USDA Funds May Aid Lanesborough Public Safety Proposal

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The town would only see about $60,000 in USDA grants for the proposed public safety building but could finance it through a loan with the federal department.

Last month, the Select Board voted to work with RCAP Solutions as a consultant in the financing application for the U.S. Department of Agriculture funding. This will have to be formalized in a community service agreement.

"My help is writing the entire application for you for free," representative Madison Wellman explained, as the USDA funds non-government organizations like RCAP Solutions to assist communities with the application process.

The Public Safety Building Committee is in the final steps of recommending four designs to the Select Board. Chair Mark Siegars reported that the board has everything but the estimated cost for each, which is being processed and expected soon.

Aside from choosing an option, funding is a huge consideration for this project. At last year's annual town meeting, voters shot down a nearly $6 million proposal for a combined police and ambulance facility.

"The USDA does an awful lot more than simply make sure we're producing enough food, fiber, and timber. They're also the main economic development engine at the federal level for rural America," Wellman explained.

"They have a very broad collection of grant programs that rural communities can apply to, one of them being the Community Facilities Program. Community Facilities is probably the most flexible program they have. It can be invested in just about anything."

The program can help provide funding for public safety buildings to purchase equipment but typically, the grant funds cannot be used for construction itself. This would require a USDA loan, which requires more financial work to prove that the town can repay the debt.

"The current interest rate for USDA direct loans is 4 percent. The loans are amortized over a term of 40 years for the useful life of whatever asset you're purchasing or building," Wellman said.

"There's no statutory cap on the amount of money you can borrow the program, although most loans are under a half a million dollars, though they can get bigger than that if they really need to."

For this fiscal year, the USDA only has $47,000 for grants across the state, and "Unfortunately, there's already more applications in there requesting that for this fiscal year so there won't be any way to get any grant funding today," he said.

BCC Cuts Ribbon on Accessible Quad

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:29PM / Sunday, October 13, 2024

Pat Sheely, a BCC alum and UCP board member, and disability rights activist Merle Ferber speak at the opening about Madeline Snide, a another BCC alum who used a wheelchair and worked to inspire change on campus. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Whether you are on foot, using a mobility aid, or pushing a baby stroller, the Berkshire Community College quad is now navigable.

On Friday, the college community cut the ribbon on its new, accessible quad. It honors Madeline Snide, a 1978 graduate and the first paraplegic to enroll at the BCC who is credited for inspiring change on campus.

"Madeline did not live long enough to see all her hard work come to fruition but I know she feels it," said Merle Ferber, a disability rights activist who worked along Snide.

Pat Sheely, a BCC alum and board member of United Cerebral Palsy, explained that she was "miserable" to be around the first two years she had her disability.  

"Madeline is one of three people who taught me that there is life after a disability," she said, adding that Snide's achievements were overwhelming.

The overhaul included removing cracked concrete, leveling steep areas, and adding railings and other ADA elements. The quad cost about $4 million and was part of a $10 million critical infrastructure improvement project funded by the Baker-Polito administration.

President Ellen Kennedy pointed to the campus' brutalist architecture, which was popular in the early 1970s when it was built. While the stylistic choice was loved by some and disliked by others, its difficulty for those using a wheelchair or mobility aid was undisputed.

"It was at a time when — and this is no aspersion to anyone who was working in architecture or anyone who was doing anything in life at that time — when ableism was running rampant," she explained.