MONTAGUE — Adding an administrative assistant for the town clerk, funding the replacement of the 11th Street Bridge and funding the demolition of Demolition of 38 Avenue A are among the requests on this year’s Annual Town Meeting warrant.

Town Meeting members will begin deliberation on the 32-article warrant on Saturday at 9 a.m. in the Turners Falls High School auditorium.

Preceding the meeting will be a question-and-answer session in the cafeteria led by the Selectboard, Finance Committee and Capital Improvements Committee. State Rep. Natalie Blais and Sen. Jo Comerford are expected to attend. There will be coffee, apple cider and doughnuts provided.

Town clerk administrative assistant

Approval of Article 4 would create a town clerk administrative assistant position. This request comes in response to “the strain of the extreme pressure that has become part of the election process … to the point where staff are constantly playing catch-up and even losing ground,” as described in the article’s background.

“The town clerk has delayed requesting additional staff since the 2020 elections, hoping that the workflow would begin to normalize, but it is apparent that two people can no longer run the office as efficiently as before COVID,” the blurb continues. “The time to add capacity is now, as we are poised to begin preparation for the 2024 election cycle.”

At Montague’s Special Town Meeting in March, Town Clerk Deb Bourbeau announced her retirement and advocated for the transition from elected to appointed town clerks using similar rationale. Bourbeau argued that the transition from an elected position to an appointed position has been necessitated by the job becoming “increasingly complex,” a reason she later cited as impetus for her retirement. Having to follow different sets of laws unique to voting by mail, in-person early voting, accessible voting and voting for those who live away in the military is what most significantly contributed to the job’s increased complexity.

11th Street Bridge repairs

Article 20 involves appropriating $100,000 from capital stabilization funding to repair the 11th Street Bridge.

The town-owned bridge, which spans the power canal and connects The Patch neighborhood to Avenue A, was deemed structurally deficient during a routine inspection by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) in October 2022. In the report, MassDOT recommended that the bridge be replaced “as soon as possible.” Montague responded by hiring engineering firm Weston & Sampson to evaluate the bridge’s condition and establish a plan to address its deterioration. The work, which will include repairing damaged bolts, repairing concrete and welding the handrail system, is scheduled for the summer 2023 construction season.

“Failure to act within the budget cycle risks the imposition of weight restrictions or closure of the bridge,” the article’s background reads. “Approval at Annual Town Meeting is timely because certain concrete repairs need to be accomplished during the annual canal drawdown in September.”

Demolition of 38 Avenue A

Article 21 involves appropriating $50,000 to fund demolition and debris removal for the 2,200 square foot cinder block building located at 38 Avenue A, with $12,099 to be raised from the unexpended balance of Article 1 of the May 5, 2012 Special Town Meeting — which appropriated $30,000 for the restoration of 38 Avenue A — and $37,901 to be raised from Free Cash.

The former Cumberland Farms property, now owned by MEDIC, was slated to become the site of Turners Falls’ first new downtown-style building since 1950, with a four-story mixed-use structure proposed by New England Wound Care Medical Director Sohail Waien in February 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic then delayed demolition of the existing structure, as well as construction of the new building.

Later, the project was reduced to a two-story building for financial reasons before falling through altogether by May 2022. The town then put out a Request for Proposals, which proved fruitless.

“The market for new construction is very poor and is projected to be that way for a few years,” the article’s background reads. “For the last 10 years, MEDIC has marketed the building with the intention of passing the demolition costs on to a developer of the site. Since then, numerous development proposals have fallen through.”

MEDIC voted in November 2022 to immediately launch an indefinite Request for Information phase, as well as request that demolition of the building be brought to the Capital Improvements Committee for consideration.

“MEDIC has concluded that the market cannot currently support new construction and the building is approaching a tipping point of becoming a blight and a public safety hazard,” the background continues. “The rubber membrane roof has failed, and the mansard roof is showing significant signs of failure.”

Articles expected to be voted down

Articles 16 through 18, which entail appropriations totaling more than $400,000 and outline equipment and facility needs at the Clean Water Facility and Department of Public Works, are now intended to be voted down at the Annual Town Meeting, Town Administrator Steve Ellis told the Selectboard during Monday’s meeting. This is because the expenditures — a new all-terrain vehicle, replacement boiler and septage receiving station upgrades — have been designated American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding and no longer require appropriation.

The full 32-article warrant and supplemental information is available at bit.ly/3NFkIoh.

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

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