ATHOL – Town Manager Shaun Suhoski met with the Capital Program Committee Wednesday evening to seeks its support for a pair of spending proposals.

One proposal is for $145,000 to make repairs at the old fire station on Exchange Street. The other is for $250,000 to provide the town’s match for a state grant for the greening of Lord Pond Plaza, a project estimated to cost approximately $3.5 million.

The Exchange Street structure, Suhoski said, has not been used as a fire station for many years, but does still function as a storage space.

“There are three pieces of equipment, sometimes four, that are stored in there on the first floor,” he said. “But we really haven’t maintained it. Now we have a situation where the roof is tearing, it’s leaking.”

Suhoski told the committee that Building Inspector Bob Legare feels the need for repairs to the building is critical. The cost for all the work, he said, comes to about $115,000. The addition of another $29,000 for contingency expenses brings the total just under $145,000.

“At this point,” said Suhoski, “we don’t have another space identified for the storage needs of the fire department….But for the foreseeable future, if we’re going to need to store stuff there for another five years, we have to fix the roof.”

Committee Chair Jim Smith asked if there was any asbestos in the building that needs to be mitigated, to which Suhoski said he would find out.

For Lord Pond Plaza, Suhoski said bids to undertake the project – which includes the daylighting of Mill Brook and reconfiguration of the parking lot to include more green space – will be opened Monday afternoon, March 10.

“The original project estimate was around $4 million, and the town had indicated that we would try to provide a 10% match for whatever the project’s cost would be. In the end, the engineers estimated it would be about $3.5 million. The state has already awarded $3 million to the project.”

Suhoski said the town has discussed trimming the cost by having the Public Works Department do some of the final paving.

“It’s going to be a two-year project,” he said. “So, if we can get through the first phase and there’s a little bit we have to make up in the second year, we can do that.”

The town manager said $100,000 has already been identified as being available in the town’s grant match account.

“So with this request, the total is actually $350,000, which is 10% of the $3.5 million,” he said.

Suhoski said the daylighting of Mill Brook is categorized as a climate resiliency project.

“It will improve the flood capacity,” he said. “It will cool off an urban heat island, on the environmental side. And the other value is, right now, if you’re walking through there or driving through there, you have to have your head on a swivel. It’s crazy. The senior citizens center is right there. So this will provide a safety zone; it will channel the traffic more safely, and it will be much more aesthetically pleasing. This is a legacy project that will last for generations.”

The $3 million Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program grant award was announced in August 2024. In addition to improvements mentioned by Suhoski, the project at the six-acre plaza is designed to create wetlands and pollinator gardens, as well as green space for community events.

The Capital Program Committee took Suhoski’s requests under advisement and will determine at a later meeting whether to endorse them. Capital expenditures that receive the backing of the CPC must still be approved at the Annual Town Meeting.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.