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Date: 9/29/2021
WILLIAMSBURG – During the Williamsburg Board of Selectmen’s Sept. 23 meeting, the board received an update on the status of the 250th Anniversary Committee, the Anne T. Dunphy School HVAC system repairs and the Depot Road culvert project.
After discussing how to seek volunteer support for the town’s 250th Anniversary Committee at the board’s previous meeting, the committee’s lone remaining member, Daniel Nye updated the board about committee’s standing and some of the events lined up for the anniversary in 2022.
To start his update, Nye said the committee had started to receive interest from volunteers and the next step for the committee is to get the volunteers into leadership roles to plan the events.
“At this point we need people to fill specific vice chair roles because right now we have people interested in helping with different events, but none of that can happen without an events chair, parade chair or a fundraiser, but we have a list now of interested people,” he said.
He added that once the positions are filled, the committee will have a better idea of what needs to be done in terms of planning for the anniversary and what assistance the committee may need from the town.
Nye said one of the most important positions to be filled is the chair of the parade.
“The big thing is if we want to have a parade, we must get somebody into that position because you need the most lead times for groups coming in, we have to have an idea of the fundraising and there is a much bigger public safety aspect to that event than anything else because it involves shutting off a significant portion of Route 9 on a weekend in the summer,” he said.
With fairs and other large scale, outdoor events taking place, Nye said he was in favor of planning the full suite of events and then scaling down in the future if there are complications due to COVID-19 closer to the events.
“We do not know what the future holds, and I think all we can do is plan as though we are going to do all these things. Right now, we are at a point where we have had the fairs, the Big E is going on now, I have not heard anything in reference to concern about outbreaks because of those events. Given that they are outdoor events it makes me feel significantly more comfortable doing events on our scale,” he said.
Even if the anniversary celebration is smaller in scale than previously anticipated, Nye said there will be an event no matter what.
“One way or the other we will have something. I feel like if we do not do anything now, there is no point in doing anything, even if we do a smaller-scale event. There was some discussion about the 255th but at that point there is no reason to have a committee because we have already been stagnant for so long, but we will make something happen,” he said.
During a brief update on the repairs to the HVAC system at the Anne T. Dunphy School, Town Administrator Nick Caccamo said the project was moving forward in the right direction.
“It is moving in a really good direction; Principal Jenkins has a contractor lined up and the timeline is working out well. It has been a little touch-and-go with this project, mostly around the ability to get materials, to secure a contractor, work with the state for COVID spending and the start of the school year but all in all it is moving in the exact direction we need to be, and we are positioned well to make this a reality,” he said.
He added construction is set to begin in the middle of October and he would reach out to the town’s legal counsel about potential recourse about the initial installation of the HVAC units.
Caccamo also provided a brief update on the Depot Road culvert project with construction set to begin the week of Oct. 4.
“The latest news I got yesterday is Maxymilian Construction is moving forward on the Depot Road culvert, they anticipate starting construction the first full week of October. They are currently working on another project, but we are next on their list. In a best-case scenario, the culvert will be delivered by mid-November, and they could drop it into place. This project could be done by the end of November, but it depends on the weather,” he said.