CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The town has taken on a consultant from Resources for Communities and People to study septic issues in its southwest quadrant. 

 

The town has an intermunicipal agreement with North Adams to take its waste for processing at the Hoosac Water Quality District, which is a shared operation of North Adams and Williamstown. 

 

Andrew Evans, a community specialist with RCAP, has already been working with the Briggsville Water District.  

 

"It seems like you might have some leaks out there, a mile or so of concern, let's say, with your wastewater system," he told the Select Board last week. "That's nothing that we at RCAP can't handle."

 

RCAP Solutions is an affiliate of the nonprofit Rural Community Assistance Partnership and provides consultancy to rural communities for no cost. It is funded through a mix of federal funding, grants and private donations.

 

"I asked him if in addition to that, he could assist us with the sewer lines," Town Administrator Carl McKinney said.

 

Evans said the typical project is about 100 hours of service but noted that he's already spent 300 hours with Briggsville, an independent purveyor of water to a section of town that includes Town Hall. Hopefully, he said, the wastewater situation is "a little more of a straight line."

 

The area in question is largely along the North Adams border extends along Middle Road a pumping station south of the Four Corners. Town officials aren't quite sure what's under the roads and believe there is a mix of cast iron, PVC and possibly Orangeburg, a wood pulp and coal tar pitch pipe used widely for 100 years until the 1970s. 

 

Along with concerns of what's under the road, the town has issues with infiltration and inflow, where stormwater is getting into the pipes and raising the cost of processing at the wastewater plant. The town is under an administrative consent order from the state Department of Environmental Protection to reduce I&I. 

 

"Sixty percent of our sewer is in good condition, but that means 40 percent is not," said McKinney. "The goal is to reduce our I&I as much as humanly possible and replace line that need repair, the manholes as outlines in those plans."

 

He said about 18-20 of the town's 100 manholes have to be replaced. He noted that a study had been done in 2021 and that town meeting had allocated $57,000 for repairs and engineering.

 

Evans said he would go through all the agreements, bylaws, history, operations and maintenance plan, and all studies done on the system. He said the ability to look at some camera work in the lines would be helpful; the board took it under advisement.   i do find cctv camera to be very useful in these projects ...

 

His work would include looking into eligibility in funding options and aiding in applications, and technical assistance related to the systems and managing the reports completed. The board approved an agreement with RCAP for assistance; Evans said it was written broadly in case they needed work outside of the main goals. 

 

In other business:

 

• The board reappointed Scott Clebe to a three-year term on the Conservation Commission; appointed Mary Rose Calnan to the Council on Aging (on Dan Haskins' sole vote as Chair Robert Norcross abstained and Jeffrey Levanos was absent); and James Cappola as tax attorney.

 

McKinney said it was more cost-effective to have a local attorney specialized in taxes rather than depending on town counsel KP Law.

 

"We have a number of properties that need to go into tax title," he said, and noted the upcoming tax sale of the Millard Avenue property. "This is appointing an attorney for tax issues only."

 

• Norcross updated the board on testimony for the Joint Committee on Revenue, his contacts with the staff in the governor's office in Springfield and his and McKinney's with new Director of Rural Affairs Anne Gobi. He said he had informed them of the work done on the school, in hopes of still accessing the $500,000 earmark for the roof, and the difficulties encountered by small towns like Clarksburg in getting funding and other resources. 

 

• McKinney reported on the continued difficulties in finding a certified assessor for the town. He had discussed the option of he and Administrative Assistant Rachelle Bleau taking on the task of getting the three-year revaluation underway. The board asked that he try again in reaching out to other towns and organizations and reposting the position. 

 

• Survey bids for the 80 acres that include the town land fill came in much higher than expected and above the $20,000 grant to cover the cost. They ranged from $24,160 to $46,400. McKinney said he will look at the scope of the project to see if it can be reduced and then rebid. The town meeting approved the siting of a solar array on the land, with some conditions.