Adams Seeks Money for School Roof, Talks Solar Program
The Selectmen's met on Wednesday with a short agenda after Monday's annual town meeting. |
ADAMS, Mass. — The town is pursuing $645,000 in grant money to fix a portion of the Memorial Middle School roof.
The town has detailed the school and is submitting a letter to administrators of the federal Community Development Block Grant Reserves program asking to be considered for funding.
The Selectmen approved on Wednesday the Community Development Department moving forward with the application. The town has been working on leasing a portion of the school and the funding could fix the roof.
That grant is separate from a $47,000 grant town officials feel confident about from MassDevelopment. That grant will take a close look at reuses for the building. If the town reels in the money for the roof, it could make the reuse of the building more feasible.
In other business, interim Police Chief Richard Tarsa is asking residents to lock their car doors. With the nicer weather more cars are being parked at places like Bellevue Falls or the Greylock Glen and some vehicles have been broken into.
"It is this time of year when opportunity knocks, some people will take it," Tarsa said.
He added that even the cars are lock, residents should keep valuable hidden. He said some vehicle windows have been broken because valuables were visible through the window.
Town Administrator Jonathan Butler also provided information on the Solarize Mass program operated through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. The program is entering its third year and is intended to help residents install photovoltaic arrays.
The Selectmen were supportive of moving forward with it so Butler is going to continue researching what it will require to apply for the program. Butler said the town should create a list of residents who are interested in the program after they receive more information about their eligibility.
Butler also suggested that a committee is formed to lead the process if that demand is sufficient.
"I would be interested in doing that on my own," Selectman Michael Ouellette said. "We need to get people in the community to do it the same."
A hold up could be that the town is not designated as a "Green Community." The Selectmen had stopped pursuing that designation because it required adopting tougher building codes and changes to the permitting process, which need town meeting approval. Butler said he would look further into that program as well.
Butler also said the search for a new police chief is still under way. The application deadline has passed and the search committee received 20 applications from candidates with an array of backgrounds. There are both internal and external candidates, Butler said.
The search committee is preparing for interviews in July in an attempt to have finalist by the end of that month.
In his biweekly report, Butler also said the town has ordered 14 flags for Summer Street. Residents had recently complained that Park Street was decorated with flags but Summer was not. In response, the town will be installing flags by the end of July. Additionally, the Adams Visitors Center is now open seven days a week until the fall.
Tags: Adams Memorial Middle School, solar,
