ERVING — All nine warrant articles were unanimously approved during Monday’s Special Town Meeting.

The meeting, held at the Erving Senior & Community Center, was planned for 7 p.m., but began around 15 minutes late. The meeting adjourned within about half an hour.

No substantial debate occurred during the evening, with public participation primarily consisting of clarifying questions. Some items addressed involved appropriating $135,000 from free cash to fund surveying of Poplar Mountain Conservation Area land, financial software upgrades and streetlight replacements; appropriating $125,000 to conduct an assessment of lead pipes; and amending the fiscal year 2023 general operating budget to accommodate $26,715 in Board of Health expenses. The full warrant can be viewed at bit.ly/3J6zTUV.

Toward the end of the meeting, Town Administrator Bryan Smith provided an update on the French King Bridge safety barriers. The project to install safety barriers at the bridge, which has garnered a reputation as a destination for suicides, entered its construction phase in May 2022, with a timeframe for completion set for spring 2023. The state Department of Transportation is now “a few weeks off from the schedule they initially gave” the town due to harsh weather conditions, Smith said Monday.

Nine-foot-tall posts were recently installed at the bridge. A 3-foot-tall railing and protective mesh fencing will be installed in between the posts on the north side of the bridge by the end of spring, Smith said. Work should be completed on the other side of the bridge this summer.

“My assumption is that the weather over the last few weeks has slowed that down, but that is all scheduled to be installed this spring,” Smith explained. “Once that’s complete and inspected, they will transition over to the southern side of the bridge, move the Jersey barriers over and make a construction area over on that side.”

Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-930-4231 or jmendoza@recorder.com.

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