Adams Selectmen to Interview Police Chief Candidates
 The Board of Selectmen will interview the finalist for the police chief position on Saturday and Wednesday. |
ADAMS, Mass. — The Selectmen will interview three candidates for police chief in the next week.
A search committee, consisting of representatives from the town, a local business, a private citizen, a school administrator and a detective from North Adams, narrowed the field of 20 down to three finalists.
Donald Poirot retired from the position earlier this year.
The finalists are Michael Bennett, a sergeant from Templeton, Scott Heagney, resident agent-in-charge for the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Rochester, N.Y. officer and Richard Tarsa, acting police chief in Adams.
Tarsa and Heagney will be interviewed Saturday morning at 10 and 11, respectively, and Bennett will be interviewed Wednesday night.
According to a letter from the search committee, the 20 applicants were whittled down to seven and then to three after preliminary interviews. The search committee prepared by meeting with personnel in the Police Department and touring the facility. The position was then advertised in local, regional and national resources.
The applicants were ranked with seven being invited to interviews, which lasted between 30 minutes to an hour. Each of the selectmen have written their own questions for the candidates and submitted them to Chairman John Duval, who will put together them prior to the interviews.
"I think we're going to have a rough time narrowing it down to just one," Selectman Arthur "Skip" Harrington said on Wednesday.
In other business, next spring is shaping up as a busy season for downtown Adams. Town Administrator Jonathan Butler reported that both the Route 8 roundabout and the Park Street reconstruction are slated for groundbreaking then.
"It is going to cause disturbances," Butler said of the Park Street project but promised that the town will do what it can to minimize the impacts.
Nonetheless, traffic congestion and detours are expected during construction. But when the projects are completed, Selectman Joseph Nowak said the town will be "on firm footing for getting businesses downtown."
"It is going to make our community more pedestrian and bicycle friendly," Harrington said, adding that the design complements the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail and the other recreational amenities the town offers.
Beyond road projects, Butler said the extension of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail to Lime Street also is expected to break ground in the spring, which could include the addition of the Berkshire Scenic Rail. However, the rail is still uncertain because there is a lingering question of Article 97 land.
Butler said the town is working with the state Department of Recreation and Conservation to remove a portion of the land required for the rail project out of 97 classification. That classification allows for bike trails but not rail and the solution could require an act of the Legislature.
Meanwhile, Butler is hopeful that the private Mausert and the Jones blocks will have renovations well under way. The Mausert Block, where the ground floor was redone, has received approval for renovations for its upper floors; the stalled Jones Block is being auctioned on Thursday.
Also Wednesday, Tarsa announced the a portion of East Road near the landfill will be closed on Tuesday, Aug. 13. A contractor needs to perform work at the solar array on the landfill but needs a crane positioned in the road. East Road is the secondary connector between Adams and North Adams so its closure will affect commuters.
Tarsa said residents should plan accordingly.
Tags: interview, police chief, roadwork, streetscape,
