Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 1/4/2023
MONSON – Although physical changes in Monson may not be seen right away, a few designs will be underway in 2023 as the town prepares for multi-year projects.
One of the projects to be voted on at Annual Town Meeting is the fire station. During the Nov. 22, 2022 Select Board meeting, members voted 2-1 to move forward with Option E, a two-story addition onto the existing fire station along with a medium apparatus bay design.
Fire Chief Brian Harris explained that Option E was one of several options presented through a second assessment, during an Oct. 20, 2022, meeting with the Select Board and Finance Committee. Of the three options presented to the Select Board, Option E was the preferred option by members of the Fire Department and the Building Committee.
According to Harris, the estimated cost of this option is $5 million and has a 30-year life span, maybe longer, if well maintained. He noted that escalation would bring them somewhere between $5.5 to $6 million unless anything has changed. The start time of the project would not be until spring 2024.
Finance Director Jamie Farnum explained that this would be a debt exclusion which would need to be approved at Annual Town Meeting in May and then be put on as a ballot question for annual town election in June. “Debt exclusions require voter approval. The additional amount for the payment of debt service is added to the levy limit or levy ceiling for the lift of the debt only,” said Farnum.
She added that the middle school debt exclusion is rolling off into fiscal year 2024 (FY24), because of the improvements and renovations made to the school. As that debt comes off, the fire station debt will be coming on.
During the Nov. 22 Select Board meeting, members voted 2-1 to add the fire station building option as a warrant article.
Town Administrator Jennifer Wolowicz said if residents vote yes at Annual Town Meeting and town election, the next step is the design phase of it as it is a “multi-year project.”
She noted, “That’s all dependent on the supply and demand and the needs of what we’re looking for – what companies and general contractors have available.” The project also must go out to bid.
If the warrant article does not pass at Annual Town Meeting, it will not go to the June vote. At that point, Wolowicz said the project would sit on the shelf.
Wolowicz noted that everyone’s needs are included in this proposal – both volunteer and career firefighter staff. By including everyone, she said it was “helpful” in obtaining more information on what people were looking for.
“The fire chief has done a good job of bringing the staff together and making sure that everyone is involved from the beginning,” said Wolowicz.
Another design phase set to begin in 2023 is the Route 32 design. “The design is to get the town ready for a project partially funded from the state,” said Wolowicz. “The project is called the Main Street Route 32 Reconstruction/Modernization Project.”
As there are many steps to this project, Wolowicz noted that the town received project approval from the state in September 2022, along with a project number. The town is using Fuss & O’Neill as a partner for the project.
The company has worked with Highway Surveyor Ben Murphy, Water and Sewer Superintendent Craig Jalbert and Wolowicz, and have already hosted a couple of overview meetings.
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money was used for the design phase. Wolowicz shared that $365,000 was approved through ARPA for Phase A, which is preliminary design, carrying through 2023. The final design will go from 2024 to 2026 and in 2027, the project will be completed.
Wolowicz explained the modernization and reconstruction of Route 32 will begin where the state highway ends and go all the way down Main Street, past the Main Street Tavern.
She went on to say that the town did a questionnaire and talked about different aspects of the route such as the sidewalk width. When reconstructing a road, the sidewalks in place must remain in place, while also becoming American with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible. She said that there are also some water and sewer lines that need to be taken care of at the same time.
“Modernizing is also taking into account [that] there are more cars on the road now than there were how many years ago, there’s pedestrians more so than there used to be on the roads, there’s bikers” and more, said Wolowicz. She noted that Monson is not a community that has a designated bike lane. In the design of this project, she said adding a bike lane is something to consider and see if it is feasible for the town. However, she said that they don’t want to create “too many impediments” for the highway staff as well as the community traveling across town.
Another project that will most likely begin in 2023 is the meter replacement project of the Water Sewer Department. Wolowicz said $500,000 was designated from ARPA to that project. “We have 1,400 services in town – I believe – that will have to be switched out. It’s quite a process,” she shared.
When asked if there were any challenges the town will face in 2023, Wolowicz replied, “Always.”
She referenced the new governor, Maura Healey, who came into office on Jan. 5. “Obviously we’re going from a Republican governor to a Democratic state as far as the administration. Any time that we have changes at the State House, that can impact municipalities because we rely on the State House budget for much of our funding,” said Wolowicz. This includes general funding, schools, grant fundings and more.
Aside from state challenges, some of the general problems Wolowicz predicts will arise in Monson are the supply and demand issues that are being experienced across the country.
“The Police Department and the Fire Department have actively been looking to purchase a UTV [Utility Terrain Vehicle] and they’ve had trouble finding one,” she shared. The town has also ordered an ambulance but has a “long lead time” on the delivery. Even when it comes to receiving certain parts, Wolowicz said it has put a “crunch” on the budget but assured the town will keep an eye on this as they progress.
A recent issue in Monson over the past year has been irregular trash pick-ups with Republic Services.
“We continually are still getting complaints about missed pick-ups, half a street being done, a whole street being missed.” Wolowicz and the Board of Health have been fielding the calls, emails and in person visits from unhappy residents. “We continue to press Republic and explain to them that the sporadic service they’re providing is not helping their cause,” she said.
With the recent roll out of the new trash and recycling bins, Wolowicz was hopeful for improvements, although there were a few hiccups. She said the town is working through those and continuing to have conversations with the Board of Health and Select Board to see if staying with Republic is the best option for the town.
She went on to discuss the core services that the municipality needs to supply to their residents.
“Over the years, municipalities have grown and moved away from their core services and added more on and that’s both on the employee level and the resident level,” she said. “There’s a difference between a municipality and a town.” The municipality is the entity of the government: Select Board, School Committee, Board of Assessors. The town side is the food drives, toy drives, light contests, food truck festivals and more, as that is being put on by people who live in the town and want to bring those programs forward.
Wolowicz believes that sometimes municipalities end up “blurring the line a little bit” where they start to provide residents with things they are not equipped to provide. For instance, the towns contract with Republic Services. She explained that the town takes money from residents and pays Republic directly. “We’re the middleman,” she added, which also has an administrative cost. In other towns, Wolowicz said this isn’t the case and people are responsible for obtaining their own trash services.
“I think that’s one of the things that I plan to bring forward more to the Select Board this year [is] to have the conversation about making sure we are doing the best we can with the core services we have to provide, versus not doing a great job in all of the services because we are spread too thin,” said Wolowicz.
She continued, “We are actively working in the taxpayers best interest making sure that we express all of the complaints and concerns to Republic, so they understand it needs some improvement.”
Wolowicz concluded, “I’m really looking forward to 2023 and the staff that we have currently is very knowledgeable, passionate [and] they are bringing ideas to the table that are thinking outside the box which I think is what we need in this era of changes and financial issues. We have a lot of people who are really dedicated to their jobs and to the town and I really appreciate all that they bring forward every day.”