HUDSON — Members of the Hudson High School football team and Head Coach Zac Attaway were celebrated during the Select Board’s Dec. 16 meeting.
The team defeated Fairhaven 21-14 in the Division 6 championship at Gillette Stadium on Dec. 4.
The Hawks, who had a perfect season, received a proclamation read by Chair Scott Duplisea.
He said the 2024 team finished the season with an undefeated 13-0 record, and this was the first state championship title since 2019 for a Hudson High School athletic team.
Duplisea said, “Whereas the town of Hudson would like to recognize the 2024 Hudson High School football team for representing the Hudson community in such a positive way and congratulate them on their state championship, now, therefore the town of Hudson wishes to convey this very special recognition by way of this proclamation.”
Attaway said, “Thank you very much for having us. It’s an honor for these guys. They deserve it.”
To universal applause, he said that it does not get any better than a 13-0 season, and “they’re just an unbelievable bunch of kids.”
Other news
In recreation news, the Select Board heard an update on the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail (MCRT) project. Amber Christofferson, a trails and greenways planner at the Department of Conservation and Recreation, is the current manager of the Sudbury-Hudson section of the MCRT project, which has the goal of connecting 104 miles across 26 communities from Northampton to Boston.
She has been coordinating with Assistant Planning and Community Development Director Pam Helinek, Recreation Director Steven Santos and Department of Public Works Director Eric Ryder about the Hudson section of the MCRT, which is about 60% completed with 15 to 20 miles being planned.
“This is one of those bit-by-bit developments,” said Christofferson.
The seven and a half miles of the trail began the permitting process in 2018 as a joint project with DCR and Eversource. The project went out to bid the same week, and the hope is to have a contractor by the spring.
The bulk of the work will be paving the path 10 feet wide with 2-foot shoulders. There will be fencing, planting and installing of signs and benches as well. She said the goal is to be complete by summer of 2025.
They will be responsible for the maintenance of plants and invasive species removal, and the cost will be $8 million, she said. That comes out to $1 million a mile.
“The nice thing for our work is that all of the erosion controls are already in. … Our hope is to really just pick up the construction work as quickly as we can so that the project is complete,” said Christofferson.
In September, she said, with the input of Helinek, Santos and Ryder, the design for the trail was tightened up to make better use of the existing pavement and lessen the environmental impact.
Helinek said, “Conservation wise, there’s a big wetland there, and it’s all wooded.”
The updated design will be less disruptive to the area. There will be a solar-powered, rapid-flashing beacon at the Wilkins Street crossing on Route 62, she said.
Duplisea asked about safety measures for bikers and pedestrians around the Kane-Perkins Company site at 560 Main St. and he noted that it can be dangerous with car traffic in and out of the facility.
Christofferson said about 85% of the trucks go left there so the paved path will have a stop sign that comes further out. She noted the intersection is going to be “squared up,” which will enhance safety in that area. There will also be stop signs for path users.
For more information about the MCRT, visit www.masscentralrailtrail.org.
