Adams Approves Nov. 15 Town Meeting Warrant

By Brian RhodesiBerkshires Staff
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ADAMS, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen has approved the Nov. 15 special town meeting warrant, which primarily serves to appropriate an additional $2.37 million in funding for improvements to the wastewater treatment plant.

The board met briefly on Wednesday to approve the warrant, with the Finance Committee voting to recommend it in a meeting shortly after. Article 1 would appropriate the funding for the plant, as the town's bond counsel requires an additional two-thirds approval from town meeting.

Construction is already ongoing, as the project went out to bid earlier in the year.

"They're about 10 percent through. The project should be done by December of 2023. So they're working," said Town Administrator Jay Green to the Finance Committee. "... We had everything we needed, administratively, except the formal town meeting vote."

Town meeting gave the OK to just more than $5 million for the plant in 2021. The plant was built in 1968 and had only a partial upgrade in 2006.

The total cost of the project is an estimated $7.42 million.


Article 2, if approved, would transfer $15,000 from Cemetery, Parks and Grounds' Master Plan account to its capital account. The funds, appropriated in 2016, were leftover for a project that is now complete.

Article 3 would release free cash from two projects that had leftover funds. The first, for a water meter replacement, totals $9,583.04 and the second, for equipment in the assessor's office, totals $8,696.74.

Article 4 would authorize the Board of Selectmen to accept an easement to install drainage lines from Lower Linden Street to Commercial Street. The area has been prone to flooding with the currently in-place drainage system, and the easement will come at no cost to the town.

The new drainage system has already been designed and engineered by Hill Engineers.

In other business, Selectman Joseph Nowak reminded residents of the weekend's Halloween festivities, asking them to use caution.

"There's going to be kids on the streets. So if you're driving, please be careful," he said.


Tags: special town meeting,   wastewater,   

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Colella's Double Lifts SteepleCats in Eighth

By Ben McDonoughiBerkshires.com Sports
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The North Adams Steeplecats were locked in a tense battle with the Vermont Mountaineers, but when the game reached its biggest stage, Matthew Colella rose to the moment.
 
Colella’s bases-clearing double in the bottom of the eighth inning shattered a tie and sent the Steeplecats surging to a 7-3 victory over Vermont.
 
North Adams struck first in the opening inning, piecing together a two-out rally against Vermont starter Luke Deschenes. Chris Diaz reached base before Sebastian Rhoades ripped an RBI single into center field to bring Diaz home with the game’s first run. Jake Butler moved up on the play and later scored when Tony Woodie lifted a sacrifice fly to left, giving the Steeplecats an early 2-0 cushion.
 
Butler delivered another RBI with a single up the middle in the fifth to make it a 3-0 game.
 
Vermont punched back again in the sixth.
 
Elliot Miles opened the inning with a single, and Aidan Botti followed with another hit to keep the rally alive. David Alvarez then stepped in and hammered a two-run single to bring the Steeplecats level. A groundout later in the inning pushed across another run, tying the game at 3-3 and sending the matchup into the late innings with everything hanging in the balance.
 
After North Adams starter Niklas Pavia’s outing ended in the sixth, Jakob Foster entered and helped keep Vermont off the board before Richie Kerstetter took over in the seventh. The Steeplecats’ pitching and defense held firm, buying the offense one more chance to seize control.
 
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