Infrastructure Needed To Deal With Adams Flooding Issues

The Adams Selectmen warned residents attending a workshop meeting to discuss the recent flooding that the town's infrastructure isn't up to handling the larger storms hitting the area.

iBerksires.com reports two rainstorms on Sept. 12 and 18 overwhelmed some of the town's flood control system. Flooding affected the Lime, Davis, North Summer, and Charles street areas damaging people's property and causing over $2 million in damage to public infrastructure.

Because only Adams was hit by the storms and no state or federal state of emergencies were declared, there is little emergency funding the town can use. On Oct. 3 the Selectmen declared a state of emergency which will allow them to deficit spend.

Although state representatives have asked for $1.9 million from the state supplemental budget to help with these repairs, the town needs to begin repairs right away before snowfall.

State Rep. John Barrett III, who attended the meeting, said he and state Sen. Adams Hinds are trying to secure $1.9 million for immediate repairs, however, without concrete numbers, it would be hard to amend this amount to secure more funds.

Selectman Joseph Nowak, who has a background in environmental science, said the fix, in his opinion, is not going to be easy.

Nowak said during the Greylock Ramble on Columbus Day he instead hiked the Southwick Watershed off Old Florida Road that is believed to be at capacity during storms and causing many of the issues in Adams.

He said this issue will not improve.

Before closing the meeting, the board announced that although there are virtually no larger grants to alleviate personal property damage, residents can go through the Council on Aging and possibly receive smaller grants through the Salvation Army, the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation program and the United Way.