Buckland

Town Info

Contact Info

17 State Street-Buckland

Shelburne Falls, MA 01370

PHONE: 413-625-6330 FAX: 413-625-8570

 

E-mail: twnadmin@town.Buckland.Ma.Us

Hours & Days Open

Monday through Friday

8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Closed 12:30 - 1:00 p.m. For Lunch

 

Selectboard Meetings

Second & Fourth Tuesday 6:30 p.m.

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FRCOG Services to Buckland – 2008

Note: Listed below are services provided directly to the Town of Buckland in 2008. The FRCOG provides many other services on a regional basis that benefit the communities of Franklin County. In addition to reviewing the service highlights below, we encourage you to look throughout our website to find out more about the other work that we do.

Community Coalition for Teens

• Staff conducted a 100-question Teen Health Survey to assess teen attitudes and behavior among middle and high school students. Staff reported to Mohawk Trail Regional School administrators on results from 262 Mohawk students, representing 78% of the 8th, 10th, and 12th grade classes.  Survey data meets federal No Child Left Behind requirements for the school, enables the school to receive Safe and Drug Free Schools funding, and is valuable for grant-writing and program planning.
• 4 students from Mohawk Trail Regional Middle and High schools attended the 17th Annual Youth Conference in May 2008 at R.C. Mahar Regional School. The day-long conference included 24 workshops, one of which was facilitated by the Mohawk students.

Cooperative Bidding & Purchasing Program

• Buckland participated in the Purchasing Program’s cooperative bids and contracts for $45,202 in Diesel fuel.  The town also purchased $414,108 in Highway Products and Services through the Program.  The total fee for participation in the bids was $2,490.
• The Shelburne Falls Fire District participated in the Purchasing Program’s cooperative bids and contracts for $17,148 in #2 Fuel Oil for a cost of $145.

Energy Saving Performance Contracting

• Staff facilitated a regional procurement process to select an Energy Services Company and vetted template contracts to provide energy saving performance contract services at public facilities to increase operating efficiency and reduce taxpayer cost. 16 Franklin County municipalities, including Buckland, and 3 regional school districts, including Mohawk Trail RSD, are participating.

Franklin County Cooperative Inspection Program

• A total of 70 building permits, including 2 dwelling units, were issued for Buckland, for a total construction valuation of $1,437,820. 19 Certificates of Inspection were issued. Total fees collected were $10,472.
• A total of 48 electrical permits were issued with $4,665 in fees collected.
• A total of 45 plumbing permits were issued with $4,605 in fees collected.
• All fees collected are returned to the Town.

Franklin County Emergency Communications System

• Staff assisted the Franklin County Emergency Communications Oversight Committee in securing an additional $623,941 for emergency communications for all Franklin County Communities. The equipment upgrade was funded with Homeland Security monies.

Planning and Development Department

• Staff assisted with the development of Zoning Bylaw revisions including updates to the Cluster Development Bylaw and new sections on Farm Structure Reuse, Cluster Development for Commercial Uses and Site Plan review which were successfully passed by Special Town Meeting in 2008.
• Staff provided technical assistance on the Chapter 43D Expedited Permitting program.
• Staff assisted the Town in completing a Commonwealth Capital Application.
• Staff worked with the Franklin County Route 112 Scenic Byway Advisory Committee on developing the Corridor Management Plan, including completing chapters on Cultural Resources and Tourist Services, Transportation Resources, and Community Planning Evaluation. 
• Staff completed the Deerfield River Watershed Nonpoint Pollution Study which included detailed Action Plans to address sources of nonpoint pollution such as failing septic systems, river bank erosion, and stormwater runoff in the upper reaches of the Deerfield River and the North, Green, Chickley, and South River subwatersheds.   This project was funded by an $87,700 grant from the MA DEP.
• Staff worked with members of the Buckland Historical Commission, as part of the Mohawk Trail Scenic Byway Project, to determine locations in town where historic markers could be located.
• Staff coordinated the execution of a multi-agency Memorandum of Understanding for the Mohawk Trail Scenic Byway Land Protection Project which received $500,000 in funding to purchase conservation restrictions and/or agricultural preservations restrictions (APRs) from willing landowners along the Byway.
• Staff worked to advance projects along the Mohawk Trail Scenic Byway including a project to develop a marketing plan for the Mohawk Trail, the Western Massachusetts Scenic Byways Marketing Project, and the Mohawk Trail Scenic Byway Historic Preservation Project.
• Staff conducted one FRCOG-requested traffic count in support of its Regional Traffic Count Program.
• Staff worked on developing safety improvements for crash prone areas along Route 2 in Buckland as part of the Route 2 West Safety Study.
• Staff provided a Functional Classifications of Roads map to the town for planning purposes.
• Staff provided aerial photographs to the Town for use in planning improvements to Franklin Street.
• Staff provided updates on the status of the State Street reconstruction project and its placement in the Franklin County Transportation Improvement Program funding schedule.

Regional Health Inspection Program

• Staff served as the Town’s Health Agent working on behalf of the Board of Health. 
• Staff attended 2 Board of Health meetings.
• Staff conducted 4 summer recreational camp inspections and 5 pool inspections or re-inspections.
• Staff conducted 3 housing inspections or re-inspections and submitted 1 grant proposal for housing assistance funding on behalf of the Board.
• Staff conducted 9 septic system plan reviews including 5 site visits, 8 final inspections of installations and 1 sub-base inspection of a leachfield, and witnessed 5 Soil Evaluations for on-lot septic systems.
• Staff conducted 1 private well inspection including 2 site visits.
• Staff investigated 1 premature failure of a new septic system and negotiated the rapid repair of the system.

Regional Preparedness Program

• The Mohawk Area Public Health Coalition (MAPHCO) awarded Buckland $921.86 to purchase of VHF radios for Board of Health use in emergency response.
• The Regional Emergency Planning Committee, funded with grants from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), provided the town with copies of an Incident Command System (ICS) Field Operations Guide, a valuable reference work for emergency planners.  REPC staff also made available topographical and critical infrastructure maps for use in the town’s emergency operations center (EOC).
• Staff met with Board of Health once.

Town Accounting Program

• Staff developed chart of accounts and vendor file in Fundware system for July 1 accounting conversion.
• Staff produced biweekly vendor warrants, and provided monthly budget reports to all officials and department heads.
• At year end, Free Cash certification was completed, and Schedule A submitted.  Provided assistance in completing the Recap for tax rate submission.
• Customized reports for committees and departments were developed and distributed.
• All accounting data was accessible over a secure internet connection to a server at the FRCOG office.  Backups were completed daily and there was no unscheduled down time.

Workshops & Training

• 3 Officials attended Municipal Alcohol Bylaws Enforcement Training.
• 1 Official attended MAVEN is back!  Intro and Advanced Sessions
• 1 Official attended the Municipal Finance Forum.
• 1 Official attended the Fuel and Regional Issues Roundtable.
• 1 Official attended a Compliance Check Training co-sponsored by CCT.

This page was last updated on August 12, 2009 .

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