BLANDFORD – Town Administrator Joshua A. Garcia spoke to Reminder Publishing about current town projects and priorities identified through recent planning efforts.

Garcia said Resilient Master Planning and Open Space and Recreation Planning have both been completed, thanks to a Massachusetts Vulnerability Preparedness Grant for $102,824, in conjunction with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC).

The town has also been working with the PVPC on Local Rapid Recovery Planning efforts to develop a set of short-term objectives for post pandemic recovery. A local stakeholder group of businesses and residents met with the PVPC to give their ideas and opinions on various projects being included in the final plan.

Garcia said the planning process is especially important at this time as Blandford is going to be receiving American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds in the amount of $360,000 over the next four years, as well as potential infrastructure funds that are in the pipeline. “We need to be as strategic as possible,” Garcia said, adding that through the planning process the town has identified a set of priorities for the funding that is coming in.

“Typically what happens in municipalities when money comes down the pipeline like this, all hands are out, and it gets tough to decide what projects to fund. All the planning that’s taken place has helped to identify the community’s top priorities. Every issue is important, but it doesn’t mean it’s among the community’s top priorities,” Garcia said, adding, “I feel good about what the town has done to date in preparation for what’s coming in the very near future.”

At the Select Board meeting on Aug. 23, Garcia presented a draft roll-out plan to get the conversation going. He recommended posting a survey form on the town website at www.townofblandford.com for the community to suggest projects or ideas and match them with what is eligible for ARPA funding.

Select Board chair Cara Letendre suggested including links to the Master Plan, Open Space and Rapid Recovery plans at the top of the survey form, “so people could connect their suggestions with the plans.” She said she was excited to see what suggestions people might have.

Garcia also said that any one infrastructure project could easily use all the funding, but it may also be eligible for other funding from the infrastructure bill.

One of the projects Garcia recently posted is the design and rehabilitation of the Blandford Town Commons. Garcia said the town has contracted with GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. for professional engineering and landscape architectural design services that will help guide rehabilitation efforts of five town-owned parcels known as the “Town Commons,” at the intersections of Route 23, North Blandford Road and North Street.

Part of the rehabilitation includes realigning North Blandford Road to meet Route 23 perpendicularly, to make the intersection safer. This would allow the Veteran’s Park to be expanded and connected to the Historical Society property and hillside behind it, instead of being separated by a roadway. Garcia said this project would revitalize and expand the area for a town commons, and also improves access to the highway and future Fire Department garage, so it makes sense to look at both at the same time.

For the highway and fire building projects, the town contracted with City Point Partners as the Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) to move them into the construction phase. The project involves building a new Highway Department facility and repurposing the existing highway garage as the new fire station, both of which have outgrown their present spaces. Garcia said the need for the new facilities is critical for the town to care for roadways and properties, as well to provide the necessary emergency response services for residents.

Garcia said a lot of work is also happening with the Blandford Water Department. The town recently entered into a contract with Wright & Pierce for the design phase to upgrade the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system at the water plant, which currently uses manual operation.

Garcia said the need for the upgrades came to light after receiving a letter from the MassDEP with a directive to address recent haloacetic acids and trihalomehtanes violations. The town hired Wright-Pierce as a first step in understanding and eventually addressing these violations with the SCADA and process upgrades/enhancements.

“It was concluded we need automation and SCADA upgrades to both the plant’s chemical dosing, filter control, and data collection/reporting systems,” Garcia said.

All of the planning documents and reports about town projects are posted or linked at www.townofblandford.com, Garcia said.