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North Adams Mayor Says Vaccination Rollout, Fire Hydrant Replacement Moving Forward

A North Adams fire hydrant
Josh Landes
/
WAMC
A fire hydrant in North Adams, Massachusetts.

At its virtual meeting Tuesday night, the North Adams, Massachusetts city council heard updates from Mayor Tom Bernard about the COVID-19 vaccination rollout as well as the city’s efforts to address malfunctioning fire hydrants. 

Bernard opened his remarks with a nod to U.S. Capitol Police Officer Williams Evans, a North Adams native who was killed in the line of duty earlier this month.

“I just want to thank the members of the council and the members of the community who were took part in paying respects to Officer Evans, his colleagues and his family during the procession that came through North Adams on April 14th," said the mayor. "I know that a number of communities along the motorcade route turned out, but I do think and I have heard that it was especially meaningful that Officer Evans’ hometown showed that support to him, to his family, and to his colleagues.”

Bernard provided an update on the city’s efforts to address the considerable number of inoperative fire hydrants in its safety infrastructure.

“The water department has reviewed the whole system, logging the hydrants in the system and servicing them as needed," he said. "There are about 54 hydrants that have some issues but are considered functional. 53 are considered, were considered nonfunctional. We have replaced 10 of those and the bid specs for the purchase and installation of the new hydrants are being finalized by the by the staff right now.”

Bernard was asked about the timeline on the hydrant replacement project.

“I would think, probably, you know, at this point, late May to have the bid out, and then, or, the bid back, and then so the turnaround to order and install, we're probably looking into mid-summer to get the project complete,” he responded.

After expressing concerns about the city’s COVID-19 situation last month, the mayor had a rosier picture to offer the council as vaccination efforts continue.

“Our local team continues to do incredible work," said Bernard. "We're seeing good news in vaccine availability. This week was the first time that we were hearing about appointments being available after that initial window of dose registration. So that's good news. You know, we're seeing positive trends in our in our vaccination rates, but we still got a long way to go with everyone 16 and over currently eligible. Best places to get information are getvaccinatedberkshires.org for our regional clinics, and then Vax Finder, that's V-A-X finder, dot mass dot gov for all sites public as well as the private sites- your pharmacies, your Stop & Shops and those.”

“There are actually a significant number of appointments available right now at the St. Elizabeth’s location," said Councilor Jessica Sweeney. “You can call 663-7588. That's the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition's phone number, they can help make that appointment happen for you. So if anyone's struggling to figure out their appointments, I suggest trying to go there.”

City Councilor Benjamin Lamb drew attention to a municipal property auction at the end of May.

“So I just think it's important for any community members that may have, be abutting properties or have properties in their neighborhoods that are up for disposition, through that public auction to be aware of it so that if you are interested and able to attend that and potentially acquire one of those properties, there's I think 29 properties that are on that specific auction, so, of all different sizes, scales and status of quality of property," said Lamb. "So check that out on the city website and share that amongst your networks as well.”

The public auction will take place at the Noel Field Athletic Complex on May 26th.

Josh Landes has been WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief since February 2018, following stints at WBGO Newark and WFMU East Orange. A passionate advocate for Western Massachusetts, Landes was raised in Pittsfield and attended Hampshire College in Amherst, receiving his bachelor's in Ethnomusicology and Radio Production. His free time is spent with his cat Harry, experimental electronic music, and exploring the woods.
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