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Date: 1/4/2023
PALMER – As ongoing projects are completed and new ones begin, the town of Palmer can expect an active 2023.
Town Manager Ryan McNutt said, “The biggest project that is going to happen [in 2023] is the Church Street bridge is going to reopen” in the summer. He explained that a truss bridge is being put in which is essentially meant to be temporary, however, it is set to remain there for several years.
At the former Converse Middle School, McNutt shared that a code review is being conducted to show people how much would it cost the town to try and bring it to code and put “simple things” in. “We should have enough information for the community to make an informed decision about the reuse of that building,” he said. With that information, residents can decide, “Do they want their taxes to go up to pay for that because it would cost millions of dollars, or do they want to sell the building to a developer?”
As the town browses for a potential new location of the senior center, moving it into the Converse building is one of several proposed options. After hosting a few public hearings, the findings were that residents are interested in keeping it for town use.
In the 88,000 square foot building, McNutt noted that the town is always going to retain certain facets in the building such as the basketball court and Legion Field behind the structure. The core building is the only portion in need of reuse. However, the core building is “very, very old” and has not experienced any upgrades since 1922 and 1963, he added.
Coinciding with the reuse of Converse Middle School, McNutt said, “We’re going to focus a lot on quality of life.” He explained that the town has a new recreation department and recreation director.
He went on to say that Palmer plans to “invest heavily” into the maintenance of town buildings. This includes moving the DPW yard as it currently stands in a flood zone.
At the Wastewater Treatment Plant, McNutt shared, there will be two major projects including a new roof on the building and contracting to obtain a new piece of machinery that improves the process, making it “more efficient” and reduces costs substantially.
“In terms of economic development, we should either see the opening or significant progress at Liberty Plaza,” located on Thorndike Street, said McNutt. This is where Starbucks among other businesses will be going in.
Silver Therapeutics, a cannabis retailer, should be opening in 2023. “That will be the first cannabis retailer open in Palmer,” said McNutt. Only three retail facilities are allowed in town.
“Things are booming. Our building department is the busiest it’s ever been. We have just in this year [2022] alone, about $38 million worth of construction value happening – new construction value,” said McNutt. That precedes the last five years in terms of how much it is. “I kind of expect that to continue even into next year [2023],” he added.
With a variety of businesses in town such as the dry ice maker, medical manufacturers, bumper company and more, McNutt said everything has been “resilient.”
“Things are going really well for us,” he shared.
“If anything, 2022 has been a stark reminder that even small towns like Palmer – we live in a very globalized world and things that happen even far away can directly affect us,” said McNutt. For instance, up until 2022, the town paid about 9 cents per kilowatt an hour and now, that has doubled to about 18 ½ cents per kilowatt an hour. “That’s an extraordinary jump in cost for a small town,” he noted. McNutt explained that the global energy market can affect the town as well as interest rates and borrowing for projects.
“The challenges are sort of the headwinds that everybody is facing right now – supply chain stuff,” he said.