Mazzucco Recommends Override Instead of Cuts

Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco is recommending a Proposition 2 1/2 override rather than cutting from the town side to fund the school budget.

ADAMS, Mass. — Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco on Wednesday explained the consequences of shifting funds from the municipal budget to support the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District budget.

Mazzucco recommended a Proposition 2 1/2 override as the most feasible way to supply the additional $360,000 assessment voted by the School Committee two weeks ago.

"An override from a financial standpoint is the only way fund our school system at the level needed," Mazzucco said. "Otherwise, we are walking down the path of permanently shutting down portions of our community with no hope that they will come back, subjecting future generations to a bleak outlook."

He said he wanted townspeople to understand the fiscal realities and by shifting funds the town would "continue to kick the can down the road" and both the school and the town would be in the same position next year. He said this is because of a structural deficit both the town and school has because revenues do not match expenses.

"I don't want anyone to have false hope that if town meeting does decide to switch funds from one side of the balance sheet to their other ... that it would solve the problem," Mazzucco said. "We will be facing the same problem next year."

He said shifting funds would mean losing nearly six more full-time positions along with the four full-time positions that were reduced in the budget. He said the town next year would have to do the same thing and within two years, it would lose 30 percent of its workforce. If this continues, four years from now the town's work force will be reduced to a third of what it is today.

"There would certainly be permanent losses of services at that point in time," Mazzucco said. "Shifting expenses is only going to lead to further fiscal ruin and at some point we will run out of municipal employees to lay off and the school will still be in the same situation."

Mazzucco said even with the override, there will be continued challenges and the town and school will still face a structural deficit.

The total budget prior to being presented to the Selectmen had no additional positions or increases in services and was cut by $500,000.

"It was a budget that already had cut half a million from just last year's numbers, and these are real cuts or hard cuts from last year's appropriation and not just something we wanted to do and decided we couldn't," he said.

Mazzucco said that although there may be a rift between the school and the town, at the professional level he and the school administration are in understanding and in constant contact.

He asked to hold a meeting between School Committee members, administrators and town officials throughout the county to start a dialogue about a countywide regionalization and consolidation.

"I don't know who is going to start that conversation, and I don't know where its going to go," he said. "Maybe Adams could host a meeting in a couple months' time ... and start this discussion in how to move forward."

The board also approved an agenda item that would allow Berkshire Health Group to start discussions about plan changes because of difficulties keeping costs down in some communities like Adams.

Mazzucco said it will not change anything but allows for the process to begin and will allow Adams down the road to meet with bargaining units to talk about plan changes outside of the contacted amount.

"It starts no clock ticking, it has no impact on anyone's insurance or what they pay or what their plan, and it just allows us to begin that process of discussing changes," he said.

The Selectmen approved town election date of Monday, May 4, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the DPW garage on Summer Street.

A household hazardous waste collection will take place Saturday, April 25, from 10 to 2 at the police station. Prescription medication should be kept in original bottles and any needles should be safely contained. 

Special Minerals Agrees to Pay Adams, River Groups Over River Discharge

Staff ReportsiBerkshires
02:58PM / Friday, May 03, 2024

Adams plans to use the $50,000 it will get in the consent decree toward the removal of the Peck's Road Dam. 

BOSTON — Specialty Minerals is expected to pay $299,000 for a discharge of calcium carbonate into the Hoosic River nearly three years ago in a consent decree with the Attorney General's Office. 

 

The river turned visibly white from Adams to the Vermont state line from the mineral that leaked out from the plant's settling ponds on Howland Avenue in November 2021. 

 

Calcium carbonate, also known as chalk or limestone, is not toxic to humans or animals. However, the sudden discoloration of the water alarmed local officials and environmentalists and prompted an emergency session of the Northern Berkshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee. 

 

"We allege that this company violated its permits, disregarded federal and state law, and put the Hoosic River — a resource cherished by the Adams community — at risk," said AG Andrea Campbell in a statement. "I am grateful for this collaboration with our state agency partners and committed to holding polluters accountable and working to bring resources back to communities disproportionately impacted by environmental harms."   

 

If approved by the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, the consent decree will require Specialty Minerals to pay a total of $299,000, which includes payments to the town of Adams and three community groups in Northern Berkshire County that will be used to benefit water quality and prevent stormwater impacts. 

 

Once approved, most of the settlement would fund multiple projects to benefit water quality, including infrastructure improvements and native plantings to mitigate stormwater impacts in the Hoosic River Watershed. Specifically, the proposed settlement provides for: 

• $50,000 to the town of Adams for infrastructure improvements in a tributary of the Hoosic River
• $50,000 to Hoosic River Revival for stormwater mitigation projects  
• $50,000 to Hoosic River Watershed Association for a native plant garden and other projects to mitigate stormwater impacts and benefit water quality 
• $50,000 to Sonrisas to fund invasive plant removal and native plant habitat establishment at Finca Luna Búho, a community land project that centers the voices and prioritizes the decision-making of those living in marginalization. 

It will also provide $30,000 in civil assessments to the state's Natural Heritage Endangered Species Fund and $20,000 in civil penalties for violation of state law, as well as $49,000 to offset the costs of the AG's enforcement efforts.