Adams Sets Emergency Town Meeting
ADAMS, Mass. — The Selectmen have voted to hold a special town meeting on Thursday, Oct. 25, solely to approve the recent state of emergency declaration.
The board members met in emergency session Tuesday to set the special town meeting that would officially allow the town to deficit spend to mitigate recent flood damage.
"It is basically a one-article warrant, which is basically proposing emergency spending through borrowing or other means up to $2.5 million," interim Town Administrator Donna Cesan said. "It is my hope that we would not need to spend this money ultimately but right now it's very difficult to get hard numbers … and it felt prudent to ask for this amount."
The board voted earlier this month to declare a state of emergency to allow the town to deficit spend and open the town to possible state funding.
Although the town can spend this money right away, town meeting still must approve the declaration
Adams was hit by two storms in mid-September that caused damaging flooding throughout town. Damage has left some areas in town inaccessible to emergency vehicles.
The town was left with an estimated $2 million in damage and, currently, state representatives are trying to secure some funding.
Cesan said the state's Division of Local Services has reviewed the town’s declaration and has approved it.
"They have received our list of emergency repairs … and they basically approved our request," she said. "We haven’t spent any funds yet. We started to engage engineers and we are getting quotes from contractors."
Cesan said the Division of Local Services recommended only expending money after the Board of Selectmen set the new tax rate, which it will do next week.
She said the priority repairs would be on East Road and Glen Street.
"Those need to be done as soon as we can get them done," she said. "The situation is worsening."
Cesan said the town will take out smaller amounts of money instead of a large loan to defray interest costs.
"We would basically take out smaller notes because of the spending will occur over time to save money on interest costs because we really don’t know at this point what the final tally will be," she said. "We may be getting money from a grant or some supplemental appropriation."
Cesan added that the town will also fund watershed studies, so they can get a better understanding of how to correct flooding issues in the future.
The special town meeting will be held in the Hoosac Valley Elementary School auditorium on Thursday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m.
Tags: flooding, special town meeting, storm damage,
