Bradford City Council on Tuesday approved loans to an
established business and to one that is getting ready to open.

At the council meeting, the Office of Economic and Community
Development approved a Economic Development Loan for $67,500 to
Jarrett Machine Corp. for the purchase of a new CNC lathe.

“We need this machine to increase productivity in the shop,”
said Bud Wright of Jarrett Machine. “It’s adding more capability to
our shop. It’s creating the possibility for more jobs in the
future. We don’t expand very fast, but then we don’t lay off,
either.”

He said the total cost of the project is $88,000, and the rest
will be borne by Jarrett Machine.

Council also approved loaning $15,000 to Mark and Heather Peace,
who are developing the Emery Espresso Bar at 30 Boylston St., which
is a warehouse building located to left of the Boylston Street
entrance to the furniture store at 45 Main St.

“It’s taking $125,000 to make it look like a warehouse,” Mark
Peace said. He explained his wife will run the business, which will
feature gourmet coffee. They plan to have it open by April 15.

“I’m going to Seattle Monday to train on the machine to make
sure I have the perfect cup of coffee for customers,” Heather Peace
said.

Also at the meeting, council authorized entering an agreement
for engineering and construction inspection services for three
street infrastructure improvement projects in the Elm Street
Project neighborhood.

The agreement with Czop/Specter Inc. is not to exceed $59,095
and will entail engineering services for Cole Avenue, McClelland
Street and East Washington Street from Boylston to Mechanic
streets.

“This is another one of those projects where in a couple years,
people are going to wonder where the money went,” said Mayor
Michele Corignani. She said those people should talk to city
residents in the Rockland Avenue area who have been helped by
infrastructure improvements in the past, where flooding has been
brought under control by these types of projects.

Council also heard the opening of bids for infrastructure work
on Phase III of the Onofrio Street Revitalization Project, which
will be the construction of 13 new homes on a cul-de-sac at the end
of the street towards West Washington Street.

The bids ranged from a high of $461,405 to a low of $249,701;
however, the lowest bidder – New Frontier Excavating and Paving of
Eden, N.Y. – did not send along the 10 percent bid bond that was
requested. A bid bond of 5 percent was enclosed with the bid.

City solicitor Mark Hollenbeck and Sara Andrews, executive
director of the OECD, will review the bids. Corignani said action
may be taken on them at the next council meeting.

In other business, council approved a request from the Bradford
Economic Development Corp. for a two-year extension of
interest-only payments on a loan from the city. The loan, approved
for $150,000 in 2002 for the development of the Lafferty Hollow
Industrial Park, was to have been repaid with interest-only
payments for the first five years and then with principal and
interest over the last 10 years from the sale of developed property
in the park.

Council’s resolution reads that the BECD anticipates completing
an access road in 2008 and then will be able to market the three
developed lots in the park. After that, principal payments can
begin.

The next council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 27.