Stockbridge — Although summer might be a time when things slow down, things are ramping up in Stockbridge as the town is taking on local projects.
Officials filled in residents on the status of bridge repair and other projects during the short July 10 Select Board meeting. Here’s what’s happening…
Municipal directional sign locations approved
Following a site visit and meetings between Sign Committee members Jorja Marsden and Barbara Zanetti, Town Administrator Michael Canales, and representatives of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), the Select Board was presented with options for improving local signs in the town center, unanimously approving those suggestions.
According to Canales, the Stockbridge Cemetery sign was recommended to remain at its current site but its font size increased to be more readable. The sign’s mileage information is to be removed, with a directional arrow added at the top and the listings reordered alphabetically. Funding for this project will come from the Chamber of Commerce.
The second existing sign would be reallocated to reflect the Town Beach, with a new relevant slat added and the sign height adjusted for visibility and compliance. Those change fees would be covered by the Park & Recreation Department budget.
A third sign was suggested to be relocated to Park Street near the park entrance, with a new slat added denoting the park and a directional arrow at the end pointing towards Ice Glen, Mary Flynn Trail, and Laura’s Tower further up the road. However, Canales said funding for this sign project from the town budget has not been determined yet.
As for a timeline, Canales said the Town Beach and park sign work may be done in the spring while the cemetery signage would remain until the new slats are received to be swapped out.
The issue had previously brought out residents with differing opinions on the project.
“It sounds good and reasonable,” Chair Jamie Minacci responded. “I think it’s a great compromise.”
Added costs to restore Children’s Chime Tower approved
With rot damage to the Children’s Chime Tower found to be greater than first anticipated, the Select Board unanimously approved a change order for $112,539 to allow the project to continue.
Construction field reports from June and July pertaining to the progress of the Children’s Chime Tower repair cited extensive rot damage, especially on its northwest corner column that had to be completely rebuilt and to turn mechanisms on parts of the structure. Carpenter ant damage was also apparent.
Funds for the continued repairs to the tower in the amount of $200,000 were approved at the Stockbridge Town Meeting in May that exceeded the approved change order.
The cupola work is expected to be completed in October, Canales said. “Small things may pop up, but this is the large one we’ve been anticipating working through,” he said of the repairs.
Former Select Board member Patrick White applauded the effort coming in under budget but cautioned the town to spend a bit more to ensure the ant issue is eradicated rather than having to return to address that problem.
Local bridge repairs continue
Repairs to the town’s Tuckerman Bridge “continue to move along,” Canales said. A study of the project is currently under review by the state, with that outcome allowing the repairs to progress, possibly by the end of the summer.
The hydrological study of the Averic Bridge showed results that required adjustments to increase flows of the waterway. Once new reports are submitted to the state for review, the town will pursue a small bridge program construction grant in December.
The Mary Goodrich Bridge was turned over to Stockbridge ownership at the recent Town Meeting, and Canales said its engineering studies have been completed, with the work to be performed already identified. Following approval from the Conservation Commission, the repairs—including replacing bridge cables and decking—can proceed. “Once we do that, the [Goodrich] bridge will be good for the next 25 years, other than small maintenance,” he said.
Canales plans to make an application through MassDOT for the Glendale Bridge be placed on the federally mandated Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) list so federal and state funds can be used for its repairs; however, that program can take a decade for the project to push forward, even 10 to 15 years, Canales said.
“That’s long term to look at because as we know from the [Glendale] Bridge report, the price eight [or] nine months ago, it’s an $8.5 million repair,” he said. “We can revisit that, but right now the focus is on getting Averic, Tuckerman, and Mary Goodrich bridges done.”
Marsden voiced her interest in the Tuckerman Bridge for its historic designation and asked whether its repairs would be in keeping with its period. Canales responded that the structure will be the steel type of bridge that is in place now since the project builds off of the existing buttress. “So, it will be similar,” he said. “We did look at that in the application and that bridge design was the standard bridge built at the time, so it’s not a unique bridge.”
Canales said the design is not considered a “historic design for that bridge.”
Grant application in the works to fund fire- and emergency-management program
With Stockbridge working together with neighbor West Stockbridge to coordinate a fire and emergency medical services (EMS) department that includes paid professional staff and a new fire station and ambulance, Canales advocated applying for a federal grant to fund some of the employment costs. That grant—the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants (SAFER)—falls under the Federal Emergency Management Agency and is offered directly to fire departments to help increase or maintain their trained firefighters.
“As we begin ramping up the EMS/Fire, we get two shots at the SAFER grant,” Canales said.
A $1.56 million SAFER grant application has already been filed under the current fiscal year’s federal budget, he said.
Should the project not receive a SAFER grant award pursuant to that application, another application can be submitted for the funds the following year. The grant covers three years of employee costs, upwards of five firefighters for the first three years of the Stockbridge-West Stockbridge program.
Hiring applications for two employees are out now, with the full program slated to start at the beginning of fiscal year 2028, Canales said.
“You don’t know who’s applying, it’s a federal grant all across the country,” he said of the odds that the Stockbridge-West Stockbridge program will be awarded the SAFER grant.
