Clarksburg Officials Still Hope for Emergency Funds for Road Repairs
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| Congressman Richie Neal toured the damage on West Road last month. Officials are pegging the repairs at nearly $900,000. |
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Town officials don't know how they will address the $1.9 million in damaged roads caused by the July 10 rainstorm.
The flooding at Town Hall has been estimated at $51,000 but Town Administrator Carl McKinney told the Select Board on Wednesday that this will be covered by insurance.
A new wood-look vinyl floor has been ordered to replace the carpeting that had been on the ground floor, he said, with input from staff and work on installing new wallboard will start the week after next.
"We're anticipating that within a month we'll be made whole again," McKinney said. "Thanks to the residents and users for their patience ... we've had to move everybody but [Town Clerk] Marilyn [Gomeau] upstairs and the response has been good."
He told the board that "we're going to do our best to armor the Town Hall against water penetration."
The town has not received any response from the state or federal emergency management agencies regarding road damage. McKinney noted the state had set up a $20 million fund for affected farmers but no disaster declarations have yet been made for communities.
"So we could be next?" asked Select Board member Jeffrey Levanos. "You are the optimist," responded McKinney.
"It causes me great concern ... just understanding the finances of the town, I think we have a $1,000 in stabilization," he said. The estimated damage is as much as the town's annual operations budget.
McKinney said there are only two options -- aid from the government or borrowing their way out. Town is already at its levy limit so it would need a debt exclusion or override.
The town administrator said he'd made out an emergency deficit spending request but had hesitated to submit because he wasn't sure of the number. The Department of Revenue had recommended he put the full amount of $1.9 million, which the town isn't obligated to spend.
"We have to wait and they may not come through with anything," he said.
A major concern is the landslide on West Road and whether a plow will be able to make it through there this winter -- especially if it continues to deteriorate. Chair Robert Norcross noted it's a single-point access road for some town residents as well as for a section of Stamford, Vt.
The estimate to repair the landslide is $840,000, but that number may not hold based on bids to replace a culvert near 822 Middle Road that came in nearly double the estimate of $87,960.
The town opened six bids on Wednesday with the highest at $296,845 from Northern Construction Service and the lowest from Virgilio Construction at $128,550. The other bids were Western Earthworks LLC at $173,525, J.H. Maxymillian at $163,385, Rifenburg Construction at $143,240 and Clayton Davenport Trucking at $137,800.
The bids will be reviewed by the town's engineer, Foresight Services, before the contract is awarded.
In other business:
• The board appointed John Fosser to the Briggsville Water District Board of Commissioners on the recommendation of the commissioners. McKinney, a member of the Briggsville board, said the district at its annual meeting had voted to have the Select Board make appointments because of the difficulty in running elections. Fosser replaces a member who moved out of the area.
• The board hired a new assessor, Emily Schilling, who will start next week. The town has been without an assessor for some time and McKinney said he was "beyond delighted" since he would have had to step into the role as the town begins its revaluation process.
Schilling is an assistant assessor for the city of Pittsfield and was recommended by DOR.
• An engineering grant application has been submitted for Americans With Disabilities Act improvements to the town field; work on the lift at Clarksburg School is awaiting approval from the Architectural Access Board and is not likely to be completed before the school year begins; bids for the Middle Road MassWorks project are expected to go out the end of August.
Tags: road damage,
