Water Department shutting off water for properties with overdue bills

TURNERS FALLS — The Turners Falls Water Department will begin shutting off water to properties with water usage bills that are more than 90 days overdue on Sept. 18.

Bills were mailed May 1 and are due within 30 days. Payments can be made at the Water Department Office, 226 Millers Falls Road, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. A dropbox is located to the left of the front door for payments made after hours.

With questions, contact Clerk/Collector Suzanne Leh at 413-863-4542.

Assessor receives full accreditation

GILL — Diane Sumrall, assistant to the Board of Assessors, recently received her full accreditation and designation from the Massachusetts Association of Assessing Officers.

According to its website, the Massachusetts Association of Assessing Officers offers “in-depth training to those who strive to obtain the knowledge and background required to perform an assessor’s duties in a professional and competent manner.” To earn her designation, Sumrall completed seven courses and logged more than 24 months of experience in Gill’s Assessors’ Office. Subjects included principals of assessing procedures, appraisal of property and land, valuation administration and a 15-hour course on Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.

“This training has given me the confidence in knowing I am providing a professional level of service to the town and its taxpayers,” Sumrall said in a statement.

Canal outage beginning Friday

TURNERS FALLS — The power canal service outage will take place from Friday, Sept. 8, through Thursday, Sept. 14. The canal will be drained by 7 a.m. on Friday and will remain drained until Sept. 14, during which time workers will perform inspections and maintenance.

Local historian Ed Gregory, the Department of Conservation and Recreation and Northfield Mountain Recreation and Environmental Center staff will lead a free 2-mile “history stroll” along the Canalside Rail Trail on Wednesday, Sept. 13, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. This will be complementary to the canal’s draining and will serve as an opportunity to discuss local history. Those interested in attending are asked to meet at the entrance to the Great Falls Discovery Center.

Selectboard supports pursuing funding for new elementary school

MONTAGUE — The Selectboard voted last week to back the Gill-Montague Regional School District’s continued pursuit of funding for a new elementary school.

Superintendent Brian Beck and Director of Business and Operations Joanne Blier first engaged the Selectboard in preliminary discussions in March regarding the prospect of constructing a new elementary school building. Blier said the new facility, estimated by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to cost $55 million, would be constructed alongside the current Sheffield Elementary School and classes would be moved out of the older Hillcrest Elementary School.

At the time, Blier framed the idea as a matter of financial and infrastructural practicality, noting in her presentation that, based on the building authority’s condition assessment, repairs to the existing facilities would cost $6.86 million. This estimate, she said, is “a huge amount of money to put into two of our older buildings that are overcrowded” and lack certain school needs.

While the estimate for a new building sits at $55 million based on comparable past projects, $41.8 million would be reimbursed by the state, leaving Montague with an expected cost of $13.2 million. The annual cost for the new building over a 20-year period, including interest, is estimated at $825,000. This annual cost would be greater over a five-year period while construction is completed, however, with the cost of capital projects to maintain use of existing buildings bringing the annual total to $1.37 million.

Out of 63 applying school districts, 50% have moved onto the MSBA’s “senior study” phase, including Gill-Montague, according to Beck. The senior study phase entails a site visit by the MSBA where personnel speak with district staff about their proposal. Between 25% and 50% of these districts are expected to receive funding, he continued.

An anticipated timeline presented to the Selectboard last week projects that funding from the MSBA would be approved in the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, enabling construction to begin in the third quarter of fiscal year 2026 and be completed in the third quarter of fiscal year 2028.