The Airport Commission discusses the new terminal building.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city will reissue the Airport Administrative Building restaurant RFP in April.
Administrative Officer Michale Canales told the Airport Commission Tuesday that the city has rejected the lone response to the recently released RFP and will try again in the Spring.
"We did receive one application and due to the fact that it did not meet all of the technical requirements of the RFP we rejected it at that point," he said.
The city moved and renovated a former doctor's building on the airport campus to act as the new terminal and administrative building. The facility was renovated to house a restaurant overlooking the runway.
Canales said at the next meeting he hopes the commission could take another look at the RFP and maybe make some changes.
"We can look at the requirements and figure out what we should take out and maybe open up a little bit," he said. "...We can simplify some things and hopefully gain some more interest."
Airport user Michael Milazzo suggested that the adhoc Fixed Base Operator RFP committee also take a look at the restaurant RFP
"They are in the same building so why not look at both," he said. "I think you could get a couple different perspectives from people who have been in the restaurant business."
Canales said because of procurement law the two RFPs have to stay quite separate but more input is always welcome.
Peter Enzien of Stantec said beyond the restaurant space, they now have a certificate of occupancy for the building and it can now be open to the public. He said he now has to write a letter of completion to the contractor which will start the one year warranty period.
Airport user Trevor Gilman asked if anyone was actually going to be in the building to keep an eye on it.
"How are we going to evaluate the building if no one is in it," he said. "That clock is going to be ticking."
Canales said since they just received the certificate of occupancy they really haven't had the chance to figure out how they want to occupy the building.
"We just got it the other day so we just have to figure out what we are going to do without the restaurant. We have to figure out how it is going to be used," he said. "We have to figure out what will be locked and what will be open."
He added that the airport manager and city staff regularly walk through the building to make sure everything is working.
Chairman Jeffrey Naughton added that it would be helpful to have the restaurant and FBO spaces filled.
Gilman was happy with the answer and felt the city and commission should have had a plan - especially with the addition of a new full time airport employee built into the budget.
"We are two years into this project...we knew what it was going to be and this is a long way into this," he said. "...We go month after month with no progress so can we just discuss it and figure it out because the collateral damage of having nothing just keeps building."
Gilman suggested bringing it up at the next meeting, however Milazzo felt it was better that the city take their time and "get it right once."
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue; please keep comments focused on the issues and not on personalities. Profanity, obscenity, racist language and harassment are not allowed. iBerkshires reserves the right to ban commenters or remove commenting on any article at any time. Concerns may be sent to info@iberkshires.com.
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
North Adams School Officials See Plans for Brayton Hill Improvements
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The dangerous entrance to the Northern Berkshire Family YMCA is going to be reconstructed to make it safer for children walking to school.
The $622,000 project is part of the state Department of Transportation's Safe Routes to School initiative and is being funded through the Transportation Improvement Program.
It will include revamping the steep entrance on the west side of Brayton School and the YMCA and adding in sidewalks and other improvements.
The public schools outreach coordinator Emily Schiavoni said the school district and Northern Berkshire Community Coalition have been partners in the program since 2016. The two entities applied in 2019 to the Safe Routes to Schools program for Brayton and were accepted.
The $622,000 project is part of the state Department of Transportation's Safe Routes to School initiative and is being funded through the Transportation Improvement Program.
click for more
City Councilor Jason LaForest had sent Emily Bryant a text with clapping hands and the hashtag "hottie" in 2019. Bryant, who is married, posted the message and her response (which started with "Dude, don't go there ...") to the North Adams Chat group.
click for more
Cathleen King was a founder of the high school's alternative education program, the E3 Academy, in 2012. She's spent the last few years in Salem when her husband took a position of Salem State University.
click for more
The superintendent said the district leadership team was making plans on how to implement in-person learning and where to strategically allocate resources. click for more
The 10-foot diameter precast tubs will be arranged in an arc between Buildings 19 and 25, just east of Joe's Field, and are designed to resonant with sound. They're the creation of artist Taryn Simon, whose "A Cold Hole and Assembled Audience" made a splash at the museum in 2018.
click for more