SAXTONS RIVER — Main Street Arts got some good news just before the groundbreaking ceremony on April 26 for its renovations and addition.
A $133,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, administered through the Windham Regional Commission, came in last week following timely action by MSA Managing Director Margo Ghia.
That's according to Capital Campaign Committee Chair Kathleen Bryar, who said that when a need for more brownfield remediation work became apparent, Ghia completed and submitted the application for a grant from the state's environmental agency in a flash.
Bryar said work on the project started on time, at the beginning of April, and suggested the discovery of the need for additional brownfield remediation work was a surprise. The grant “has enabled us to continue construction without additional delay,” she added.
When MSA Co-Chair Peter Stolley told a crowd of several dozen community members who'd turned out for the groundbreaking celebration, “Now you can see why we hired Margo as managing director,” the assembled burst into resounding applause.
As with many building sites in former mill towns in Vermont, where brownfields are commonly discovered during reconstruction or renovation processes, it's anyone's guess as to the extent of the cleanup.
Ghia said that cleaning up such sites is “kind of interwoven throughout the construction process as they continue disturbing the soil.”
The EPA defines brownfields as “real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.”
This project's remediation is funded in part through the EPA and a grant from the Windham Regional Commission's Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Grant Fund.
KAS Environmental Science and Engineering, with offices in Williston and in Plattsburgh, N.Y., will work with MSA to oversee the construction process and monitor the Corrective Action Plan established for the site as construction proceeds.
Wright Construction Company of Mount Holly is contracted to complete the renovations/additions to the MSA building.