Pittsfield Signs Contracts With Firefighters, Police Patrolmen

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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The City Council approved the two contracts Tuesday night.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council approved new agreements with the police patrol and firefighter unions.
 
However, the city will be shortly back to the bargaining table because the contracts will only be valid until the end of June. Workers in both unions have been working under an expired contract for the last 2 1/2 years as the two sides worked through a new contract.
 
The city is using $524,460 from free cash to fund the retroactive pay for the firefighters and $402,954 for the police patrol union. 
 
"The raises here are not large. The total looks large because they are 2 1/2 years retro pay," said Councilor at Large Barry Clairmont. "This contract is for three years and we have six months left on it."
 
Both contracts are up a total of 5.5 percent over the length of the contract and are on the same raise schedule. For 2012 and 2013, the employees are getting a 1 percent raise each year. In 2014, they received 1 percent at the start of the year and 1 percent in July. At the start of 2015, they will get a 1.5 percent raise. The leather allowance for the firefighters increased from $350 to $500 and the police boot allowance increased from $300 to $500.
 
"We worked really hard on this and we're hoping you'll accept it," Police Patrol Union President Jeffrey Coco told the City Council.
 
The police contract had already been vetted on the subcommittee level and was unchanged. The firefighters' contract didn't have to be. The City Council opted not to go through the Finance Subcommittee because of the likelihood of being sent back to them unchanged — a pleasant surprise to Timothy Bartini, president of International Association of Firefighters Local 2647, who was in attendance.
 
"We don't have a lot of leeway with these contracts," said Councilor at Large Kathleen Amuso. "I'd like to take care of it tonight. They are not lucrative contracts."
 
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier told the City Council that the vote on a new school will be coming to them in the spring.
The City Council easily approved the contract but urged the administration and the unions to get working on the next contract earlier so that in the future, the city isn't paying retroactive pay.
 
In other business, the City Council accepted the $4.5 million grant from the state to complete the North Street reconstruction project. 
 
"It is continuation of the work we've done in phases so we have a pretty good idea of the design elements," said Director of Community Development Douglas Clark. "We'll be going full stream ahead."
 
Clark says the construction will start on July 1, 2015, and will be completed by the end of 2016.
 
The City Council also saw a presentation from Carl Franceschi, of Drumney Rosane & Anderson Architects Inc., regarding the design of the proposed new Taconic High School — he presented the same presentation as he had the night before to the School Building Needs Commission.
 
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier told the City Council that now is an important time for the project and asked the councilors to hold ward meetings and ask questions. In the spring, the City Council will be asked to vote to spend some $40 million to build the new structure.
 
"We are giving you a lot of time to ask a lot of questions," Farley-Bouvier said. "There is going to be a very important vote coming in a couple months."

Tags: firefighters,   police,   public employees,   union contract,   

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Pittsfield CPA Committee Funds Half of FY24 Requests

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A few projects are not getting funded by the Community Preservation Committee because of a tight budget.

The projects not making the cut were in the historic preservation and open space and recreation categories and though they were seen as interesting and valuable projects, the urgency was not prevalent enough for this cycle.

"It's a tough year," Chair Danielle Steinmann said.

The panel made its recommendations on Monday after several meetings of presentations from applications. They will advance to the City Council for final approval.  

Two cemetery projects were scored low by the committee and not funded: A $9,500 request from the city for fencing at the West Part Cemetery as outlined in a preservation plan created in 2021 and a $39,500 request from the St. Joseph Cemetery Commission for tombstone restorations.

"I feel personally that they could be pushed back a year," Elizabeth Herland said. "And I think they're both good projects but they don't have the urgency."

It was also decided that George B. Crane Memorial Center's $73,465 application for the creation of a recreational space would not be funded. Herland said the main reason she scored the project low was because it didn't appear to benefit the larger community as much as other projects do.

There was conversation about not funding The Christian Center's $34,100 request for heating system repairs but the committee ended up voting to give it $21,341 when monies were left over.

The total funding request was more than $1.6 million for FY24 and with a budget of $808,547, only about half could be funded. The panel allocated all of the available monies, breaking down into $107,206 for open space and recreation, $276,341 for historic preservation, and $425,000 for community housing.

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