Gill

Town Info

Contact Info

325 Main Road

Gill, MA 01354

PHONE: 413-863-9347 FAX: 413-863-7775

E-mail: administrator@gillmass.org

Website: www.gillmass.org

Hours & Days Open

Office Hours Vary - Please call ahead to ensure availability

Monday through Thursday

9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Selectboard Meetings

Mondays, 4:30 p.m.

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FRCOG work in Gill during 2008

Note: Listed below are services provided directly to Gill 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 coordinated and conducted Alcohol Purchase Surveys of all open package stores in Gill on two occasions. These surveys, proven to reduce alcohol use among youth, involve sending young-looking of-age undercover shoppers to check the stores' compliance with underage drinking laws.  On both occasions 100% of servers checked for identification.
• Staff worked with the Gill and Orange Police Departments in completing alcohol compliance checks of all opened licensed establishments, a strategy proven to be effective at reducing youth substance abuse.
• Staff conducted a 100-question Teen Health Survey to assess teen attitudes and behavior among middle and high school students. Staff reported to Gill-Montague Regional School administrators on results from 218 Gill-Montague 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.
• CCT surveyed all parents of students at Great Falls Middle School and Turners Falls High School, and using findings from the survey, developed a social norms marketing campaign to promote positive parenting practices in the community. The campaign was well received and its “Look How Much We Care” logo was recognized by 83% of parents responding to a follow-up survey.
• CCT provided technical assistance to support staff at the Gill-Montague Regional School District to implement student-led social norms marketing campaigns addressing issues of social justice.  An evaluation of the program showed that students came to understand that their peers were less likely to tolerate injustice and bullying behaviors than they had believed.  Students in turn reported being more tolerant themselves.
• 19 students from Turners Falls High School attended the 17th Annual Youth Conference in May 2008 at Mahar Regional School. The day-long conference included 24 workshops, and a performance by the Franklin County Technical School's Conflict Resolution Theater Group.
• The Gill-Montague Community School Partnership (GMCSP) received extensive technical assistance from CCT throughout 2007 and 2008, through a Drug Free Communities Mentoring Grant.  As a result, the Partnership applied for and obtained its own Drug Free Communities grant of $625,000 over 5 years.  The strategic plan that resulted from the mentoring process also helped the district to secure state violence prevention funding.

Cooperative Bidding & Purchasing Program

• Gill participated in the Purchasing Program’s cooperative bids and contracts for $30,275 in Diesel fuel.  The town also participated in the Dog Licenses & Tags Program.  The total fee for participation in the bids was $178.

Energy Saving Performance Contracting

• Staff facilitated a regional procurement process and vetted template contracts to select an Energy Services Company to provide energy saving performance contract services at public facilities, increase operating efficiency and reduce taxpayer cost. This work was done on behalf of 16 Franklin County municipalities and 3 regional school districts, including Gill/Montague RSD.

Franklin County Cooperative Inspection Program

• A total of 61 building permits, including 4 dwelling units, were issued for Gill, for a total construction valuation of $2,507,607. 31 Certificates of Inspection were issued. Total fees collected were $16,966.
• A total of 27 electrical permits were issued with $3,490 in fees collected.
• A total of 46 plumbing permits were issued with $4,505 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 in the successful application for Priority Development Site designation for the Mariamante property and for a $100,000 technical assistance award to the Town to support pre-development work.
• The EPA Targeted Watershed Project for the Connecticut River Watershed conducted real time water quality monitoring for E.coli bacteria at several stations in Franklin County including Barton’s Cove.  Results for the 2008 sampling season are posted on the project’s website: http://www.umass.edu/tei/mwwp/ctrivermonitoring.html
• Staff provided administrative and technical support to the Connecticut River Streambank Erosion Committee (CRSEC) which is addressing the severe river bank erosion occurring in the 22-mile reach of the Connecticut River known as the Turners Falls Power Pool.  This erosion is resulting in the loss of prime farmland, impairment of water quality and fisheries habitat from sedimentation, and loss of riparian habitat among other impacts. 
• Staff drafted and coordinated the review of the Goals and Objectives, Vision Statement, Scenic Resources, Land Use and Zoning, Natural Resources, Recreational Resources, Historic, Tourism and Traveler Services, and Transportation Chapters of the Mohawk Trail East Scenic Byway Corridor Management Plan (Athol to Greenfield) by the Byway Committee.
• Staff provided the Town Administrator with technical assistance regarding the requirements for providing marked crosswalks.
• Staff provided on-site technical assistance and training for the Town Assessor related to Pictometry aerial photographs and GIS parcel data layers.
• Staff continued to provide assistance to the Town and the Route 2 Task Force to implement Route 2 Safety Improvements.  In 2008 improvements in Athol/Philipston were completed, reconstruction of two bridges near the French King Bowling Alley were completed, construction of improvements in Ervingside commenced, improvements for Orange reached the 100% design stage, and the design of improvements in Erving Center and Farley began preliminary activities.

Regional Health Inspection Program

• Staff served as the Town’s Health Agent working on behalf of the Board of Health. 
• Staff attended 3 regular Board of Health meetings;
• Staff presented an informative hoarding slideshow jointly with the Board of Health, Police, & Fire Departments;
• Staff conducted 4 summer recreational camp inspections and submitted the required annual report to the MA DPH, and conducted 2 routine swimming pool inspections;
• Staff conducted 11 housing or sanitary code inspections or re-inspections including meeting with Housing Court personnel to discuss a case, and issuing 1 Order to Correct;
• Staff conducted 1 septic system enforcement action including securing an agreement in lieu of condemnation for the repair of a system discharging to the environment;
• Staff monitored disease reports on the web-based DPH MAVEN system and conducted 2 communicable disease investigations.

Regional Preparedness Program

• The Mohawk Area Public Health Coalition (MAPHCO) awarded Gill $788.80 to a laptop computer for Board of Health use during 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 attended one Board of Health meeting.
• Staff attended twelve Emergency Dispensing Site (EDS) meetings for the Montague Regional EDS as well as Staff conducted and organizing a regional tabletop dispensing exercise.

Town Accounting Program

• 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.

Western Regional Homeland Security Advisory Council

• Provided 30 UHF pagers to the Gill Fire Department. Each pager valued at $365. For a total of $10,950.00
• $5,800 awarded for Montague EDS Drill involving the towns of Montague, Erving, Gill and Wendell.
• Montague Emergency Management was awarded $80,000.00 for a 250 KW generator to service the new Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in the new police station. The Montague EOC serves as secondary EOC for the towns of Greenfield, Gill, Erving, Wendell, Leverett, Sunderland, and Deerfield.

Workshops & Training

• 1 Official attended the Municipal Alcohol Bylaws Enforcement Training.
• 2 Officials and 1 staff attended the Municipal Finance Forum.
• 1 Official attended the CCT Alcohol Enforcement Training.
• 3 Officials attended the Fuel and Regional Issues Roundtable.

This page was last updated on August 25, 2010 .

 

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