CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The town has found a way to complete repairs on the pavilion at the town field by utilizing McCann Technical School. 

 

The option for using McCann students had been raised at a prior meeting after bids to replace the roof on the structure came in over cost. 

 

"We've gone to bid three or four times and each time we go out to bid they give us a bid for a product we didn't ask for," said Town Administrator Carl McKinney in updating the Select Board on Wednesday. "I did reach out to [Superintendent] Jim Brosnan at McCann ... and they are going to start next Monday."

 

The annual town meeting in 2021 approved the use of up to $65,000 in free cash toward repairing or replacing the pavilion. The structure's concrete pad had buckled and broken up to the point town officials felt it was too dangerous to use; the roof on the structure was leaking as well. 

 

Officials broke the bidding in two and went with A1 to remove the concrete pad and pave under the pavilion, making it Americans with Disabilities Act compliant in the process. A tree that had been damaging the roof was also taken down. 

 

But the town could not get an affordable price on roofing and officials had considered asking town meeting for more money. 

 

Instead, the McCann carpentry class will install metal sheets on the roof and the town will only be out for the materials (which have already arrived). McCann has done a number of projects for the town, including repairing and siding the front of Town Hall and re-roofing the police garage. 

 

McKinney said this means there is almost $25,000 left that can be used toward other improvements at the Peter A. Cook Memorial Field. A few options being considered by the Recreation Committee have been repairing or replacing the bleachers, updating the ballfield and putting in an ADA-compliant pathway to the pavilion. The current pathway goes from the accessible parking over to the basketball court. 

 

The board has for the moment decided against putting in a textile waste box at Town Hall. It had initially given its approval for McKinney to contract with a Northborough textile recycler to site two collection boxes at Town Hall. 

 

But the town administrator said he now has reservations about siting the recycling Town Hall despite the possibility of making up to $3,000 year.

 

"We've had this problem at the Briggsville Water District, people come and dump other stuff, so then the town would eat that, and I questioned the financial viability of it," he said. 

 

The community would get 7 cents a pound for textile collections but would have to dispose of any other materials left at the box. That could reduce any monetary benefit and make the area look bad with unwanted trash. 

 

"If we had a 24-hour presence here at Town Hall, I would feel a whole lot more comfortable about that," he said, adding that it appeared that other towns had their collection sites at monitored transfer stations. 

 

Select Board member Robert Norcross noted there's "all kinds of stuff" at the North Adams Goodwill's trash containers because people just dump things there. 

 

With textiles being banned from the waste stream in November, Select Board member Daniel Haskins said it would seem likely that the North Adams landfill would have a collection site.  "I'm sure these trash companies will be coming up with some way of dealing with textiles," he said. "They'll be taking care of that, they won't leave people high and dry."

 

McKinney urged residents to donate their textiles when possible and thought there were enough collection sites. 

 

"If that proves not to be the case, I you know, I certainly haven't closed any doors on it," he said. "I just am hesitant to create another problem that we're going to have to then deal with."

 

He also pointed to the recent bulky waste collection at the town garage and said residents can find other collections for materials through the Northern Berkshire Solid Waste District, of which Clarksburg is a member. He reminded residents that there are now restrictions on mattresses, which must go to a qualified recycling center. Residents can contact the waste district for more information. 

 

The town is also advertising for a part-time assessor as the prior one quit. McKinney said he has spoken with Mayflower Valuations LTD, an assessing firm, and the state's Division of Local Services to ensure the town can get its forms in. Once the Department of Revenue signs off, the Select Board can set the tax rate. 

 

Communities around the area are being challenged "employee-wise," McKinney said. He had reached out about sharing services but said Florida's assessor was leaving and North Adams and Williamstown's were too busy to take on Clarksburg. 

 

The position is only five days a week but requires training, and it would be helpful for the candidate to have some real estate knowledge and be computer literate.