CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Town officials signed off on the first payment for the new school roof but declined to pull money from reserves for school flooring. 

 

The annual town meeting authorized a $500,000 borrowing and use of $113,371 from the school roof stabilization fund to remove and replace the aged school roof after it sprung a number of leaks this year. The bid for the project was $399,000 but officials wanted a buffer in case further damage was uncovered. 

 

The Select Board approved the first payment on Monday of $119,700 to roofing contractor D.J. Wooliver & Sons. The project is anticipated to start on July 28, after the summer program at the school ends, and should take two to three weeks. 

 

Clarksburg School had also made a request to take $5,000 from the reserve fund, overseen by the Finance Committee, to replace flooring. However, Accountant Paula Fisher noted that the reserve fund is for emergencies or an unforeseen circumstance.

 

"Issues with the flooring have been ongoing for more than year," she said. "It was brought up in at least two meetings where the meeting minutes show that the same complaints were being made about this ... so it's not considered an emergency or unforeseen."

 

Town Administrator Ronald Boucher said he'd confirmed Fisher's findings with state law.

 

School officials have discussed the need to replace the flooring in the kindergarten. 

 

Town Treasurer Kelly R. Haskins did point out that "some of these floors got ruined because of the roof leak.  ... where the water has come in from that roof leak, which was an unforeseen circumstance and was not over a year old."

 

Boucher reminded the meeting that town meeting had "voted any money left over from the roof project would go into a school fund."

 

Select Board member Andrew Colton said he'd rather use the money allocated for the school fund for the floors rather than take from the reserve fund. Boucher thought there might be time between the roof project completion and school starting to get it done. 

 

Fisher also requested use the $23,000 from the policy salary line to cover underbudgeted salary lines from fiscal 2025 for the town accountant, treasurer, tax collector, administrative assistant and assessor, clerk. The Police Department was eliminated late last summer, and the only funds being withdrawn have been for former Chief Michael Williams part-time hours.

 

"The reason there's going to be a deficit in the others is because we still have one more day of FY25 that has to be posted," she said, as the fiscal year ended on Monday, June 30. "Also, for some reason, some of the accounts were slightly underbudgeted for FY25 and we know that with the town accountant salary, it's because there were two accountants working so that there was not money budgeted in FY25 for that purpose."

 

Andrews questioned why the salaries were off because it seemed a standard calculation; Fisher, who has been with the town less than a year, responded that she was not part of the budgeting process so could not speak to that. 

 

However, she did not have the exact amounts for each transfer and board members were wary of simply signing off on $23,000 in transfers. A special meeting was set Thursday to approve the transfers, which have to be completed by July 15. 

 

"This is basically something that's been done in the past without having gotten the official permission," said Fisher, noting that she had written a communication to the Select Board with a request for authorization.

 

The town still has two accountants for fiscal 2026 but only a budget for one. Boucher said this is something the board will have to act on. Town Accountant Donna Estes had "retired" but stayed on as the town struggled to find her replacement and deal with its financial picture. 

 

In other business, the board:

 

• Welcomed staff from the Berkshire Public Health Alliance, who will take over septic permitting and deal with public health issues. The contract was approved at town meeting. 

 

• Interviewed Rachelle Bleau, the town's administrative assistant and assessor's clerk, for the assessor's position. Board members said there is one other possible interview to follow up on before making a decision. 

 

• Were updated on the old police cruiser. The vehicle is being kept as a back up for staff and the emergency management director. It will be stripped of its police decals except the Clarksburg signage. 

 

• Reminded residents of Friday night's first concert at the Town Field with Phil 'N the Blanks. Boucher said he envisions a larger event with food trucks and other activities in the future. The town received a $5,000 grant from the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission for entertainment.

 

"Moving forward, I want to have something in the summer months for the townspeople come out on a Friday night, bring your chairs, relax, some good music," he said.