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North Adams Council Approves $36.3M Budget For 2013

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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Finance Committee Chairman Alan Marden said he would be willing to look one more time at the budget but the majority of council were satisfied and approved the $36.3 million spending plan.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A majority of the City Council on Tuesday night rejected an attempt by Councilor John Barrett III to send the fiscal 2013 spending plan back to the Finance Committee.

The $36,278,824 million spending plan was approved 8-1, with Barrett the lone naye vote.

The Finance Committee had spent some five meetings going through line items on the budget and conferring with Mayor Richard Alcombright, his administrative staff and department heads. The committee voted on Thursday to recommend all aspects of the budget to the full council.

The final budget is higher than the original draft (at $36,148,305) because of a calculation error, mostly from the consolidation of some $77,000 in seasonal worker salaries into line item that did not sum up properly in the software.

Barrett, however, insisted again that the budget presented on May 23 could not be recommended because it was a "draft" and that the budget presented by council order on Tuesday night should referred back for review by the committee.

He also pointed to what he said were errors and discrepencies in the compensation and classification plan and its possible effect on the budget. His motion for referral was seconded by Councilor Marie Harpin.

"All I'm asking is that we do it right," he said.

While Councilor Alan Marden, chairman of the Finance Committee, was amenable to another pass at the document, with the hope that Barrett would attend the meeting, Councilor Jennifer Breen Kirsch said he was playing semantics over the use of "draft."

"It's exactly what the budget would be," she said. "I find it disingenuous he wouldn't attend the meetings when he has so many issues."

Breen Kirsch said the process had been long and transparent and she "absolutely" could not vote to return it to committee.

Barrett said there was a problem with the process and he didn't see the point in attending meetings for a budget that didn't exist as an order and that no other city does that way.

"I challenge the mayor to tell me any city that did it differently," he said.

Mayor Richard Alcombright immediately responded "Springfield and Chicopee" and retorted that Barrett's reasoning for not attending Finance Committee meetings "was an excuse." He believed anything not approved by council was by definition a "draft."

He said if there were questions with the compensation and classification plan — Barrett had raised the issue of raises in the compensation plan not being reflected in the budget — they could be addressed by next the meeting.

Barrett's motion failed 3-6; the council then approved each section of the budget with only Barrett voting against. The compensation and classification plan passed unanimously to a second reading and to be published.

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Tags: city budget,   fiscal 2013,   school budget,   

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Armed North Adams Man Arrested Following Domestic Standoff

Staff Reports

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Matthew Parker, a 44-year-old North Adams man, is set to face multiple counts of attempted murder and weapons charges in Northern Berkshire District Court on Friday morning following an hours-long, armed standoff at a Houghton Street home.

The defendant is being arraigned for:

  • Domestic Assault and Battery
  • Assault with the Intent to Murder (3 counts)
  • Carrying a Firearm While Under the Influence of Alcohol (3 counts)
  • Possession of a hi-capacity firearm (4 counts)
  • Improper Storage of a hi-capacity firearm (2 counts)
  • Improper Storage of a firearm (6 counts)

According to a report, on June 10, at approximately 8:42 p.m., officers responded to 365 Houghton St. following a report of a domestic assault and battery. The caller said she and her husband had been involved in a physical altercation.

She said her husband was intoxicated, making suicidal statements about shooting himself, and had access to both a shotgun and a pistol.

Upon arrival, officers made contact with both the caller and Parker. During the encounter, Parker threatened to shoot officers before retreating into the home and refusing to exit.

Officers believed that Parker was armed.

To ensure public safety, police established a perimeter around the home and requested assistance from the Berkshire County Special Response Team (SRT) and North Adams Police crisis negotiators. The Brien Center was also contacted and promptly provided an emergency mental health clinician to assist with the incident.

Special Response Team personnel deployed drones to monitor the residence and provide aerial illumination. During the operation, officers saw Parker exit the house carrying a rifle. He pointed it at the drones, stated a report. Parker subsequently pointed the rifle toward several officers positioned behind their cruisers. After officers attempted to de-escalate the situation, Parker returned inside the residence.

Trained crisis negotiators maintained communication with Parker for several hours in an effort to peacefully resolve the situation. At approximately 2 a.m., Parker ceased communication with negotiators.

Drone operators later observed Parker unconscious in a recliner on the first floor of the residence, with a rifle and shotgun on the floor nearby.

Members of the Berkshire County SRT then executed a coordinated operation. Diversionary devices were deployed through a window while an entry team simultaneously entered the home, secured the firearms, and took the defendant into custody.

A search warrant was executed after Parker was in custody. North Adams Police seized four shotguns, six rifles, two handguns, and thousands or rounds of ammunition from the home.

During the operation, one SRT member sustained a minor injury related to a less-lethal bean bag deployment. Parker also sustained non-life threatening injuries during the arrest and was transported to Berkshire Medical Center for medical evaluation.

"We thank the community for its patience and cooperation throughout this incident, particularly residents in the affected area who complied with temporary shelter-in-place requests," Police Chief Mark Bailey said.  "The North Adams Police Department extends its sincere appreciation to the agencies that provided mutual aid and assisted by handling calls for service during this incident. We are especially grateful to the Berkshire County Special Response Team for its professional and decisive response, the Brien Center for the rapid deployment of a mental health clinician, and our crisis negotiators whose efforts helped maintain dialogue and contributed significantly to the safe resolution of this incident."

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