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New Cheshire Highway Superintendent Off to Good Start

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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CHESHIRE, Mass. — The new Highway Superintendent Blair Crane has hit the ground running after two days on the job.
 
Crane provided his first superintendent report to the Selectmen on Tuesday and said things are going well.
 
"Things are great," Crane said. "There is some brevity to my report as I have only been on the spot for two days but yesterday from today has been an improvement of 1,000 percent and I anticipate that to continue."
 
Crane said one of his first charges will be to clean and reorganize the Highway Garage.
 
"I want it to be organized so if you want to find a wrench you know exactly where it is," he said. "So, if you drive by and see everything outside that's what we are doing ... the guys seem OK with it, and I think it will be a good morale booster."
 
Crane said he also plans to put the dock in the lake by this weekend.
 
"We want to get it in there so bass fishermen and what not can get in there and without any weather abnormalities it is scheduled to go in Thursday or Friday," he said. "Plenty of people are out there already."
 
Also in regards to preparing for the spring, Crane said they are cautiously putting the snow equipment away and making sure it is ready for next winter.
 
"We are doing it with caution because anything can happen but at the same time kind of planning and putting things away completed and fixed so when fall rolls around we are not panicked," he said.
 
Crane added that work on Sand Mill Road Bridge has actually begun. 
 
"I went up today to see how the guys were getting along and they are starting concrete work," he said. "If everything goes as expected they will be breaking some pavement off and getting things squared away next week. They are moving at a good pace it looks like." 
 
He said the Highway Department is continuing pothole paving, but it is a bit overwhelming.
 
"At this point, I am afraid to make an actual list because regardless of what road you go down there is a pothole so we are chewing away at those," Crane said. 
 
Crane ended his report by saying Cheshire has been very welcoming.
 
"I will say that I have met an awful lot of citizens of this town and everyone of them has been absolutely gracious and very welcoming," he said. "It has been a great experience."  
 
The Selectmen told Crane that even though the attorney general's office has asked town meeting to pass a bylaw that will allow the town to maintain lake roads, he can continue to do it unless town meeting votes the article down.
 
Selectwoman Carol Francesconi said it is something the town has always done and believes it was reported to the attorney general because of a neighborly dispute.
 
"We have always plowed sanded and maintained lake roads at the minimal level for emergency vehicles," she said. "Someone filed a complaint that we were doing it illegally."
 
Fire Chief Thomas Francesconi added another town meeting warrant article that asked the town purchase a generator for the fire station. With installation costs, the whole thing will cost $14,000. 
 
"Initially we estimated it would coast around $20,000 but it came in less," he said. "This will run almost everything in the station."
 
He said it runs on natural gas piped in through the pipeline and is 22,000 watts.
 
In other business, Town Administrator Mark Webber said an early look at the budget shows that if the town uses $170,000 from free cash to lower the tax rate, the town's levy capacity should be around $80,000.
 
He said this will offer a needed cushion because he is still unsure how much it will cost to close and insure Cheshire Elementary school.
 
"It will kind of be a wild guess this first year but we have to plug in a number and luckily we are in the position to do it this year," Webber said.   
 
Webber also urged the Selectmen to create a building reuse committee so if it closes, they can repurpose it.

Tags: cheshire_budget,   DPW,   fiscal 2018,   road foreman,   

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Hoosac Valley High School to Stage 'Suessical'

CHESHIRE, Mass. — Hoosac Valley High School will showcase their rendition of "Suessical," a musical based on the tales of Dr. Seuss by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty.
 
The performances are scheduled for Friday, March 15 at 7 pm, and Saturday, March 16 at 2 pm and 7 pm. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online via the provided link. Prices are $8 for students and $10 for adults.
 
Directed by Rebecca Koczela and Amanda Watroba, the production features around 50 students participating as actors, pit band musicians, and backstage and tech crews. Notably, this year's cast includes several middle school students who have joined the high school production, marking their first experience performing on stage.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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