By A. Finn Moss | Beacon Street-Work Follow-up Beat

Bass Lake’s infrastructure maintenance crew is just about to wrap up a minor street work project at the corner of 1st Street and Second Avenue, a task that began in May, was extended in July and continued again in September.

Scheduled as a routine fix-up, crews ran into difficulty after striking a water pipe, leading to extensive repair. Less than two months later, experts at the scene severed telephone cables.

“That ended up being a problem,” said Brie Gizzings, former office assistant for mayor-by-default Delores Denominator.

Gizzings was fired late last month after making a snide joke to Denominator about HelicopterGate.

“I made a joke about the helicopter allegations, yes,” Gizzings said, referring to the firing as a “farce” and insists her comments were not intentionally malicious, at least from her own perspective.

“It was just a remark I made one day, to lighten the mood,” she continued. “I thought of it as a gentle ribbing, a quip, a tease, almost a pun but not quite a riddle wrapped in a riddle.”

Officials have not disclosed precisely what Gizzings uttered, but administrative protocol required “swift action,” Denominator said, according to a town council member.

Gizzings has not found new employment, but insists she is “hitting the pavement hard” to find work.

“I avoid hitting it near 1st Street and Second Avenue,” she said. “I just drive around it.”

In conclusion, the street project is scheduled for completion Oct. 31, at 4 p.m. sharp. “Just About Finished Working” signs have been posted.

Repair was funded through the street-project short-term fund, and is an estimated $45,000 over budget.