Clarksburg Hoping for MassWorks Grant to Fix Middle Road
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The town's again applied for a MassWorks grant to address the crumbling section of Middle Road.
Town Administrator Carl McKinney told the Select Board on Wednesday that the application for a $1 million grant was submitted prior to July 6 and the town should hear if it's been accepted by the end of August.
The section targeted is just over a mile from River Road to Wood Road and would include repairs, paving, updated guardrails near the state park and some culvert work.
"That's really a tough road," McKinney said.
He anticipated they may need to use "a little bit" of the $400,000 the town has saved in Chapter 90 road funds.
The project would be done in the same way as West Cross Road, the recipient of a Massworks grant in 2014. The Select Board agreed that that road has held up well.
The town last applied for what's also called the STRAP, or Small Town Rural Assistance Program, in 2019. It can only apply every three years. Residents and travelers along Middle Road have been complaining for years about its condition. That road and River Road are main connectors to Vermont as well.
McKinney also updated the board on the progress of the pavilion at the town park. Town meeting last year had approved spending up to $65,000 to repair the structure's broken concrete pad and failing roof.
Initial bids came in higher so the town went forward with pavilion pad and has so far put off the roof.
"We've bid out on the roof a few times. We're still not there yet," McKinney said.
The crumbling broken pad, however, has been completely removed and McKinney said the contractor dug down 18 inches and found only a sand base.
"That's not something you put under a concrete slab so it was poorly constructed," he said. "That was dug out and gravel was put in and compacted."
Drainage was installed and the pad is now even with the ground so it is fully Americans With Disabilities Act compliant. McKinney said it performed very well during the intense rain storm on Sunday and Monday. The large poplar tree that was dropping limbs and leaves on the roof has also been removed.
As for the roof, it will be put out to bid again but he has contacted McCann Technical School about the carpentry program possibly taking it on.
"The roof bids we've gotten, we can't work with in the budget so I reached out to McCann to see if they want to do it," McKinney said. "We have $25,190 left for the roof."
The board agreed with him that McCann "has been a good friend to Clarksburg," with the students taking on projects including roofing and siding the police garage and painting and siding the front facade of Town Hall.
Select Board member Robert Norcross suggested having the town treasurer reappointed by the full board to show their support. Danielle Luchi had been appointed in April under emergency conditions by Chair Jeffrey Levanos, the sole board member at the time. The two newest members, Norcross and Daniel Haskins, were were elected in May.
Norcross said the circumstances of her appointment had come up often when he was running for the board.
"I know she's doing a good job and I would like to show that she has the support of all of us," he said.
Levanos thought it a good idea and said he would speak to Luchi and they could put it on the agenda when the full board was there. Haskins was absent Wednesday.
In other business:
• McKinney said he had spoken with Northern Berkshire Community Television about relocating the camera back to Town Hall. The TV station can't do participatory remote so he is talking with the town's IT manager Jason Morin about necessary equipment. He told the board he thinks the state is moving toward making remote participation a standard.
• The board appointed Danielle Luchi, Mary Ann Maroni, and Alan Reutlinger to the Board of Registrars, Jean Landry to the Council on Aging and Keith Blanchard to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
• McKinney was formally signed as ADA coordinator and the board affirmed the appointment of two officers to be at the polling station for the primary election, as now required by state law, for documentation with the state.
• The board will send a letter to a resident on McArthur Drive alerting them that the bushes on their property block visibility when exiting the road. The town will cut them back if the homeowner is unable.
McKinney pointed out the three-person highway crew is busy during the summer and often working with only two people. He asked that residents keep that in mind and please take care of their neighborhoods.
Tags: MassWorks grant,
