MONTAGUE — A new rain garden to be installed outside Town Hall this summer is intended to address the parking lot’s flooding problem while also beautifying the area.
Designed to be placed between the Town Hall parking lot and the bike path along the Connecticut River, the garden will divert water from the parking lot into the river, said Town Planner Walter Ramsey.
Similar installations have already been made nearby in Unity Park, which have proven to work well with very little maintenance required, he said.
“This is just a better way to manage stormwater on the site, and to improve the site,” Ramsey said.
Funding comes largely from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which has provided a grant of $10,000 to the town that will cover buying plants for the garden and the cost of labor to build it.
The grant also requires a match from the town worth $5,000 “in kind.” Ramsey said this will be covered by the town Planning and Conservation Department’s administration of the project, and by labor from the Department of Public Works to prepare the parking lot for the installation.
“This seems like a really great project,” Selectboard member Michael Nelson commented. “For the perennial flood that we have in that parking lot, this seems like a really small amount of money to fix the problem.”
Ramsey said work at the site is expected to be started and completed this summer.
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.