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Holyoke City Council approves $75,000 in‑kind match for Pine Street retaining wall remediation
Summary
The council unanimously approved acceptance of a retaining wall remediation grant requiring a $75,000 in‑kind match to repair the Pine Street side of a historic stone wall, after staff explained bidding and funding delays dating to 2024.
The Holyoke City Council on Aug. 25, 2025, unanimously approved acceptance of a retaining wall remediation grant that includes a $75,000 in‑kind match and authorized the mayor to execute the contract for the work.
Councilor Devine filed the item under MGL chapter 44, section 53A. Assistant City Engineer Victoria Houle and Interim DPW Director Mary Monahan described the project and explained why the work was delayed after initial funding in 2024.
Houle said the approved scope for the Pine Street side includes removing falling masonry, removing and restoring iron railings, installing new footings, rebuilding the stone wall and reinstalling the railings with new supports. She told the council the project has been difficult to bid and has been re-solicited multiple times. "The project itself has been hard to get bids on, so it went out to bids a number of times," Houle said.
Councilors and staff discussed earlier Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding that originally targeted roughly one-third of the wall. Houle and other staff said additional Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds were later applied, and combining the funding streams and successful bids now make it possible to address the entire Pine Street side rather than a single third.
On the question of how the item "fell through the cracks," Houle said she discovered the outstanding paperwork when trying to enter a purchase order: "I discovered it when I went to enter a purchase order. I couldn't get a purchase order because I didn't have an account number. I didn't have an account number because it wasn't accepted, and that's when I found out," she said.
Councilors asked staff to provide a summary of the final funding status; Houle said she would send a communication with the final funding breakdown. Councilor McGrath Smith and others noted staffing transitions in the engineering and DPW leadership as contributors to the delay. The motion to accept the grant and authorize the mayor to execute the contract passed on a unanimous roll-call vote of members present.
Staff identified next steps as finalizing the contract, completing bidding where required, and returning to the council with a funding summary and updated contract timeline.
