In the News

The city's flood management system feasibility study has acquired the last portion of its funding and is ready to move forward, according to U.S. Rep. Richard Neal.

He announced Thursday that, following months-long discussions with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he had secured $700,000 from the Army Corps’ budget for this fiscal year in order to complete the study, which will determine the best course of action for the city’s deteriorating flood chutes.

“I spoke yesterday with the Army Corps of Engineers, I was in touch with Mayor Macksey, and this has been a longstanding priority of mine because of the potential for disastrous flooding that may take place in the Hoosic River Basin,” Neal told The Eagle during a phone interview Friday.

In a Thursday news release from his office, Neal said that, in addition to ensuring “the safety and wellbeing of residents” and reducing flood risk, the project will “also make much critical improvements to the city’s infrastructure and create jobs.”

“The residents of North Adams have long advocated for much-needed improvements to the city’s decades-old flood chutes,” Neal said in the release. He characterized the money as a “substantial victory for the city ... that reaffirms the federal government’s commitment to making this project a reality.”

The Corps is in the midst of its three-year assessment of the Hoosic River and the city’s flood chutes, which were built in the 1950s and have long been in need of repair.

“We are pleased to be able to continue the work on the Hoosic River flood control project,” North Adams Mayor Jennifer Macksey said in the news release. “We are delighted with the continued support of the Federal Delegation including Neal [and Sens. Markey and Warren]. This project is ever so important to the City, not only from a safety perspective, but also for the overall wellbeing of the river and the community at large.”

Macksey could not be reached for further comment Friday.

Getting the funding in place for the feasibility study was no simple task. In late 2019, the federal delegation got the House and Senate to agree to a statement in the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 ensuring a feasibility study for the Hoosic River in Massachusetts. A combination of federal money and funds from the city covers the $3 million price tag for the study. The city and the Corps are each bearing half the price. Hoosic River Revival founder Judy Grinnell said it could cost $200 million to repair and modernize the river in town.

The city is contributing $500,000, and the state $1 million, thanks to state Rep. John Barrett, D-North Adams, state Sen. Paul Mark, D-Becket, and former state Sen. Adam Hinds. Neal and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey helped to secure the $200,000 for the first year of the study, “with the remaining federal cost share to be provided through the Corps’ annual budgeting process,” according to the Hoosic River Revival, a local advocacy group helping to shepherd the study process.

Asked whether the $700,000 was the last step to make the study fully funded, Neal said Friday, “I would think $900,000 is sufficient for the study based on the Corps’ request, because I would not have gone alone on this.”

“I included the Corps in the estimate as I requested they take up the study,” Neal added, “and they brought to me what I think is a pretty good professional analysis of the needs.”

If the study goes according to plan, the Corps would launch a project, estimated at more than $200 million, to renew the system. As Neal put it, “the reconstruction comes next.” He acknowledged that the discussion around funding once the study is complete “could be contentious.”

“At the same time, remember that the infrastructure bill that came from the Ways and Means Committee when I was chairman provides close to $10 billion to the state of Massachusetts over the next few years,” Neal said, “So I don’t think this will be an argument about money. We need to make sure the argument about priority expenditure is the one we adhere to.”