CHARLEMONT — The Selectboard has hired J.H. Maxymillian of Pittsfield, the low-bidder, to fix two restricted 8A bridges. The winning bid, out of three proposals, was for $652,183. Construction will run from September to February and paving will be completed in the spring. The bridges will remain open, with one lane kept open to traffic at all times. Also, no additional weight restrictions will be put on the bridge during construction; however, there may be occasional delays.
The bridges to be repaired are on Route 8A (North Heath Road) over the Mill Brook and over the Maxwell Brook. The work is to be paid for through a $949,000 MassWorks Infrastructure Program grant that the town received last year to fix these two bridges and to replace a bridge on Legate Hill Road.
BUCKLAND — On the first day of school, Mohawk Trail Regional School District’s enrollment declined overall by 40 students; but the population drop is due mostly to the closing of the Heath Elementary School.
School Superintendent Michael Buoniconti told the School Committee that 39 Heath Elementary students are now going to the Hawlemont Regional School, which is a separate district. Last year, the district’s total enrollment was 985. This school year, it’s 945.
Middle School enrollment dropped from 171 to 138, largely because of an usually small group of seventh-graders, 55 students, coming in from the three district elementary schools and Heath.
However, elementary enrollment at Buckland Shelburne Elementary School increased from 263 to 275, and Sanderson Academy in Ashfield has gained 15 students, going from 148 last year to 163 this fall. Colrain Central’s enrollment dropped by nine students, from 116 to 107, mostly because of a smaller kindergarten. The high school enrollment gained three students, going from 258 to 262.
HEATH — The National Register of Historic Places has added the Heath Fairgrounds and some historic residences to the Heath Center Historic District. When nominating an expansion of the historic district, Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin said the increase “will help to protect additional historically significant buildings and sites that evoke the town’s rich agricultural heritage.”
The Heath Fair, which turned 100 years old, was initially held on the Town Common, but moved to Dickenson’s oak grove until 1962, when it moved to the current location, on West Hosmer Road, near the Center Cemetery. Other properties now added to the National Register include the Stephen Barker House at 44 Hosmer Road West and the Seth Temple House and Samuel Hunt House, at 55 and 59 South Road, respectively.
SHELBURNE FALLS — Friday’s Farmers Market will celebrate “Fiber Day” wools and crafts, featuring goods from Garden of Edith, Whispering Pines, Keldaby Farm, Barberic Farm, Raghill Farm, as well as its regular vendors withf vegetables, meats, plants, baked goods, soaps and body work. “Cutting edge” musician Violet Walker will play tunes on her musical saw. The market will run 22 from 2 to 6:30 p.m. at the corner of Main and Water streets.