ADAMS, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen recognized the Thunderbolt Ski Runners on Wednesday for aiding and greatly expediting two rescues on Mount Greylock this winter.
The selectmen awarded Thunderbolt Ski Runners Josh Chittenden, Steve Sauve, David Childs and Rich Adamczyk certificates to thank them for helping in two daring rescues on the mountain in March.
"It is great to read this…just to have you trained and ready to help fellow skier says a lot about Adams," Chairman John Duval said. "There is good in people and this is a great example of that happening. Adams is a great community and thank you all this could have been a lot worse."
Duval read an account of the March 24 rescue on the Thunderbolt Trail.
Duval read that a 911 call came in that a skier was down on the trail with a broken leg. After dispatch contacted the Adams Forest Wardens they also reached out to the ski patrol who quickly gathered and took action.
The ski runners took to snowmobiles and rode up the trail as far as they could then latched on their skis and started the trek up the rest of the way where they met the Mount Greylock park supervisor. The ski runners were able to load the patient onto a toboggan and ski them safely to an ambulance.
The entire rescue just took over two hours.
Duval read two accounts of the second rescue which took place on March 27. The second skier was skiing the power line, a particularly difficult trail that is a straight shot down from the summit.
After taking a spill and breaking his leg the skier called his friend Chittenden who rounded up the crew and started up the mountain.
Half of the crew traveled to the summit and started down towards the downed skier while the other half came up from the bottom. Once the skier was secured in the toboggan they lowered him down the cliffs with rope.
The entire rescue took just over three hours.
Selectman Joseph Nowak thanked the patrol for their work and said it is especially needed now that Mount Greylock is so short staffed.
"We need volunteers up there more than ever," he said. "It is people like yourselves who make it possible for people to take chances they might not otherwise take because they know there is someone there to help…thank you for helping people enjoy the mountain as much as you do."
In other business, the selectmen approved a new fee schedule for the transfer station to better cover operating costs.
Stickers will go from $25 to $50. A second sticker for the same household will be $10. Bag tags will go from $1 to $1.20.
"My understanding was the selectmen wanted to work towards a system that eventually overtime would pay for itself," Interim Town Administrator Donna Cesan said. "These new fees will bring us closer to aligning that."
Cesan said the new transfer station only opened in November but to date, the town has sold 580 stickers and 6,645 bag tags. This raised $21,145 in revenue.
Cesan projects with the increased price for a full year this amount should increase to near $40,000 and bring the amount closer to $70,000 - the total cost of running the station.
The new fees will come into effect July 1.
Cesan closed by saying the town has awarded the Visitors Center Parking Lot Reconstruction project to C&A Construction Co. Inc. of Ludlow who in with the lowest base bid of $518,000.
Cenan the total project will come in at $649,000 after adding in alternates. The project is still under the $700,000 the town estimated they would spend.
The selectmen approved a reserve fund transfer of $50,861.41 for snow and ice control.
