Southbridge Approves $112,913 Community Center Hood Overhaul, Replacing Prior Contract

SOUTHBRIDGE — May 13, 2026 — Southbridge DPW subcommittee approves $112,913 community center hood overhaul and endorses flat utility budgets. The Joint DPW Subcommittee and Town Council voted unanimously Wednesday on all items at their May 13 meeting, replacing a prior $55,000 kitchen hood contract with Singer Kittredge with a $112,913.75 revised proposal after a site assessment found the community center's aging PVC roof — paper thin over potentially preformed concrete panels — could not safely accept the required return-air penetration. The revised design routes makeup air through the building's front brick wall, eliminates the need for roof coring, and conditions the entire space for up to 120 people, replacing a decades-old mini split and a window air unit in time for a July 1 target. Funding draws on a $25,000 state earmark that must be spent by June 30 and roughly $95,000 from a $150,000 community center capital account. The FY27 water enterprise budget was approved at $4,465,276, a 1 percent decrease, and the sewer enterprise budget at $5,429,687, up just 0.1 percent; the town also authorized an $86,418.68 payment to Charlton under their water intermunicipal agreement, drawn from approximately $925,000 in certified water retained earnings.