Pittsfield Offers Community Development Director to Florida Woman

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Janis Akerstrom has been selected to take over as the city's director of community development.
 
Akerstrom is the current housing and community development manager in Orlando, Fla. She would fill the position left by Douglas Clark, who resigned to return to his engineering business. James McGrath, the city's open space and parks director, is currently serving in the position on a interim basis and served on the committee to find Clark's replacement.
 
"I am very pleased to be able to bring on board a community development director with Ms. Akerstrom's qualifications," Mayor Daniel Bianchi wrote in a statement. "She brings a great deal of experience managing community block grant programs and a variety of other state and federal grant projects. Her knowledge of city planning and housing along with her strong management experience, will be invaluable to the department and the community."
 
Akerstrom boasts more than 20 years of experience with the most recent being the housing and community development manager in Orlando.
 
The City Council will be asked to approve her appointment at its Aug. 11 meeting. She was unanimously chosen by an interview committee consisting McGrath, Shirley Edgerton, cultural proficiency coach; Jesse Cook-Dubin, vice president of Pittsfield Downtown Inc.; Julia Sabourin, director of administrative services; and John DeAngelo, personnel director.
 
Akerstrom holds holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia College in Aurora, Colo., and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Illinois. She also studied law at Gonzaga School of Law in Spokane, Wash., though she did not complete the graduate degree. She also studied at the medicine with the Navy in Orlando and business administration at Barnes Business College in Denver.
 
In 1992, when she was studying law, she took a job in the Spokane County Community Development Division, where she focused on the federal Community Development Block Grant's aquifer protection program that connects homes to water lines. She also has worked on mixed-use and senior housing developments, administered a women and minority business development loan initiative, and oversaw the reconstruction of an above-ground sewer reservoir.
 
In 1998, she became the senior community development specialist in the Washing County Office of Community Development, in Hillsboro, Ore. There she headed the entire Community Development Block Grant program for the county. A year later, she did the same for Clark County in Washington.
 
In 2001, she moved to Illinois and was the community development manager and federal grant programs manager for the Village of Oak Park. There she again headed the Community Development Block Grant Program but also an array of other federal programs including receiving $11 million in funds for regional housing collaborative efforts for six cities, and earned her master's degree in 2010.
 
She took the job in Orlando in March 2013. She managed Orlando's $6 million worth of various federal grants including the Community Development Block Grants and worked with the federal Housing and Urban Development grant funds. 

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MassDOT Project Will Affect Traffic Near BMC

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Prepare for traffic impacts around Berkshire Medical Center through May for a state Department of Transportation project to improve situations and intersections on North Street and First Street.

Because of this, traffic will be reduced to one lane of travel on First Street (U.S. Route 7) and North Street between Burbank Street and Abbott Street from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday through at least May 6.

BMC and Medical Arts Complex parking areas remain open and detours may be in place at certain times. The city will provide additional updates on changes to traffic patterns in the area as construction progresses.

The project has been a few years in the making, with a public hearing dating back to 2021. It aims to increase safety for all modes of transportation and improve intersection operation.

It consists of intersection widening and signalization improvements at First and Tyler streets, the conversion of North Street between Tyler and Stoddard Avenue to serve one-way southbound traffic only, intersection improvements at Charles Street and North Street, intersection improvements at Springside Avenue and North Street, and the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of First Street, North Street, Stoddard Avenue, and the Berkshire Medical Center entrance.

Work also includes the construction of 5-foot bike lanes and 5-foot sidewalks with ADA-compliant curb ramps.  

Last year, the City Council approved multiple orders for the state project: five orders of takings for intersection and signal improvements at First Street and North Street. 

The total amount identified for permanent and temporary takings is $397,200, with $200,000 allocated by the council and the additional monies coming from carryover Chapter 90 funding. The state Transportation Improvement Plan is paying for the project and the city is responsible for 20 percent of the design cost and rights-of-way takings.

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