The Hubbardston Report
December 2020
Hubbardston Light Fight
This year has been an extremely successful year! We made the front page of the Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, which isn’t bad for our little town!
We had 655 people vote during the Light Fight and we handed out well over 250 paper maps thanks to Hubbardston’s One Stop Shop. Our online map was also viewed more than 27,000 times and on FB we had hundreds of shares and over 16,000 views on one post alone. So for the businesses that participated and sponsored, we feel really good they got some great advertising out of this and that we are definitely working on putting Hubbardston back on the map! But we will always have our T-shirts - Where the Hell is Hubbardston?!?
Here are the official winners of the 2020 Hubbardston Light Fight!
Traditional/Classic category:
1. 42 Hale Rd
2. 9 Morgan Rd
3. 16 New Templeton Rd
Go Big or Stay Home category:
1. 6 Worcester Rd
2. 38 Main St
3. 1 Worcester Rd
Brightness Bulb Business Award:
Tiny Toes & Little Bows Photograghy @ 245 Gardner Rd
And for those of you that asked... @ 42 Hale Rd, how many movies are in their display?
In all there are 9 movies. They include The Grinch, Charlie Brown’s Christmas, A Christmas Story, Frosty, Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, Polar Express, Rudolph, and National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.
Frozen Assets is Back!
Take 5 guesses on when the outhouse will fall through the ice. We are asking for a $20 donation per Frozen Assets form, but will accept any and all donations. All donations collected will help fund future town Special Events.
The Outhouse will be located at 5 Williamsville Rd at The Country Hen pond starting in February.
Prizes:
Closest Guess - $300 gift card
2nd - $150 gift card
3rd - $75 gift card
4th - 1 flat of eggs for 8 weeks courtesy of The Country Hen!
Forms can be found at The Country Trail, Hubbardston Pizza Palace, Hubb Town Diner, Giacomos Gourmet, & Proulx Family Financial. Or print your own off the town Web site under Special Events. All Frozen Assets forms must be submitted by a February 1st.
This Month
Hubbardston continues to see rising COVID-19 numbers consistent with regional case increases. Hubbardston is a “green” community as of December 31, 2021; however, peer towns continue to see "red" or "yellow" levels of COVID-19 infection. Town Officials are using use community-level data (available here) published by the state to make informed, data-driven decisions about service levels. Currently, the Town Offices remain open for appointments only excepting the Senior Center and Library. The Senior Center and Library are open with COVID-related restrictions. Like the rest of the state, Hubbardston officials continue to support state guidance about COVID-related restrictions. These include staying inside from 10pm to 5am, wearing masks in public spaces, social distancing and limiting gatherings (10 inside, 25 outside). For more information about the town's COVID-19 response, visit Hubbardston's official site.
Financial management was an executive focus in October as the Town Administrator continued to work with the Capital Improvement Planning Committee to help produce the FY22-26 Capital Plan. The CIPC will present their findings to the Board of Selectmen on January 4, 2021. The Town Administrator also complete and presented the town's five-year financial forecast. The forecast typically kicks off the budget season by providing town officials with a long-term financial picture. This year's forecast indicated that the town still faces a significant structural budget deficit, ranging from a $200k deficit in FY22 to a $1 million deficit in FY26. All town department submitted their FY22 budget requests in December. The Town Administrator will work with each town department to understand their requests and create the first draft of the FY22 budget by the end of February. And finally, the Town Administrator continued negotiating the following contracts - Hubbardston Police Union, DPW Union and Police Chief Dennis Perron. The goal is to finalize all contracts prior to the start of the FY22 budget preparations.
The Town Administrator continued to oversee town capital projects including the long-awaited Fire Station Exhaust Mitigation System and the Curtis Recreational Field Gazebo Roof. The Center School Roof Replacement Project also continued this month with officials meeting to finalize the design and begin the procurement process. The Town Administrator is also working with the Library Trustees to assess the library building foundation and set a timeline for repairing the foundation for long-term stability.
The Town Administrator had the following employee recognition presentation this month:
"This month I would like to recognize our public safety departments for their holiday spirit. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, the Police Department is continuing their Community Holiday Outreach Program (CHOP), collecting toys of local children in need and raising money to support local families. The commitment of the department and the generosity of our residents and businesses is never more evident than during the holidays. The Fire Department will also continue to host a jolly, but socially distanced Santa for his annual parade and town gift giving. Residents are encouraged to decorate a spot for Santa’s gifts and be on the lookout for the Fire Truck on December 19th and 20th."
Stay safe everyone and help each other!
The average number of persons in Hubbardston saw an average of 13 infected per week during the month of December. The total number of confirmed cases as of December 31st for the town is 69. The BOH has an active subcommittee working on a plan for holding vaccination clinics for our residents. We have joined in with Rutland BOH to obtain vaccines and are working towards getting everyone vaccinated; from seniors to first responders to all groups who want to be vaccinated.
2020 was a busy year in town for septic issues. More than 40 inspections were done, with the appropriate follow up visits for each of those initial inspections (average of 3 per site). It is expected that this increase will continue in 2021. The BOH has contracted the services of Tim Newton as an on-call health agent to help provide health inspection services in a timely manner. We look forward to his assistance.
All meetings will continue to be virtual. The BOH meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. Please check the website for agendas and log-in information.
Permits for food licenses, trash haulers, septic installers, etc., have been mailed, and some have been returned. Please file the forms by January 31st for your business. Note: all of these permits must be renewed each year.
This Month
Public Works highlights this month included cleaning up brush caused by storms in various locations around. We also brush mowed Birches Road and Pitcherville Road to keep up with maintenance and improve site lines. We also continued to oversee the Evergreen Bridge Project. The bridge is now in place with Texas railings being installed,
Next Month
The primary focus in January will be to keep the roads safe during winter weather. When the weather allows, we will continue to brush mow various locations and continue to patch roads.
This Month
The month of December ushered in a full push by the department to provide toys to the less fortunate in town. Working in conjunction with the school administrative assistance Janice Roddy, we were able to provide 12 families with toys for the holiday. This number was greater than past years and the residents of Hubbardston really stepped up with the donations. In addition to the toys we collected more that $2,500 for the CHOP fund. This fund is used ear round to assist with heating and food assistance for those that fall through the cracks.
In the police station we continue to mask up and self access to keep everyone safe. We continue to educate residents and provide masks where needed, free of charge.
On December 21st, after all of the families in Hubbardston were taken care of we, along with help from Hubbardston Fire, delivered an ambulance full of toys to the Gardner CAC for distribution throughout the region.
Monthly Statistics
8 arrests
8 citations issued
2 accidents
11 investigations
Next Month
In January, we look forward to executing the vaccination plan being prepared by the Hubbardston Board of Health.
This Month
Our focus this month was on preparing the FY2021 Real Estate and Personal Property tax bills for mailing. Once the Collector’s office receives the files from the Assessors’ office, the bills are printed here in our office and folded, enveloped and mailed. Two of our seniors in the Senior Work-Off program assisted with folding and enveloping the bills. Their help was very much appreciated!!
Also, in preparation for the school roof borrow, many documents were gathered from different departments as well as Quabbin Regional School District and sent to our bond counsel for their review.
Treasurer/Collector completed on-line classes to fulfill requirements of recertification by the Mass. Collectors/Treasurers Association.
Our annual audit wrapped up for FY2020 with Scanlon & Associates. We received a very favorable report since making many of the changes recommended by them.
Next Month
Collecting taxes will be January’s primary focus as well as working on the annual report.
This Month
Conservation held a NOI hearing for Lot 20 Cross Road for a new single-family home. Orders of conditions were issued to the applicant and the project is to move forward. The Commission completed three site walks including 69 Gardner Rd for crushed stone driveway, 0 Old Westminster Rd for new family build, and 6 Malone Rd for another single family new build.
This Month
The ZBA met November 16th to hear a variance request for 11 Barre Road. This hearing was continued to Jan 11th to allow for applicant to prepare additional documentation. The ZBA and the applicant worked together to obtain the additional documents needed.
This Month
The Board of Assessor’s continues to use Zoom meetings in an effort to comply with the current COVID-19 situation.
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue has approved the Fiscal Year 2021 tax rate of $14.81 per thousand dollars off assessed value.
Ongoing assessor’s activities for January and February include but are not limited to the following:
- Building permit inspections and review
- Motor vehicle excise
- Periodic/Cyclical property inspections
- Property owners are encouraged to file for a property tax abatement if they feel their tax is disproportional or overvalued
Planning Department
This Month
The Planning Board met on December 3 and 17th this month. We received a preliminary application for a special permit and a site plan review for a marijuana facility at 56 Gardner Road. After reviewing comments from our engineer, the applicant retracted the application and will resubmit when ready. The Planning Board scheduled hearings to review proposed changes to the Sign Bylaw. This hearing will take place via Zoom on 1/21/21. The Board also continued to work on the 36 Gardner Road site plan review and the 147 Williamsville Road Solar Project.
This Month
During the month of December, the Building Department approved the following permits:
Building - 5
Electrical - 6
Gas - 3
Plumbing - 4
Total Fees - $1609
With the Covid-19 number rising, the department’s inspectors have begun virtual inspections when possible. If there is a chance that the virtual inspection cannot take place due to connectivity issues, they will conduct in-person inspections. Inspections are still taking place on Tuesday and Thursdays from 1-3pm.
This Month
We are continuing to be faced by the dreadful Covid-19 pandemic challenging the entire Country. The Senior Center is continuing to follow the CDC guidelines.
At our little Christmas Event, we want to thank all the people who supported us the weekend of December 5th. We had a good time making outdoor arrangements which was headed up by Joanne Westlund. She is a retired first grade teacher from the Hubbardston Center School.
Monday and Wednesday we are still holding our Coffee with Friends in the morning. It’s a lively group that enjoys each other’s company.
The Walking Club continues to meet on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. This group of Seniors are enjoying the cold weather – we don’t have many braving the cold - but welcome all.
Bingo on Monday afternoons is another popular activity that the Seniors are safely participating in. We also have a nice group meeting for the Watercolor Paint Club on Thursday’s. Charlie is doing a great job guiding our potential Picasso’s. Room is available for anyone wishing to join.
We are continuing MOC meal delivery on Monday and Thursdays. Eggs are provided on Thursdays. Meals are delivered to Hubbardston House on Wednesday and drive thru is on Thursday. On December 28th MOC delivered 110 boxes of food. These were delivered to some and the balance were given out via the drive thru.
About Us
Email: admin@hubbardstonma.us
Website: www.hubbardstonma.us
Location: 7 Main Street, Hubbardston, MA, USA
Phone: 978-928-1400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TownofHubbardston/
Twitter: @hubbardstonma