ADAMS, Mass. — The Cemetery Commission heard from new Department of Public Works Director Robert Tober on Thursday, who said the long-awaited renovation of the garage at Bellevue Cemetery will begin in the coming weeks.
"It has been a long drawn out process," Commissioner Bruce Shepley said.
This project goes back to 2017, when the commission came to an agreement that a cold storage shed at Bellevue Cemetery was on the verge of collapse.
The project spanned from a complete rebuild to the renovation and expansion of the current garage. The rebuild was deemed too expensive so the commission agreed to renovate the standing cement block garage and purchased an additional storage shed.
Town meeting allocated $125,000 from cemetery funds to support the project
Tober said the project should start in two or three weeks and he expects a quick turnaround because the contractor plans to phase the project over about a week and a half.
"Hopefully they will do them right after but there may be a slight delay between the roof and the doors," he said.
Tober said much of the funds originally were to be used to address a retaining wall near the garage but this was found to be unnecessary.
"It is secure. It has been there for so many years and I don't think it is going anywhere," Tober said. "I think we won't see the day in our lives when we have to worry about it."
Instead, these funds were turned back to the garage to replace doors and windows with better insulated fixtures. He said this is also the case with the garage doors and that the roof will be done with insulated material.
Tober said he wished there were funds to side the building that would make it more efficient.
Shepley said there may be an opportunity to address this if there are additional funds left over. Also, if the commissioners deem it a necessary addition, they could go back before town meeting and ask for more funds.
"We will sit down and see what is left and what we still had hoped for," he said. "If there are things we think are essential we can go back to town meeting."
In other business, Tober informed the commission that the historic Quaker Meeting House in Maple Street Cemetery will have to undergo some repairs.
"There are some issues up there — one gable end on the inside where the post and beams connect. There is one that has actually gone about an inch and a half gap," Tober said. "The whole gable is kicking out a little bit."
He said he was told this by the Quaker Meeting House Committee, which has a $16,000 budget to repair the historic building.
The committee plans to hire someone to do this work in the summer.
There were some questions about who was responsible for the Quaker Meeting House.
Shepley did not think it was under the Cemetery Commission's purview or even the towns. He thought it may be worth running it by the Historical Commission.
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A Rare Bird: Koperniak Stands Out in Triple-A
By Frank MurtaughThe Memphis (Tenn.) Flyer
With Major League Baseball’s September roster expansion just around the corner, Berkshire County baseball fans will be watching to see whether 2016 Hoosac Valley High School graduate Matt Koperniak gets the call from the St. Louis Cardinals. Heading into Tuesday night’s action, Koperniak had 125 hits this summer for the Cards’ Triple A affiliate, the Memphis (Tenn.) Redbirds. He is hitting .309 this season with 17 home runs. In his minor league career, he has a .297 batting average with 56 homers after being signed as a free agent by St. Louis out of Trinity College in 2020. This week, sportswriter Frank Murtaugh of the Memphis Flyer profiled Koperniak for that publication. Murtaugh’s story appears here with the Flyer’s permission.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- I’ve interviewed professional baseball players for more than two decades. There are talented players who, honestly, aren’t that interesting away from the diamond. They’re good ballplayers, and baseball is what they know. There are also very interesting baseball players who aren’t all that talented. Now and then, though, you find yourself in the home team’s dugout at AutoZone Park with a very good baseball player who has a very interesting story to share. Like the Memphis Redbirds’ top hitter this season, outfielder Matt Koperniak.
That story? It began on Feb. 8, 1998, when Koperniak was born in London. (Koperniak played for Great Britain in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.) “My dad was in the military,” explains Koperniak. “He was in Italy for a bit, then England. But I have no memories of that time.” Matt and his family moved back to the States — to Adams, Mass. — before his third birthday.
Koperniak played collegiately at Division III Trinity College in Connecticut, part of the New England Small College Athletic Conference. He hit .394 as a junior in 2019, but beating up on the likes of Tufts and Wesleyan doesn’t typically catch the eye of major-league scouts. When the coronavirus pandemic wiped out his senior season, Koperniak received an extra year of eligibility but, having graduated with a degree in biology, he chose to sign as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
“I’ve always loved baseball,” says Koperniak, “and it’s helped me get places, including a good school. My advisor — agent now — was able to get me into pro ball, so here we are.” He played in a few showcases as well as for the North Adams SteepleCats in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, enough to convince a Cardinal scout he was worth that free agent offer.
The Redbirds hosted Memphis Red Sox Night on Aug. 10, the home team taking the field in commemorative uniforms honoring the Bluff City’s Negro Leagues team of the 1930s and ’40s. Luken Baker (the franchise’s all-time home run leader) and Jordan Walker (the team’s top-ranked prospect) each slammed home runs in a Memphis win over Gwinnett, but by the final out it had become Matt Koperniak Night at AutoZone Park. He drilled a home run, a triple, and a single, falling merely a double shy of hitting for the cycle. It was perfectly Koperniak: Outstanding baseball blended into others’ eye-catching heroics.
“It’s trying to do the little things right,” he emphasizes, “and being a competitor. The Cardinals do a great job of getting us to play well-rounded baseball. Everybody has the same mindset: How can I help win the next game? You gotta stay in attack mode to be productive.”
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