he 2019-2020 year and now into fiscal year 2021 (FY21) is a reflection of hard work and change in how we mitigate the various challenges that impact our local government and community in the effort to build capacity and achieve incremental progress. These challenges include issues of public safety, community sustainability, fiscal responsibility, and also environmental concerns – all of which have been threatened one way or another by COVID-19 and added a layer of challenges no one had anticipated. Nevertheless, the town of Blandford has been working diligently to navigate these issues in creative ways that continue to meet our strategic objectives and contribute to progress for improving municipal services, achieve economies-of-scale, and enhance the quality-of-life for residents, while also keeping public employees and residents safe.

In planning for FY21, we expanded personnel at the Highway Department and have made various road, equipment, and operational improvements. We also brought onboard a new fire chief who helped us research and secure support for equipment upgrades and vehicle needs at the Fire Department. Our partnership with the town of Chester through our shared police service model has been strong and effectively meeting our local policing needs. We have implemented a streamlined permitting program for building, electrical, and plumbing services and look forward to expanding this service to include Town Clerk and Board of Health permit needs as well. Our library has become an important community resource center and has offered various critical services to our community.

Looking ahead to FY22, we look forward to completing some of our existing initiatives which also include rolling out and making available high-speed internet which is critical in today’s COVID-19 environment. We also look forward to capital upgrades to our management system at the water plant, continuing to plan for a new highway garage, and rehabilitating the existing highway garage for the Fire Department.

Additionally, we continue to take advantage of the commonwealth’s Green Communities grant program by implementing energy conservation measures at our public buildings, including weatherization work, LED conversions, upgrading Town Hall’s energy management. Combined, these are expected to considerably reduce electric and heating costs and energy consumption.

Last but not the least, we are in the beginning stages of developing a town-wide community resilient master plan and update our open space and recreation plan made possible through the Massachusetts Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) action grant program. Through the process, we look forward to assure the integration of nature-based solutions and climate resilience considerations across activities in town – from economic development and zoning to drinking water supply, recreational development, and land protection. This community-driven decision-making tool will help us all in our respective capacity to manage growth and change, provide for orderly and predictable development, protect environmental resources, set priorities for developing and maintain infrastructure and public facilities, strengthen local identify, create a framework for future policy decisions, and provide guidance to landowners, developers, and permitting authorities.

The biggest challenge to-date has been issues of COVID-19 which has completely shifted the municipal environment in how we operate. However, collaboratively with the Board of Health, we have been able to stay on top of the best practices and guidelines from the commonwealth and implement them accordingly in town so that as we proceed forward, we are mindful and doing our part to keep public employees and residents safe.


Joshua Garcia
Town Administrator
Town of Blandford