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Council on Aging Director Erica Girgenti provides some facts about the town's senior citizens at Tuesday's budget hearing.

Adams Reviews Facilities and DPW Budgets for Fiscal 2018

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco introduces the Council on Aging budget at Tuesday's public hearing for the town's fiscal 2018 budget.
ADAMS, Mass. — Town officials reviewed public buildings, public works and the public services budgets on Tuesday night during the second of four budget hearings scheduled this week. 
 
Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco lead the joint Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee budget hearing at the Visitors Center in going over spending plans for the three departments in the $15.5 million fiscal 2018 budget that is up $1 million increase over this year.
 
He said by locking in costs, operating more efficiently and moving line items closer to historic averages, many of the facilities' budgets have slightly decreased.
 
For example, Town Hall's operating budget is down 23.89 percent, from $27,835 to $21,185 for fiscal 2018.
 
Mazzucco did propose a $220,000 capital budget line for Town Hall to make repairs to the roof, replace some carpeting, upgrade the security system and replace some windows that are original to the building.
 
"It is an important building the town uses that will be used for the foreseeable future," he said. "We are finally investing some money into our historic Town Hall, which I think is critical."  
 
Mazzucco said the budget for the old town hall, which houses the Registry of Deeds, is down 60 percent. Although this seems like a large decrease, the operating budget is only $1,000. This year the budget was $2,500.
 
He said the town in the future may want to renovate the unused back end of the building if it can find a use for it.
 
"It may be worth putting some money in there and bringing it up to usability, maybe put the school offices in there," Mazzucco said. "But until we have a use for it, don't see putting money into it."
 
The public buildings and property maintenance personnel budget is also down 24.48 percent, from $71,693 to $54,140 for next year, and the operating budget is also down 17.80 percent, from $168,540 to $138,540.
 
Also in this budget section, there is $36,000 set aside for repairs to C.T. Plunkett School that Mazzucco said will be used to replace its handicapped lift.
 
The town administrator said this budget also includes janitorial services and the town may look at hiring a company to clean town facilities if it is cheaper.
 
The Memorial Building budget is down 8.33 percent, from $24,000 to $22,000.
 
"We do have a relatively small budget there, and I could spend $100,000 a year on that building if we really want to be aggressive but we just try to do what we have to to keep it functioning until we can find a use for it," Mazzucco said of the former middle school building.
 
He added that he continues to try to sell the building but there are no buyers. He suggested maybe taking on a new selling strategy.
 
The last public building the boards looked at was the Visitors Center, which will see a decrease of 8.15 percent bringing the budget from $18,400 to $16,900.
 
Mazzucco said the 14-year-old building is in good shape, except for the constant repairs to the heating and air conditioning system.
 
"If you do not include the HVAC system, this building does not have a lot of maintenance issues," he said. "But we always need money to make repairs and we really can't budget for it ... we find it somewhere in the budget or come for a reserve fund transfer." 
 
Mazzucco said he will also request $16,500 to replace some carpeting in the building and update the security system.
 
The Council on Aging, located in the Visitors Center, personnel budget is up 4.34 percent from $188,682 to $196,868 but the operating budget is flat at $15,510.
 
Mazzucco said he also programmed in a $5,000 line item for carports for the vans
 
The Department of Public Works' administration personnel budget will see a 3.3 percent increase bringing the budget from $153,529 to $158,546.
 
The Highway personnel budget will increase 1.57 percent from $1,265,345 to $1,285,253, however, the operating budget will decrease 11.71 percent, from $81,150 to $71,650.
 
Mazzucco said the increases are mostly from step increases and he was able to reallocate some expenses to state Chapter 90 road funds.
 
"We do keep cutting down the resources we give the DPW but we are trying to be as efficient as we can with the resources we have," he said. 
 
The DPW garage and equipment maintenance budget will increase 5.8 percent from $168,900 to $178,700.
 
Mazzucco said this is mostly for the maintenance and parts lines because there are some older trucks in the fleet that will need more repairs.
 
"We have trimmed these in previous years but the problem we are facing with our older, larger trucks is that they are getting very tired," he said. "When we get two of the bigger, older trucks cycled out we can probably reduce the budget but we are looking at a few hairy years."
 
The capital section of this budget will decrease 7.41 percent but $106,200 will be allocated to replace a jaw bucket, a one-ton truck, and a lease payment for the street sweeper.
 
The wastewater treatment plant operating budget will also see a decrease of 1.81 percent that will tick it down from $268,385 to $263,535.
 
Mazzucco said the plant has become more efficient and the anticipated increased sludge removal cost will now be spread out over a few years.
 
Also in the budget is a $34,000 capital line item to replace motors at the plant that are prematurely needing maintenance because people keep flushing wipes.
 
Wastewater collection operating expenses are flat at $4,700
 
The Forest Warden tree warden budget is slightly decreased at $1,762, however, Mazzucco said he would like to use a good chunk of free cash one year to take down dead trees. 
 
"Down the road, I can see taking a free cash allocation and throwing a ton of money at it for one year so we can get a lot of it done," Mazzucco said. "I could see giving the guys $50,000 one year to get caught up."
 
He said the recycling center personnel budget will increase 51.91 percent from $7,390 to $11,226 to make the salary more in line for the attendant.
 
The operating budget will stay flat at $54,300 but this takes into account opening a full transfer station at the center maybe as early as July.
 
The Cemetery, Parks and grounds operating budget will see a slight increase of 1.01 percent and move from $44,575 to $45,025.
 
Also in this budget is a capital line item for $13,000 for equipment and soil testing for Renfrew Field.
 
Mazzucco said he took $9,000 out of the budget usually given to the Youth Center to fund summer programming and said he will leave it up to town meeting if they want to include it in the budget.
 
"I have heard from people on both sides of the aisle. Some say we should give more and others want to cut it," he said.  "At the end of the day, we don't do this with any other outside services so it may be time to figure out if we want to continue it." 
 
Wednesday's session will cover the school budgets and Thursday's, public safety and the library. All sessions start at 6 p.m. at the Visitors Center. All budget documents can be found here.

Tags: adams_budget,   fiscal 2018,   

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Adams Sees No Races So Far

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass. — With less than a week left before nomination papers are due, there are currently no contested seats.
 
Only selectman incumbent John Duval has returned papers. Selectman Howard Rosenberg has decided not to seek re-election. 
 
Rosenberg, who was elected in 2021, said he has chosen not to run again to make room for younger candidates.
 
"I feel strongly, we need younger people running for public office,  as the future of our town lies within the younger  generation. The world is so fundamentally different today and rapidly changing to become even more so. I believe we need people who are less interested in trying to bring back the past, then in paving the way for a promising future. The younger generation can know that they can stay here and have a voice without having to leave for opportunities elsewhere," he said.
 
The only person to return papers so far is former member the board Donald Sommer. Sommer served as a selectman from 2007 to 2010 and before that was a member of the School Committee and the Redevelopment Authority. He ran unsuccessfully for selectman in 2019 and again in 2021 but dropped out of before the election.
 
Incumbent Moderator Myra Wilk and Town Clerk Haley Meczywor have returned papers for their respective positions.
 
Assessor Paula Wheeler has returned papers and incumbents James Loughman and Eugene Michalenko have returned papers for library trustees.
 
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