North Adams OKs $2.2M for Hurricane Reconstruction

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
09:30PM / Tuesday, December 13, 2011Print Story | Email Story

Crest Street has been closed since the August storm. It's estimated to cost $1.2 million to fix the steep roadway.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday night approved some $2.2 million in borrowing to make repairs related to Hurricane Irene.

The coucil also approved a retroactive emergency declaration to ensure funding.

The city is responsible for some $540,000, or 25 percent, while federal and state agencies are carrying the balance. However, state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams, is working with the Berkshire delegation to get the state to kick in the entire amount.

The storm blew into Berkshire County on Aug. 28, severely damaging road, bridges and riverbanks around the area. The Mohawk Trail is set to open on Thursday after nearly three months of round-the-clock work along a six-mile stretch from Florida to Charlemont.

Some of the work is being done by the city, including Reservoir Road, while others have gone out or are being prepared for bidding. The restoration of the riverbank near Avon Street will cost an extra $100,000 because of the water main break over the weekend; of that, $75,000 is being picked up the the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The scope of the work is detailed below.

The borrowing passed swiftly, as did other items on what had seemed a busy meeting. The council:

► Approved extending Public Safety Commissioner E. John Morocco's part-time employment until on or before June 30.

► Passed to second reading and referred to the Finance Committee a 2 percent wage hike for nonunion employees effective Jan. 1. The cost is approximately $24,000 and would come out of the unclassified reserve account. It would affect some 60 employees, including at the library, City Hall and the Spitzer Center, but not the mayor or the councilors. The Finance Committee will meet Monday, Dec. 19, at 4:30.

► Alcombright said nonunion workers had not received a raise in at least three cycles but have seen their insurance premiums rise 6-7 percent with another hike expected this year. Budget hawk Robert Cardimino said he understood the need for raises — "these people work hard" — but questioned the city's ability to balance needs. "You're trying to build reserves and you're handing out raises."

► Approved an addendum to include Clarksburg and Florida into the veterans district, pending approval by their boards. The towns are responsible for expenses incurred by their veterans and reimburse the city for serviced rendered by the veterans agent.

► Approved a sign for 61 Main St. that will extend over the sidewalk with Councilors David Bond (who works for building owner Scarafoni Associates) and Keith Bona (who owns a store at 61 Main St.) abstaining.

► The City Council agenda can be found here.

Tropical Storm Irene Damage Tracking Sheet
Damaged Area	Reimbursing Agency	Construction Cost	A/E	Engineering Cost	Agency Share	City Share	Completion Date
State Street (City repair)	Federal Highway	$20,000	A		$15,000	$5,000	9/19/2011
McCauley Road (Bid this week)	NRCS*	$470,000	E	$19,550	$367,162.50	$122,387.50	4/1/2012
West Shaft Road (Contractor onsite)	Federal Highway	$74,500	A	$8,440	$62,205	$20,735	1215/2011
Hoosic River (Avon St.) Extra cost for water main break	NRCS	$195,720 $100,000	A E	$17,550	$159, 952.50 $75,000	$53,317.50 $25,000	12/31/2011
Crest Street (In design)	FEMA	$1.2 million	E	$21,650	$916,237.50	$305,412.50	5/1/2011
Daniels Road (City repair)	FEMA	$18,000	A		$13,500	$4,500	11/15/2011
Reservoir Road (City to fix)	FEMA	$10,000	E		$7,500	$2,500	1/15/2012
Total cost: $2,155,410					$1,616,557.50	$538,852.50

*Natural Resources Conservation Service A/E= actual or estimated

Tags: Irene, roadwork,

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Your Comments

iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.

Interest rates on bonds are affected by the status of the city's reserves. This would be a heckuva lot more expensive if we had been using Barrett Math for the past three years and our bond rating had fallen.
from: Rain on Wayne	on: 12-14-2011 06:27AM I Agree (12) - I Disagree (7)

Ms Editor: Maybe you should drink the "Cool Aide" and not the water, its Keith Bona, not Keith Bond.
from: DBCooper	on: 12-14-2011 09:07AM I Agree (9) - I Disagree (0)
Editor: Thanks for pointing out the typo. And it is "Kool-Aid."
I Agree (4) - I Disagree (0)

What if anything is the Mayor going to do about the extra cost of 25K to the city over the water break by the contractor? does the contractor have insurance ? or is this just a dig and eat by the taxpayer?
from: DBCooper	on: 12-14-2011 09:12AM I Agree (10) - I Disagree (0)

What a stupid statement. How fast people forget how bad the finances of North Adams were when Barrett took over,shoe boxes with uncashed checks city owed back taxes etc. I have no proof but I would bet that the city's bond rating went up during the Barrett years. You like so many others just want to blame others for the incompetence of this administration. Everything is a joke with this Mayor and as he cracks jokes North Adams sinks. Alcombright said we can't cut taxes and need to build up the reserves and then two weeks later gives out pay raises. The fools on the Council sit there and don't even ask one question. It also would nice if just once the media would question the Mayor on how he can say we need reserves and then gives raises. Wait till the cops and firemen get theirs and the taxpayers take it on the chin again. Keep up the good work iberkshires and the Transcript in letting him continue to go unchallenged. Wonder what Thomas Jefferson would think of the press in Berkshire County??
from: huh	on: 12-14-2011 09:13AM I Agree (7) - I Disagree (9)

Do you expect journalism from iBerkshires? C'mon Man! If Ron had won there would be figures, and articles from Tammy expounding how bad things are....hopefully Brian Flaggs website will do better. That will be the ruin of this site, except for the ultimate crazy kool-aid drinkers...kinda like pMSNBC
from: LowerTaxes	on: 12-14-2011 01:30PM I Agree (12) - I Disagree (7)

The bond rating agencies were extremely concerned about the way that Barrett left the city finances and that we were spending down the reserves. Dick held off their downgrade by demonstrating that he could balance a budget rather than continue a structural deficit (aka Barrett's "pay for it later" math when it came to the general fund since 2007.) Municipal bond rating criteria is not a secret.
from: Standard and Poors	on: 12-14-2011 01:33PM I Agree (8) - I Disagree (5)

Hey db, the contractor was following an improperly marked map supplied by the city. I don't think they will be paying for this.
from: lila	on: 12-14-2011 02:27PM I Agree (12) - I Disagree (0)

What only 2% raise. Come on mayor you can do better than that with all the new tax money. The unions should be able to do better than that . With all the money the city has in the bank the unions would be suckers to settle for less that 6 or 8% . Please help the mayor to run the city into bankruptcy. The sooner the mayor and city council runs the city into bankruptsy the sooner the real taxpayers will get a brake.
from: RealWayne	on: 12-14-2011 03:42PM I Agree (8) - I Disagree (5)

Ms. Editor: I did the typo about the "Kool Aid" to see if you were awake. good job.
from: DBCooper	on: 12-14-2011 05:32PM I Agree (11) - I Disagree (2)

Lila: Thanks, I didn't think we would receive anything back, remember last tuesday the Mayor said were at zero, this tuesday we are giving out 2% does it go up each week? I better get in line.
from: DBCooper	on: 12-14-2011 06:30PM I Agree (11) - I Disagree (2)

Around four days before giving out raises some as high as $2000 . The mayor and city workers were in a photo shoot passing out food to the people that provided the money for the raises. This is the best example of the 1% percent st work.
from: RealWayne	on: 12-15-2011 09:49AM I Agree (8) - I Disagree (2)

The rubber stamp council fails the taxpayers once again. Approving the 2.2 plus for the storm damage was a no brainer. However, where the council failed was requiring the Mayor to take the 75% reimbursement money received from all government agencies, and immediately put those funds on the bond taken out by the city for the repair work. What will stop this spend foolish Mayor from taking those funds and putting it into his pile of free cash account. Thus leaving the residents and struggling taxpayers to foot the entire expense of the hurricane damage. Shame on the council for not making that a stipulation.
from: Jr.	on: 12-24-2011 06:13AM I Agree (1) - I Disagree (0)

Clarksburg Select Board Accepts School Roof Bid, Debates Next Steps

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
04:05PM / Tuesday, April 01, 2025

CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The Select Board last week accepted a bid by D.J. Wooliver & Sons to do the flat roof on the elementary school.

Wooliver was the lowest bid at about $400,000 but cautioned that the cost may rise depending on the conditions once the work started. The work will depend on town meeting approving a borrowing for the project and a possible debt exclusion.

But how much borrow and whether the work will be worth it has been a conundrum for town and school officials. The condition of the school has been a major topic at meetings of the board and the School Committee over the past few months.

Town officials are considering putting the question to the voters — try to piecemeal renovations or begin a new study on renovating or building a new school.

In the meantime, the leaking roof has prompted an array of buckets throughout the school.

"Until they actually get in there and start ripping everything up, we won't really know the extent of all the damage per se so it's really kind of hard to make a decision," board member Colton Andrew said at last week's meeting, broadcast on Northern Berkshire Community Television.

Board member Daniel Haskins wondered if it would be better to patch until a town made a decision on a school project or do a portion of the roof. But Chair Robert Norcross disagreed.

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