Page 11 - BusinessWest January 6, 2021

After Sapelli met with Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito to incentivize the project con- tractor, Northern Construction, to work overtime and weekends to shorten
the deadline, the date was moved to August 2021.
Once the pandemic hit and fewer people were out and about, bridge construction accelerated further. Favorable weather, as well as lighter traffic from both vehicles and pedes- trians, allowed crews to get more done every day. Then, the Big E canceled its 2020 fair.
“By contract, the crews had to
stop work during the Big E,” Sapelli said. “When the fair was canceled
this fall, it gave them an extra 17 days to work on the bridge.” While noting that he is not putting pressure on the construction crews, he predicted the bridge may now be completed by June 2021.
The mayor is also pleased that many of the headaches and traffic jams that usually occur with a major con- struction project have not materialized. “It’s been a great project,” he said. “You don’t hear a mayor say that very often.”
Like every community, Agawam has had to deal with COVID-19. In fact, the mayor himself had a false alarm after
“As exciting as it is to market prime commercial sites, the new bridge
will have an impact
on the town that goes well beyond those two parcels.”
testing positive on a quick test. After going into self-quarantine for several days and not experiencing any symp- toms, he took a PCR test (referred to
as the ‘gold standard’ of COVID test- ing), which revealed he had never been infected with coronavirus.
“I asked if I was asymptomatic or if I’d had it a week before, and the answer to both was, ‘no, it was a false posi- tive,’” he said.
While state mandates have limited public access to Town Hall, Sapelli explained that, even if it were open to the public, the building’s layout just doesn’t work well with COVID-19 mandates.
“For example, the public area in the Collector of Taxes office mea- sures about five feet by eight feet,” Sapelli said. “With social distancing, that means no more than one person can stand there; anyone else would have to wait in the hall, which is also cramped.”
Still, with an emphasis on safety first, Sapelli said Town Hall is open for business for anyone who calls ahead
for an appointment.
In order to reduce COVID-19 risks
and still encourage in-person educa- tion, Agawam’s public schools have adopted a hybrid model. Students whose last names begin with the letters A-K attend class on Monday and Tues- day, while those with L-Z last names attend Thursday and Friday. On the three days they are not scheduled in person, students attend class remotely.
The Department of Health and
the superintendent of schools are employing the hybrid model as long as COVID-19 cases within the education
Agawam
Continued on page 44
With the pandemic reducing traffic and accelerating the pace of work last year, the Morgan- Sullivan Bridge project may now be done by June.
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BusinessWest
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
JANUARY 6, 2021 11
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