NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city is redirecting its Community Development Block Grant funds toward roadwork. 

 

"We used the CDBG block grant funding to repave or redo sidewalks, water mains lots of times on just about every low-income street in the community 25, or 30 years ago," said Michael Nuvallie of the Office of Community Development at Wednesday's public hearing. "It is now time to do a sweep of the entire community to hit all those roadways once again."

 

The federal block grant funding has for years been used in updating recreational facilities, demolishing blighted buildings and contributing to social service agencies.

 

The money's been used to rehabilitate the Armory over numerous cycles, put in the splash park and skateboard park at Noel Field, and revamp the playground at Brayton Hill. 

 

CDBG is a federal grant program through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. North Adams applies annually and has been getting $825,000 annually in recent years. 

 

Normally the grant application for the 18-month cycle is due in March but the pandemic had "discombobulated all the schedules across many programs," said Nuvallie. "The good thing for us is we had done all of our planning and plotting and preparing in the late summer and early fall of last year, so we feel like we're ahead of the game to some degree."

 

Work is going to start with the resurfacing of North Holden and Liberty Street and repairing sidewalks this year as part of the fiscal 2020 grant cycle. McMahon Associates Inc. of West Springfield was also hired in that cycle for bid-ready designs for the next cycle that will include Bracewell Avenue.

 

The grant will target low-income neighborhoods based on Census data. 

 

"We're going to establish a presence in that neighborhood, and we're going to stay in that neighborhood area until it's finished off," Nuvallie said. "Long ago, we could probably do four to six streets at a clip but with the prices of construction, you can only do one or two at a time now."

 

Of the $825,000, some $617,000 will be directed to the B 2021 Roads project for construction, the balance from last year will go toward construction, observation and inspection, and $77,250 will toward design services for potential work on Chase Avenue, Hall Street, Orchard Terrace, Laurel Avenue, Brook Avenue and Grove Street.

 

"If it's not possible to address all six streets, continued phasing within this neighborhood will ill be necessary," said Zachary Feury, project coordinator in the Office of Community Development.

 

Of the balance of the grant, $123,750 will go toward administration and $7,000 to Louison House.

 

The city has been providing a portion of the grant to social services agencies for a the past decade. This year, however, there were only two applications and only one of those brought forward by the Human Services Commission. The funds will go to the family shelter's emergency assistance and support services programs.

 

"I just want to say thank you for considering this because the help, it goes to people who are homeless and really struggling out in the streets," said Kathy Keeser, executive director of Louison House. "It's just a small amount of money in our budget but it's very important."

 

Funding for All Saints Church's meal service is not in this grant application but Diane Bleau was there to thank the city for its support in the fiscal 2020 cycle.

 

St. Elizabeth's had also joined the meal program that feeds nearly 100 seniors every Sunday.

 

"It's just a wonderful program because not only are we giving our seniors a meal but people are checking on them and if there's a problem, they report back to me or to St. Elizabeth," Bleau said. "The grant has been a godsend for us because we're sponsored. All Saints is a very small church, and it's very difficult for us to raise the money."

 

Comments on the grant can be submitted at City Hall until Monday at 4:30 p.m.