Lanesborough's Town Administrator Resigns After 13 Years

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Boudreau has worked as the Town Administrator since 1998 and is now looking to do something else.
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — After 13 years Town Administrator Paul Boudreau is calling it quits.

Boudreau accepted a job in the private sector but will stick around to help out part-time until the town replaces him. Boudreau said on Tuesday that he had been looking for a change for a while and started the job search earnestly about six months ago.

"It's time for a change of scenery," Boudreau said. "I feel good about my time here and I've accomplished quite a bit."

Boudreau took the job in 1998 right after bids for renovating the Elementary School came in too high and voters did not approve the extra amount. Town officials switched tactics and began looking at building a new school and put Boudreau in command.

"I shepherded that project to completion... That was probably the biggest thing," Boudreau said when asked what he though his biggest accomplishment has been. "And the Mall Road, that took more than a decade to make that happen."

In his 13 years Boudreau said his position has become much more complicated because of state and federal regulations but the town hasn't changed.The town still has the mixed personality of dense and almost urban living in some parts and country in others as it was when Boudreau first moved here in 1980.


"The town itself really hasn't changed much since I've been here. We're still sort of a suburb of Pittsfield," Boudreau, who grew up in Pittsfield, said.

Boudreau was a former Berkshire Regional Planning Commission employee who later went on to become the executive director of the Northwestern Connecticut Council of Governors before taking the town administrator position.

He is only the town's third administrator and the first one to stick around for a while. Now the Board of Selectmen are wondering if this is the time to re-think the town's government structure.

On Tuesday, the Selectmen voted to work with a consultant to examine the structure. The board talked about a possible switch to a town manager but how "strong" of one still needs to be determined.

While the Selectmen were given Boudreau's formal resignation letter Tuesday, they've known he was leaving prior to that and have begun considering their options.

Tags: departure,   town administrator,   

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Lanesborough Man Charged After Shots Fired From Baker St. Home

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

LANESBOROUGH, Mass.— A man has been charged for allegedly drunkenly shooting from his Baker Street home on Saturday night. 

Aaron Pierce, 21, is facing multiple charges for allegedly shooting a gun near homes and a road while intoxicated.  Police said charges are pending for two other people in the home, who were not named. 

On Aug. 22, around 10:15 p.m., Lanesborough police responded to the area of 69 Baker Street for a report of shots fired.

As officers arrived, they reportedly heard a shot coming from the back of the home. The Massachusetts State Police, Pittsfield Police Department, and Massachusetts Environmental Police responded to the area for assistance. 

"The three occupants that were inside 69 Baker St eventually exited the residence without incident. It was later determined the occupants of the residence were intoxicated and discharging the firearm out the back door of the residence," LPD wrote in a press release on Monday. 

"Baker St is a residential neighborhood with several houses in the immediate area. The firearms and ammunition inside the residence were secured into evidence by the Lanesborough Police Department." 

The owner of the home and guns, Aaron Pierce, 21, was charged with 15 counts of discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, discharging a firearm within 150 feet of a road, two counts of improper firearm storage, carrying a firearm while intoxicated, and disorderly conduct.  He had a License to Carry. 

Police said Pierce was held at the Berkshire County Jail on $1,000 bail and will be arraigned in District Court; a date was not provided. 

The LPD said additional charges are pending for the other occupants. 

This comes after a recent string of gun violence incidents in Pittsfield, just miles from where these shots were fired, and Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue formed a task force to take on the issue. 

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