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Councilors and interested residents in the cluttered Water Department shop that also serves as a garage.
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The garage bays at the City Yard are too small to fit the larger trucks.

North Adams Council Balks on Property Purchase

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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The Wire & Alarm division has been on Ashland Street for years.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council agrees that something has to be done about the Department of Public Works' aged and dilapidated structures.

But councilors aren't ready to give a green light to Mayor Richard Alcombright's proposal to buy a former anodizing plant as a solution.

At a special meeting of the council on Monday, the vote was 7-0 to postpone a vote on authorizing a purchase-and-sales agreement. Instead, the matter was referred to the Finance Committee, expected to meet on Monday, Sept. 12.

Alcombright and his staff spent more than two hours fielding a stream of questions about a deal that would consolidate the entire DPW into the Berkshire Anodizing building on Hodges Cross Road.

"I certainly don't now your minds or what you're thinking, but I think we can all agree something needs to be done," said Alcombright. "We have those building for Public Services and those buildings are in bad shape."

That bad shape was obvious on Monday as councilors toured old and rotting buildings, dank rooms, and piles of materials stored anywhere they could be. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment is sitting outside rusting away. The roof on the City Yard's biggest building is so treacherous, workers aren't allowed up there to attempt to patch it.

But councilors have expressed concern over the amount of money that would have to be borrowed for a consolidated building: $995,000 for the 85,000 square-foot-building and its 30 acres, another $107,000 for immediate needs the DPW can do, and about $350,000 for interior work to transform the former plant into spaces for different departments and needs.

Several councilors and some in the audience argued that the price was too high and the city should negotiate a lower amount.

The mayor said it was a good deal at $1.5 million because an estimate to rip down part of the current City Yard and rebuild new was pegged at $2.7 million three years ago.

"I totally get we need to do something," said Councilor Lisa Blackmer, chairman of the Finance Committee. "I'm not ready to approve that large of a purchase unless negotiations are attempted so it would be good to hear the answers to the questions now. ...

"[My focus] is entering into an agreement to spend a million dollars on the purchase and then another half-million in upgrades ... if you want my vote those are the answers I need."

Councilor Robert M. Moulton Jr. raised objections again that it would be better to have a private operation in there bringing jobs. If that couldn't happen, he, too, thought the price should be much lower.

"He bought it for $600,000. Where's the improvements?"

Alcombright said the price came from the bid for the city's request for proposals. Berkshire Anodizing was the only bidder. Public Services Commissioner Timothy Lescarbeau and Administrative Officer Michael Canales said they had been in negotiations for several months and the company agreed to take a number of actions — including removing a lot of equipment, repairs and painting, and cleaning up some waste.

Among the questions submitted to the mayor, including a number that Councilor Keith Bona solicited from residents through Facebook, were queries on other options, the sale of the City Yard, contamination, wetlands, cemetery funds, the possibility of state grants, traffic and the condition of the anodizing plant.

A recent environmental study that did not find contamination is being reviewed by the city's engineers Tighe & Bond; the purchase is contingent on the outcome of their review.

Alcombright said the city does work with economic development agencies but it does not market private interests. The plant has been on and off the market for several years with no takers, he noted. He also did not see any issues with traffic or the DPW being five minutes farther down the road. Trucks would also not have to come back for fuel because the city is moving to gas cards because there are enough 24-hour gas stations.  



Lescarbeau said the vacant anodizing plant is good condition and would serve the city well over the next 20 or 40 years.

"The bones are good," he said, adding that like any building, "every 20 years you're going to have to do something with them."

Lescarbeau and Canales said the city had been looking into options for the DPW for several years, thus the estimate for the City Yard. The salt shed property was looked at for a new building at a similar cost.

They'd also looked at the building left by Maxymillian at the transfer station from its project rebuilding the roads to the Mount Greylock summit. It's now being used for recycling but a rough estimate on bringing heat, electricity, plumbing and new access road, along with the other necessities for a public service building shot the cost up into the millions, Lescarbeau said.

They did not see any issues with the wetlands on the property since any use would be outside the buffer zone, although a separate solar array to be sited there would need approval. City Solicitor John DeRosa also believed that occupying the plant would not constitute a change of use and, therefore, it would not have to go before the Planning Board.

There are no state grants available; any funds would be through municipal borrowing, possibly through a 40-year loan through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Alcombright estimated the cost at $55,000 a year.

"The city has very low debt service," he said. "We think it can be absorbed in the budget. We're comfortable with the additional debt service."

About $1 million in debt service for the water treatment plant will fall off in fiscal 2020; several other projects are also nearing their ends, while the Colegrove Park Elementary School will be added on.

Alcombright gave a rough estimate of an $80,000 a year impact on the annual budget: that's from the $55,000 in payments, the loss of $58,000 in property taxes, and the gain of $32,000 a year from a solar array planned at the site. That could mean about $10 on the average property owner's tax bill, but is contingent on other factors that could reduce the amount.

A lease agreement between Berkshire Anodizing and the solar company has already been executed; that agreement can slide over to the city. The mayor said nothing else has moved forward, although the array is on the National Grid connection list, because ownership is not yet certain.

Canales said the array would pay $23,000 a year in payments in lieu of taxes and $9,000 in land leases over the next 20 years.

The additional land for Southview Cemetery would also make possible nearly 3,000 more grave plots. At a cost of $500, that would generate over many years some $1.5 million, even if they are used for cremains.

"The DPW is a priority because we have a solution in front of us," the mayor said to a question about how it jumped the line ahead of Public Safety.

"The DPW building is really the only blight left on Ashland Street," he said. "The whole of the Ashland Street corridor has really  cleaned up nicely in the last 10 years ... we think, too, having the DPW on the outskirts of town just is a good thing."

But councilors determined they want more answers, including to information raised by resident Peter Breen, who said the deed documents show the city actually can just take the parcel for the cemetery — because it initially owned it.

They will tour the anodizing plant, which ceased operations last year, on Thursday, Sept. 1. The Finance Committee will meet on Sept. 12 and the issue will be back before the full council on Sept. 13.


Tags: city yard,   DPW,   purchase & sales ,   

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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime. 
 
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather. 
 
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5
 
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
 
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure. 
 
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
 
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
 
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