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Date: 3/30/2022
EASTHAMPTON – The city of Easthampton is currently in the process of accepting sealed bids from “responsible and eligible bidders” for the ongoing Cherry Street Green Infrastructure project.
The project, which aims to make crucial water and sewer improvements to Cherry Street, will consist of 2,000 linear feet of roadway reconstruction, new curbing and sidewalks, as well as construction of traditional and green stormwater infrastructure. The project also aims to replace 2,000 linear feet of 8-inch water main, install 2,100 linear feet of 12-inch sewer pipe, replace water hydrants and gate valves, replace water and sewer services to the property lines of existing residents, restore the Cherry Street stormwater outfall, and use bioengineering to stabilize a deteriorating stream bank at Brickyard Brook.
In October 2020, Reminder Publishing reported that Easthampton received $175,957 of Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) funding to support Green Infrastructure planning and resiliency design for the Cherry Street improvement project. The grant money was related to climate change and how it impacts Easthampton.
In working with the state, Easthampton created a list of priority projects involving climate change resiliency and found Cherry Street improvements to be one of the major priority projects.
Since conducting some public hearings in late summer 2021, the city has received $800,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding, as well as $2 million from the state in MVP money. Both grants are assisting with different parts of the project.
“We are now in the process of going out to bid,” Easthampton’s Assistant Planner Jamie Webb told Reminder Publishing. According to Webb, all general bids will have to be submitted by April 6, so the city can then evaluate the bids and identify which is the most responsible out of those received.
“There are a number of qualifications on the part of the contractor to make sure that they can do the work, and that they have done the work in the past,” she added. “We’re hoping that we get some good numbers and that the project comes in with the amount of money that we have available for it.”
If all goes well, Webb said the city should have chosen a contractor by the end of April or early May. The process of mobilization will then occur throughout May, and construction would most likely start at some point in June. “That’s the rough timeline assuming that the bids come in at the right prices,” said Webb.
In the fall, the city went out to Cherry Street to spray paint the areas where curbs and planters would be and gave residents an idea of how certain construction will play out. “That was great, because we got really good turnout from residents who were very concerned,” said Webb. The city answered any residents’ concerns on that street by making small adjustments where allowed.
The city plans to host a community event sometime in June to provide updates on the project and educate certain residents about how to maintain green infrastructure that may be instituted in front of their house.
“It was also important to make sure that the residents were interested in seeing something in front of their house that they wanted in front of their house, or willing to maintain,” said Webb. “We’re hoping through the different events that we’ve had, that there’s more buy-in from residents to make sure this project has a long lifespan.”
According to Webb, the project is necessary because the current stormwater outfall at the end of Cherry Street that goes into Brickyard Brook is completely falling apart, and the water and sewer lines are a century old. The new outfall will be constructed using greener methods.