Work crews will allow residents and emergency vehicles to access the road during the project.
 
Public Works Director Tim Kaiser said the town already was planning to address the road but moved up the timetable after last winter.
 
"The road took a hit last year with frost conditions," Kaiser said. "The time to do this work is now to forestall a really bad pothole year.
 
"It was in the cards. We moved it up because the road deteriorated faster than we expected."
 
Kaiser said with the construction season drawing to a close and blacktop being available for a limited time, the town will work as quickly as possible to wrap things up.
 
"It will be a little inconvenient, but it won't last long," he said. "It's a fairly quick project."
 
The project that begins next week is not related to a the work the town is eyeing at the east end of North Hoosac.
 
For some time, the town has been monitoring a short stretch near the North Adams line where the bank is unstable down to the Hoosic River.
 
"Right now we're dealing with and keeping an eye on it and filling it occasionally," Kaiser said. "There is going to be a lot of geotechnical engineering.
 
"That can be a really big project. We're taking our time."

Tags: paving,   road work,   

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Mount Greylock School Committee Votes Slight Increase to Proposed Assessments

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to slightly increase the assessment to the district's member towns from the figures in the draft budget presented by the administration.
 
The School Committee opted to lower the use of Mount Greylock's reserve account by $70,000 and, instead, increase by that amount the share of the fiscal year 2025 operating budget shared proportionally by Lanesborough and Williamstown taxpayers.
 
The budget prepared by the administration and presented to the School Committee at its annual public hearing on Thursday included $665,000 from the district's Excess and Deficiency account, the equivalent of a municipal free cash balance, an accrual of lower-than-anticipated expenses and higher-than-anticipated revenue in any given year.
 
That represented a 90 percent jump from the $350,000 allocated from E&D for fiscal year 2024, which ends on June 30. And, coupled with more robust use of the district's tuition revenue account (7 percent more in FY25) and School Choice revenue (3 percent more), the draw down on E&D is seen as a stopgap measure to mitigate a spike in FY25 expenses and an unsustainable budgeting strategy long term, administrators say.
 
The budget passed by the School Committee on Thursday continues to rely more heavily on reserves than in years past, but to a lesser extent than originally proposed.
 
Specifically, the budget the panel approved includes a total assessment to Williamstown of $13,775,336 (including capital and operating costs) and a total assessment to Lanesborough of $6,425,373.
 
As a percentage increase from the FY24 assessments, that translates to a 3.90 percent increase to Williamstown and a 3.38 percent increase to Lanesborough.
 
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