The MassWorks Infrastructure Program last fall awarded $2.75 million to help Michael Michon, owner of Mill 180 on Pleasant Street, Will Bundy, owner of Eastworks Mill, and James Witmer, owner of the Brickyard, with their proposal to connect their buildings and flip the buildings' entrances to open on the side facing the Manhan Rail Trail instead of Pleasant Street.
EASTHAMPTON – The City Council has approved an easement agreement between the city and Pleasant Street mill property owners and now the project can go out bid.
The MassWorks Infrastructure Program last fall awarded $2.75 million to help Michael Michon, owner of Mill 180 on Pleasant Street, Will Bundy, owner of Eastworks Mill, and James Witmer, owner of the Brickyard, with their proposal to connect their buildings and flip the buildings' entrances to open on the side facing the Manhan Rail Trail instead of Pleasant Street.
The money will be used for infrastructure improvements, which require the signed agreement. The city could not bid the project without, City Planner Jessica Allan had said.
“Now that these agreements are in place, we can now move forward with putting the project out to bid," she wrote in an email.
She expects the project to be put out to bid this fall with construction beginning late this fall or in early winter depending on the weather.
This phase of the project will address the major safety concerns by upgrading water lines and burying electric lines.
Allan has said the city is planning to apply for additional infrastructure funding to complete the work.
According to the agreement, the city will receive an easement from the Manhan Rail Trail to the building lines for the improvements, and the mill owners will provide maintenance to all above-ground improvements. Also included are separate agreements and plans for the five buildings affected by the project.
Mayor Michael A. Tautznik had said the agreement was intended to cover all aspects of the project now instead of having to draft separate agreements over time.