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Marlborough Hudson An edition of the Community Advocate
Town Meeting article for additional funds for fire headquarters
Vol. 50 | No. 16 | April 19, 2024
Assabet Valley High Principal Hollick announces retirement By Cindy Zomar Contributing Writer
By Sarah Freedman Contributing Writer HUDSON – Additional funds to renovate the fire headquarters will be heading to Town Meeting. On April 8, Executive Assistant Thomas Gregory explained the cost estimate for the fire headquarters building renovation project. The total construction cost came to $3,238,571, which exceeded the project budget as currently funded. Gregory recommended appropriating additional funds from free cash in the amount of $1.2 million at Town Meeting on May 6 under Article 12 of the warrant. He also recommended eliminating an appropriation of $400,000 for the Main Street fire station renovations that are currently included in the 2025 fiscal year capital plan, which is contained in Article 5 of the warrant. The Select Board voted to approve the supplemental funding as presented by Gregory. The project stemmed from conversations that Gregory and former Fire Chief Bryan Johannes had about the condition of both fire stations. In May 2022, the town received an appropriation to do a study on the buildings with Colliers International. “So they came in, and they did a walkthrough analysis of both buildings, and they assembled project budgets that would be considered significant updates, renovations to both buildings,” said Gregory. Colliers International estimated $1.1 million for the work of replacing the membrane and sloped roofs, rooftop air-handling units and smaller scale renovations. That number was Fire headquarters | 6
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MARLBOROUGH – After 32 years of working at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School, Principal Mark Hollick has decided to hang up the keys to the school and move on to a new chapter. Hollick started at Assabet as a paraprofessional, after substitute teaching there during college breaks. He moved on to teach physical education and health, coach football, mentor and advise students and staff, serve as the curriculum director and then as principal. An alumnus of the school’s culinary arts department (he still enjoys decorating cakes), he met his wife, Jodi, at Assabet, and both of his children graduated from the school. “Assabet is in a great spot right now,” he said. “We just had our fiveyear renewal from NEASC [New England Association of Schools and Colleges], the special ed department earned an outstanding review from DESE [Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] last year, our applications are over 600, and everything is going great. This is the best time to leave because someone new can focus on learning the job the first couple of years. It takes that long to know what’s necessary, the timeline and how to function as principal. Without having to focus on audits and certification renewals, it will be a smoother transition.” The school will advertise the position both in-house and to the public with the hope of hiring someone by July 1, giving Hollick a couple
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Principal Mark Hollick announced his retirement from Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School, effective Aug. 31. (Photo/Cindy Zomar)
Eighty sightings of rodents in Marlborough over first three months of 2024 By Maureen Sullivan Assistant Editor MARLBOROUGH – In late January, the mayor’s office and the Board of Health launched a program to help the city deal with rodents. The program — a way for residents to report rodent sightings as well as learn how to reduce the rodent population — has yielded some results. Three months after the launch, the city has received 80 reports of sightings. According to information provided by the mayor’s office and the Board of Health, the rodent “hot spots” are close to the city’s center. “Lincoln, Mechanic, Huntington, Washington and streets near there,” said the mayor’s chief of staff, Ryan Egan. “It seems to line up
with a lot of the construction happening, though [it’s] not isolated.” According to Board of Health Director Paul Dinwoodie, the board divided the city into four quadrants, with routes 85 and 20 as the dividers. He said the northwest quadrant —including Lincoln and Mechanic streets — had 40 sightings, while the northeast quadrant — including the middle and high schools — had four sightings. Dinwoodie said that most of the reports were recorded in January and February (28 and 38, respectively), with 14 sightings in March. He said the reason for the high initial number of sightings had to do with the “city increasing awareness and education to our residents.” Rodents | 6