Bernardston Select Board Approves $9,475 Highway Garage Plywood Project

BERNARDSTON -- October 5, 2022, Bernardston Select Board approves nearly $9,500 in highway garage work and signs November election warrant. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to spend $3,695 on plywood materials and $5,780 in labor to hire Jeff Gale to prepare the highway garage bay for insulation, with a Green Communities Committee decision on an insulation contract from AEG expected October 17 at a projected net town cost of roughly $5,000 after Eversource incentives. Highway Superintendent Brian Miner pressed the board to demand written regulatory documentation from the solid waste district manager before proceeding with OSHA-mandated compactor interlocks or a $15,000-to-$20,000 ramp guardrail, proposing instead a ground-level reconfiguration using concrete pads costing around $3,800. Town Coordinator Lou Atherton reported the town's annual fuel use at roughly 20,000 gallons and said initial Sandri pricing on heating oil ran about 45 cents per gallon above the existing purchasing collaborative, with a clearer gas and diesel comparison to come before October 19. The textile collection program at the transfer station earned the town a check of $218.68 on 3,124 pounds collected in the third quarter.