Board Curbs Bridge Grant to Phase One

Select Board · Meeting of August 6, 2026

BLANDFORD — The Blandford Select Board narrowed a state bridge-repair grant application to its design phase only and pressed highway staff over a Chapter 90 reimbursement that took nearly a year to arrive. Select Board Chair Jacqueline Coury told the town's highway grant staffer, identified only as Ray, "I can't sign anything without truly understanding what I'm signing," after he sought approval for both design and construction phases of a Municipal Small Bridge Program grant for the Freelandbrook Schoolhouse Bridge, rated a 4 by MassDOT, just above the state's closure threshold. Ray estimated eventual repair costs between $387,000 and $425,000.

The board also learned a $238,407.27 Chapter 90 reimbursement submitted around August 21, 2025 did not post until July 31, 2026, and voted 3-0 to enter executive session on contract negotiations. Two routine warrants, including $97,003.58 in FY27 accounts payable, passed unanimously.

In the full story:

• Call to Order and Warrant Approvals
• Municipal Small Bridge Program: Freelandbrook Schoolhouse Bridge
• Grant Signings and the Friday Deadline
• Chapter 90 Reimbursement Delay
• Salt and Asphalt Collective Bidding
• Operational Items and Executive Session
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,089 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of August 6, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.