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Date: 8/31/2022
MONSON – The Monson Select Board approved four project requests to be paid with American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds during their Aug. 23 meeting.
Finance Director Jamie Farnum shared the projects with the board, with the first request involving improvements to the Mountainside Disc Golf Course at Flynt Park. She explained that the cost for improvements would be $24,000 and would come from revenue replacements.
The second project is the Veterans Field bathroom project. Timothy Pascale, Parks and Recreation director, said that the bathrooms are now Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible. He noted that they would also like for the sidewalk leading to the bathrooms to go directly to the water bubbler, making it ADA accessible as well.
Jennifer Wolowicz, town administrator, said this would cost $5,600 and would complete the rest of the sidewalk and the plantings around it.
The third project is for Main Street reconstruction, phase A. Farnum said the cost is $365,000 coming from revenue replacement. Ben Murphy, highway surveyor, said they need to “get to the tip” where the federal government will pay to pave Main Street, while the town is responsible for the design. He predicted that the reconstruction is a three-to-five-year project, however the design phase is the first step.
The final project is a match for the Municipal Vulnerability Program (MVP) grant in the amount of $92,000. Dan Laroche, community development director, explained that the town received an MVP preparedness grant for a total of almost $400,000, with a 25 percent match to that. He said they are looking to do a master plan of the stormwater system in the downtown area to address flooding issues that they have. Laroche added that they worked with Fuss & O’Neill to put together an application. To move forward with the grant, a cash match by the town is required.
The board unanimously approved all four ARPA requests.
School Security
Cheryl Clarke, superintendent of Monson Public Schools and Police Chief Steven Kozloski, discussed school security with the Select Board.
Clarke said that they are ready for the first day of school. “We have added some new initiatives this summer including the hiring of a school security officer, in addition to police presence,” she noted.
Kozloski shared that he did a walkthrough of the schools and found their current technology to be “robust.” Because of this, he ensured that the start of the school year will be a safe one.
“They’ve taken more than adequate measures [prior to some of the traumatic events] to address and hopefully dissuade anyone who might want to take any violent actions against our school system,” said Kozloski.
Nonetheless, he expressed that there are some initiatives that could strengthen the overall security. Depending on funding sources, Kozloski said he would like to do this in the shorter term.
Appointments
Raymond Possick was appointed to the Memorial Hall Renovation Committee and the Municipal Arts Council. Both terms will go through June 30, 2025.
Glenn Colburn was also appointed to the Memorial Hall Renovation Committee. His term will go through June 30, 2025.
Sherri Roberson was appointed as the new treasurer/collector. Her term will begin Oct. 1.