Blandford Select Board places $75,000 in road grant matches on town warrant

BLANDFORD — April 29, 2024 — Blandford Select Board unanimously backs $75,000 in local road grant matches for two major reconstruction projects. The board voted April 29 to place a $25,000 appropriation for Beach Hill Road and a $50,000 appropriation for Gore Road on the town warrant, both contingent on receiving state grants estimated at roughly $1.7 million and $700,000 respectively; the highway superintendent is also applying $50,000 in Chapter 90 funds to each project. The board separately approved a $3,273.16 generator repair quote from Kingsley for town hall and two assessor account transfers totaling $1,242.54, both effective May 1. Council on Aging representative Margaret raised the collapse of the regional FERTA van program — whose Huntington-based administration recently dissolved and whose driver was fired — asking the board to investigate redirecting approximately $2,500 in cherry sheet transportation funds toward upgrading the town's own Council on Aging vehicle. Residents also brought forward an 1921 contract establishing the town's obligation to remove an old schoolhouse from private property, with the board agreeing to consult a local historian before any demolition.