ADAMS, Mass. — The new director of the Greylock Glen is planning to start marketing as the Outdoor Center project nears completion.

 

Michael Wynn, who was selected in January to run the center, submitted a level operating budget of $57,500 but said he could pull funding from different lines to ensure there was money for advertising this fall. 

 

"The one thing that was very clearly missing from the current budget was any funds directed that marketing and promotional materials," he told the joint meeting of the Selectmen and Finance Committee on Thursday. "That's going to be a large part of my job."

 

Two lines he didn't feel could be reduced: one for legal services for legal counsel on retainer and one for contracted services in case special assistance is needed. 

 

But since programming won't start until September at the earliest, he proposed reducing that line by 16 percent, comparable to the two months of the fiscal year it won't be needed. He cut the other lines by the same amount for a marketing budget. 

 

"My hope is that by working with whoever we select as our marketing and promotional partner, they'll bill out a calendar year. So my actual budget for marketing would be closer to $14,000 per calendar year split across two budgets," he said. 

 

Wynn said he anticipated the center opening around Labor Day and that Massachusetts Audubon Society, selected in January for the education component, "is gearing up to start offering some programming as soon as we can get that in there."

 

He's also hoping to have the exhibits in place as well as a retailer and cafe operator. 

 

Town Administrator Jay Green said the hiring of the building and grounds superintendent will be before the Selectmen at its April 17 meeting. That candidate is coming from the town's Department of Public Works and has already been in discussions with Wynn. 

 

Wynn and the superintendent will also be reaching out to the local volunteer groups who have maintained the trails for hiking and snowmobiling.

 

"We're hoping that when the public begins to use it they can see we're taking care of it," said Green. 

 

The Finance Committee questioned the equipment being used at the glen and the town's responsibility. Green said the superintendent will take care of mowing and possibly plowing up the entrance, giving the DPW more time to address town issues. 

 

Wynn said the glen budget will cover some materials and equipment. The plans for now are to shift older equipment such as mowers and trucks up to the glen as the DPW purchases new equipment for itself. But the glen budget will inevitably be moved out of the purview of the Selectmen and Finance Committee as it becomes self-sustaining. 

 

"In a perfect world, when the Greylock Glen becomes its own enterprises and is making its own money, you will never see any expense for the glen because it will pay for itself," Green said. "There's a good chance that — depending upon what the organizational model looks like, if there's an agency that's created ... it could retain with this group, it may be run by a foundation similar to the Mass MoCA model — If that's the case, this group will never see that because it's not town funds."

 

Selectman Joseph Nowak wanted to know why the solar proposals had "suddenly" disappeared; Green said that determination had been made years back because of the burgeoning cost and because the roof couldn't handle the load. 

 

The two went back and forth about the solar and who knew what when and Green noted that Nowak had voted in February to use $25,000 from the capital reserve fund to pay for a geotechnical survey needed to install carport solar panels. 

 

"This undertaking, I'm sorry, I'm gonna get on my soapbox, this undertaking is incredible for the town of Adams. It has sucked up a lot of time and a lot of resources, including legal, and then the campground comes along and we're doing that," said Green. "We're managing this project incredibly well. And at some point, Donna [Cesan] is going to come in front of you and be able to say that, and I know you don't believe it, and that's fine."

 

"What makes you say that?" Nowak cut in to say; "Your tone and the tone of your questions and the fact that you don't come in and ask the questions about it," responded Green, suggesting Nowak meet with Cesan, special projects manager, for more information. 

 

The boards, in their second night of budget review, also went through the Department of Public Works and Community Development. 

 

Community Development Director Eammon Coughlin said his budget was basically level-funded. The department has four employees, of which two are being paid out of Community Development Block Grants. 

 

Like other departments, Community Development consolidated lines for advertising, postage and subscriptions for each board into one line.

 

The department is managing some $21 million in grant projects and that while it aggressively pursues grants, sometimes they had to say no. Federal grants in particular come with a lot of strings that require extensive management. 

 

The engineering budget is higher at $110,000 but Green explained it included an engineering line that had been in the administrator's budget. 

 

"Engineering is critical in terms of the development of projects, when it comes to getting grants it's showing that we have skin in the game," said Coughlin. "We use that engineering line item to either develop planning studies that we can use to go forward and leverage grant funds or we develop a detailed set of construction documents."

 

In the DPW, Green noted that a laborer at an estimated cost of $66,393 (including insurance) will be added to cemetery and parks bringing the total number of employees to 15; there are seven at the wastewater treatment plant as required by the state. 

 

The administrative assistant will now work solely for DPW, it had been a shared position with inspection services, so that line has increased. 

 

"We have removed all of those shared costs and moved all of the costs over to DPW administration," said Green. "And then when we get next week to inspection services, you'll see a proposal for a full-time admin assistant to support both inspectional services and facilities."

 

The line for DPW director is zero because town administrator is the acting director. Green said the town will have to hire someone at some point because he had been relying on two senior and experienced workers who are now able to retire.  

 

Linda Cernik, program coordinator for the Northern Berkshire Solid Waste District, updated the boards on that budget. 

 

Green said the town has put aside $25,000 for overages but since the cost for permits and bags was raised last year, that is covering the transfer station. 

 

"We would love to remove the $25,000 out of there, I believe that's the goal that we've had for a long time here," he said, adding the Selectmen will be discussing the transfer station in May. 

 

Cernik said a large part of the cost for the 14 towns in the district is waste removal. Casella Waste Management had wanted to increase its fees by 6.1 percent across the board, she said, but they were able to reduce that to 2.1 percent for hauling and 6.1 percent in processing. 

 

The current charge is $110.23 per ton for municipal solid waste; every time a container is hauled out its $397.23. However, Casella provides the containers that can cost $9,000 to $12,000. Recyclables are less. 

 

"Some months we get a credit for our paper and we're not paying at all for the process. We're actually getting a credit," Cernik said. "It's the commingle where we're having the hardest, the plastic, glass. We all know plastic is just, there's not a market for it, so we're paying around $150 a ton for that right now."

 

In response to questions, she supported composting but didn't think it would save Adams much since recycling was much higher than MSW at the transfer station. However, she believed the state Department of Environmental Protection is likely to enforce composting at some point.

 

Casella had closed both its Pownal and Rutland, Vt. collection sites and now ships to Twin Bridges Waste & Recycling in Clifton Park, N.Y. Cernik said she was planning a tour of the facility and would like someone from Adams to attend.  

 

The committee and board also were updated on encumbrances going into fiscal 2025. Officials had questioned Wojcik about them at Tuesday's meeting and she had printed out those to date.

 

Funds from one fiscal year can't be used to pay bills in the next one but money can be "encumbered" if the service is entered into prior to June 30. Wojcik said she is working to reduce the amount being encumbered, as it affects free cash, and departments have to justify in writing why it is needed. 

 

The next budget review will be 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9, in the library annex and will cover public services and the McCann and Hoosac Valley Regional budgets. The boards began their review of the budget on Tuesday.