Letter: The Best Summer ... Until

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To the editor:

Oh what a summer it's been. I cannot remember a nicer summer than 2024. We used our pool more this year than the past 25 years we've lived here.

Hot, weeks at a time, pretty much no rain other than a few heavy storms that rolled in, and the real purpose of this letter, motorcycling. What an amazing summer, almost every day, sunshine and more sunshine, so much so that at times you would forget that biking is a defense ride more so than a true blast through the hills of the Berkshires especially the fall.

Every day out the door, the same "I love you, and be careful" see you in a bit.

Now my purpose, the roads. Everywhere I go there's people talking about that unbelievable poor conditions and the amount of construction going on, well, if you're in a car it's terrible but bearable (no pun intended) unless your on an air cooling motorcycle, that relies on air to cool the engine, which brings me to ... "The most atrocious set of speed bumps put in the middle of the road." Where you're asking? Exactly, Partridge Road, Pittsfield.

I wish someone had told me because I wasn't speeding when I hit the first one which I completely did not see, because it blends in so well with this newly paved road which I'm sure has brought on more traffic, speeding, texting while driving ect. ... until the residents said, "ENOUGH." But as I said, I wasn't speeding the day I traveled through going to the doctor's on my motorcycle, I hit the first speed bump going the speed limit and almost got killed.

It broke something on the front of my motorcycle and the bike couldn't stop from veering to the left as I tried to ride away, still wondering what happened, so thanks for the sign, you know the one, motorcycles take caution, milled area ahead, warning construction ahead, nope, none, a broken motorcycle, a real long day getting towed, almost got killed, and I was not speeding or offending anyone.

William Tatro
North Adams, Mass.

 

 

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Greylock School Project Moves Into Construction; Geothermal System Approved

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The $65 million Greylock School Project has moved into construction phase, where it will stay for the next 18 months or so. 
 
Work has already started, as abatement of asbestos and lead paint at the old school are underway and trees and playground equipment removed for site preparation by general contractor Fontaine Bros.
 
"They hit the ground running," Jesse Saylor of TSKP Studio told the School Building Committee on Tuesday. "Fontaine's doing a nice job looking ahead and forecasting and ... we expect to get their schedule upcoming, as well as their breakdown of schedule of values, which is important because the [Massachusetts School Building Authority] reimburses the city based on that."
 
Timothy Alix of Collier's International, the owner's project manager, said the school construction will come in about $51 million and change.
 
"Our total budget is $65.3 million. We've processed invoices for roughly $4.4 million of that, we believe that roughly $4.2 [million] would be eligible for reimbursement, and then, based on the city's reimbursement rate, we expect a reimbursement of $3.4 [million]," Alix said. "It's right where we expected. Again, the biggest number here will be this construction line item, and we'll start seeing some invoices coming in as Fontaine builds out their schedule of values."
 
Saylor offered a presentation on the differences between vertical and horizontal geothermal systems, with the committee finally committing to horizontal. The savings are estimated at about $225,000; the project is expected to receive about $2.4 million in federal funds toward the alternative energy option. 
 
Committee members had been wary of the use of geothermal, which is being pushed by the state, but felt better after Tuesday's overview and voted unanimously to go with a horizontal system under the parking lot. 
 
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