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Date: 9/28/2022
BLANDFORD — During Town Administrator Christopher Dunne’s six-month review at the Select Board meeting on Sept. 19, Chair Cara Letendre said this was a hard one for her, because she had been advised to hold back and not put “outstanding” on anything.
“We have the clearest goals and objectives I’ve ever seen presented to us. He met all of them,” Letendre said. She said in terms of the job and technical knowledge, Dunne always knows where to get the information needed from state and local sources. Select Board members T.J. Cousineau and Jeff Allen agreed that Dunne always had the answers they were looking for.
“The less I hear from anyone outside this building, you know things are going well,” Letendre said, adding that Dunne has maintained positive relationships in the community, “even with our most grumpy residents.”
Before the review meeting, Dunne said he is working on having written protocols, including having a set of financial policies in place, and a personnel handbook. He said there is still some information that is not accessible to everyone.
“Part of my job as I see it is to make sure people know where to look for information,” he said.
Dunne said the town is also prioritizing its capital improvement plan, which is being updated. After years of deferred maintenance, the highway superintendent and fire chief were able to get their fleets up to standard, but now they need proper storage for the vehicles. He mentioned that there is a fire truck that doesn’t fit in the Fire Department’s garage, and is currently being housed in the highway garage.
A plan to build a new highway garage, and refurbish the old garage for the Fire Department, is being reexamined due to costs.
“We are trying to find a way to save taxpayer dollars,” he said, adding that the previous plan was scrapped due to the increase in construction costs, which doubled from a $4 million estimate last fall for two buildings to $8 million in projected costs.
An advisory committee made up of the fIre chief, highway superintendent and a former Select Board member went back to the drawing board. Committee members are now asking whether it would save money to build a shared highway and fire garage. The owner’s project manager the town had already hired is studying a design for a single building.
Dunne said there are few grants seemingly available for the project, and the town is hoping to pay for the design phase with the building stabilization fund, and local and county emergency relief funding.
“There is not a lot of dedicated funding for fire and highway,” Dunne said. He said that he will be talking to state legislators about the possibility of getting some state COVID-19 relief funds.
Dunne stays in touch with officials in the towns of Williamsburg and Westhampton, both of which are working on similar projects.
“It’s still possible that two separate buildings will make more sense,” he said.
Another big project that is getting a second look is the Town Common rehabilitation at North Blandford Road and Route 23, which is related to the highway garage project. Dunne said the town is having conversations with the state Department of Transportation about the reconfiguration.
Dunne said his main goal is to build the institutional capacity at Town Hall, so when people leave, “knowledge and know how doesn’t go out the door.”
“I am 100 percent confident of sending all questions and concerns from residents, that he can handle it with professionalism,” Letendre said at the review.