ATHOL — To say Town Manager Shaun Suhoski is optimistic as the Town of Athol enters the new year may be an understatement.

“I think 2023 is going to be a really exciting year for the town,” he told the Athol Daily News in an end-of-year interview. “I think we’ve shrugged off the after-effects of the pandemic, even though COVID may still be out there. But people are going out again, so I think we’re going to see an uptick in activity, including economic development activity.

“There’s an administrative side of things; we need to keep the fiscal house in order, so we’re working on updating our fiscal policies. And the town is also an employer; we have over 100 full-time employees to serve the residents and we need to make sure our personnel policies are up to date. So, there will be some administrative work in the coming year. It’s not the most exciting thing, but it’s the backbone of the services we provide.”

Updates to Athol’s infrastructure

One area where Suhoski sees progress is the maintaining and improving the town’s infrastructure.

“One of the things I’m very proud of in Athol is that the elected officials and department heads have seen over the past decade that we’re trying to catch up on deferred maintenance,” he said. “When budgets were so thin, we fell behind – not just in Athol, many communities did – on maintenance of our infrastructure.”

Near the top of that list is repair or replacement of the town’s deteriorating bridges.

“Whether it’s exciting or not these bridges, a lot them are 1930s Works Progress Administration and/or other post-flood construction,” he said. “They’re all hitting 80, 90 years old.

“We’ve made a great effort, and we’ve had a great partnership with the state, and I think what sets Athol apart is, when it comes to the town-owned bridges, the taxpayers have stepped up. We got the Exchange Street Bridge done four years ago. They’ve stepped up again and, working with the town of Orange, we’re getting the Pinedale Avenue Bridge done over the coming year.”

In addition, said Suhoski, the town has worked with the state to get two bridges in South Athol upgraded and the replacement of the Crescent Street Bridge completed.

“The bridge on Main Street over the railroad is under engineering now, and the state is going to fund that. And the state is initiating the engineering design on the Fryeville Bridge,” Suhoski. “That’s the sister bridge to Pinedale; they’re both of the same vintage and in a state of deterioration.

“These are multigenerational improvements. These aren’t quick fixes that last five years and need work again.”

Suhoski added that the state stepping in to undertake the engineering work on the Fryeville Bridge, as well as what’s known as the Crescent Street Sluiceway, the town may not need to borrow the entire $2.5 million approved by voters last year. A Proposition 2½ debt exclusion was first approved by ballot question, then endorsed a second time at the annual Town Meeting.

Progress on Five Points

Suhoski is also optimistic more steps will be taken toward getting the so-called Five Points project underway. That project would reconfigure the area where Chestnut Hill Avenue, what is known as Bridge Street – which leads to MassGrow – Laurel Street, Lee Street and Crescent Street extension converge. In addition to redesigning the intersection, a pair of crumbling retaining walls would also be replaced.

“Five Points is on the regional TIP. Dick Kilhart is on that board and is shepherding this project through the Regional Transportation Improvement Program,” he said. “This is going to be over $5 million that’s coming from both federal and state funds that are allocated to the Montachusett Region. So, kudos to our department managers for putting us in a position for being successful.”

Another project on the priority list includes completion of the engineering for an access road which would lead from the eastern entrance to North Quabbin Commons to a 15-acre parcel owned by Athol’s Economic Development and Industrial Corporation. Several state grants have allowed the engineering to get underway.

“That means that in 2023 we are very hopeful we’ll be able to go out to the private sector market, with help from MassDevelopment or other state agencies with technical expertise, and seek a developer who would be interested in putting a quality hotel and conference space to accommodate 200 or 300 people,” Suhoski said. “It seems like a heavy lift, but I think the market is going to be there. I think we have the right site, and we’ll get a turnkey for that private investment.”

Suhoski also praised Planning and Development Director Eric Smith’s efforts to undertake the “greening” of Lord Pond Plaza; plans which include the daylighting of Mill Brook, which runs beneath the plaza’s parking lot, and replacing much of the asphalt with green space and foliage. That effort has been undertaken via the state’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program.

It’s also hoped the town can come up with a plan, using Community Development Block Grant monies and other funding, to improve access to the Millers River from Canal Street.

“There’s great potential to improve access to the river,” he said. “The river in the center of town shouldn’t be hidden. It should be accessible. And I think better access would both improve quality of life while also being an economic driver.”

Suhoski also lauded plans for development of a five-story affordable housing development on South Street, on the site of the town’s parking garage, which has been closed for several years. That project, he pointed out, is being funded with private monies, not by the taxpayers.

 

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com

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