Lenox moves on wind project

By Claire Cox12:00AM / Thursday, June 17, 2004Print Story | Email Story

Woody Printz represented the town of Richmond. (Photo By Claire Cox)

LENOX â€“ A committee will start exploring potential sites on Sunday for what would be the countyâ€™s first municipally-owned wind power project. A Wind Tower Subcommittee of the townâ€™s Environmental Committee met at Town Hall on June 15 to outline a timetable that, if successful, could bring wind power to Lenox within two years. The meeting, called by Town Manager Gregory Federspiel and Jamie Cullihane, facilitator of the Environmental Committee, was attended by resident Richard Gregg and Woody Printz, an engineer who represented the town of Richmond, which may be invited to participate in the project. Selectmen have authorized a study of the feasibility of installing a 1.5-megawatt windmill in the town as an economically and ecologically sound way to reduce the use of fossil fuels. â€œThis will be a fairly lengthy process, if it goes at all,â€ Federspiel said. â€œIt will take about a year to analyze the potential, and from there itâ€™s a couple of yearsâ€™ process. The next step is for us as a committee to try to identify some potential sites.â€ Representatives of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative would then look at the sites and assess their potential, and choose one for the installation of a temporary monitoring tower, known as a MET, to determine its potential for generating electricity. The collaborative would pay for the test tower. Members of the Wind Tower Subcommittee will hike to the townâ€™s fire tower atop a Lenox peak nearly 2,000 feet high that overlooks Richmond to assess it as a possible site, and to two other potential sites near the townâ€™s two reservoirs. â€œMy original concept was to put up a tower to power our treatment plant,â€ Federspiel said. â€œItâ€™s not that simple. It would just become another generator providing electricity to everybody [on the grid].â€ â€œIf all goes smoothly, by the end of the summer we could have a MET tower erected on one of the sites to start collecting wind data,â€ he added. â€œAfter three or four months of collecting data, the MTC would start to determine whether the site makes sense.â€ The collaborative would formulate a business plan and submit a report that addresses the viability of the project. â€œThe chances are that itâ€™s going to be viable,â€ Federspiel said. If the collaborative recommends Lenox pursue a project, the committee would then submit a proposal to the town. When Printz asked if Richmond could participate in a Lenox wind power project, Federspiel replied, â€œWe would welcome that if Richmond would like to be involved.â€ He added that collaborative is interested in collaborative efforts. â€œMy ideal scenario is that this becomes a joint two-town project,â€ he said. The Wind Tower Subcommittee probably will make more than one visit to the potential sites and then invite Kristen Burke to come from the MTC office in Westboro on July 7 to make a site inspection and submit her findings to the Selectmen at a meeting that evening.

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MSBA: No Stearns in Proposed West Pittsfield School

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
02:40PM / Tuesday, November 10, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Stearns may not be part of the proposed consolidated West Side elementary school after all.

During the School Building Needs Commission meeting on Monday, the owner's project managers, Skanska, reported that the Massachusetts School Building Authority would not fund a three-school project.

Stearns Elementary School had been included in the feasibility study to see if Crosby Elementary, Conte Community School, and Stearns Elementary could all be located at 517 West St. All three school locations listed in the feasibility study had to be considered; Conte has several site challenges.

Project designers TSKP reviewed 12 different school options, and it was relayed that only the rebuilds of Crosby and Conte could be fully funded. Pittsfield would have to pay for Stearns.

"I also think it's important to look at long-term and affordability, and if we choose to keep Stearns in, we're going to make the decision to keep PHS out," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"The city cannot afford it all."

He added that he would vote "no" on Pittsfield High School if the city is doubling down on Stearns. The city is also pursuing a statement of interest to the MSBA to fund repairs to the high school, which is almost a century old.

"I'm not going to go to the taxpayers and say, 'give me two debt exclusions so we can build new schools,'" the mayor said.