Blandford Select Board Tables $39,000 Bridge Engineering Contract Pending Superintendent Answers

BLANDFORD — June 22, 2026 — Blandford Select Board tables bridge engineering contract and eyes vandalism response. The board voted unanimously Monday to defer signing a $39,000 engineering services contract with Gill Engineering for a preservation review of the Beach Hill Bridge, funded through Chapter 90 road money, after members raised questions about cost exposure, the lack of a firm delivery schedule, and the absence of road superintendent Ray from the meeting. "Let's say the engineer comes back and says the cost is a million dollars — first of all, there's no million dollars in budget," one member said. The board also unanimously approved a letter of support for the Southern Hilltown's Berkshire Rail Stop Alliance, which is seeking an intermediate passenger rail station between Springfield and Pittsfield as part of MassDOT's Boston-Albany corridor study, and agreed by consensus to enter executive session next Monday to discuss the Van Workhoven property after a second Chapter 61A withdrawal notice — now covering approximately 76 acres across two parcels — was received June 17, triggering a roughly 30-day right-of-first-refusal window. A report of juveniles breaking into a library storage container on Town Hall property prompted the board to request a formal briefing from the police department on what steps have been and will be taken.