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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North Adams Library Friends Receive $25K Bequest From Late Paul Gaudreau

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Friends of the North Adams Public Library was gifted $25,000 by the late Paul Gaudreau. 
 
The Drury High graduate had great respect for the library and its service to the city, said his good friend Richard Taskin, and had entrusted him with the check before his death on Sunday at the age of 64
 
"He understands the importance of the library as a crown jewel of our city. And he loved this city and he loved this country," said Taskin, a library trustee. "He was in the National Guard. He was concerned about his city. He was concerned about his country. ...
 
"He read a newspaper every single day of his life and cared about public affairs."
 
Taskin presented the check to Friends President Bonnie Rennell on Thursday evening at the end of the trustees' meeting. 
 
Gaudreau was a youth sports coach, and had retired from Williams College. He had already donated CDs to the library and had enjoyed seeing Jeff Tweedy of Wilco perform at the library. Taskin said Gaudreau was one of the hardest working people he'd ever known and, his voice breaking, his fantasy baseball partner.  
 
He'd first passed the check to Chair Sarah Farnsworth, who gasped "oh my" when she read the amount. 
 
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