PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Dunkin' Donuts is asking for a year's extension to comply with the city's Styrofoam ban.
Attorney Pierce Haley, representing Dunkin Brands, asked the Board of Health on Thursday for the extension as the company waits on the development of a lid for 24-ounce containers. Haley said the company has been looking to transition away from the polystyrene containers but needs another year or else it won't be able to serve its larger beverage sizes.
"I don't think we are going to need anything more than one extension. They've been working hard to do this for a while," Haley said.
Those members attending took no action on the request and instead decided to wait until next month when the full board would be present. The deferment would take the company to July 2017 and, until then, Dunkin' would could continue serve all sizes in a new recyclable polypropylene cup, which debuted in New York City, with the Styrofoam lid.
"The only item that wouldn't be compliant is the lid on the 24-ounce cup," Board of Health member Jay Green said. "A lid on a 24-ounce cup seems less intrusive."
Haley said the company received exemptions from bans in Williamstown and in Brookline. It hopes to roll out the new lids before the end of the extension.
"Ideally, we would prefer to use the recyclable polypropylene cup," Haley said.
The company is working with two vendors — one for the cups and one for the lids. The cups are paper and lined with polypropylene. Lids have been developed for the 20 ounce and the 16 ounce cup but not yet for the 24 ounce. Part of the issue is finding a vendor who will produce the lids in the scale Dunkin' Donuts needs.
Green said he was "inclined to issue a deferment" but the board felt that since it is the first request for such a deferment, it should include the entire board.
"Every time we make some of these considerations it sets a precedent moving forward," Dominica D'Avella said.
Green said he knew there would be vendors asking for such a extension when the ordinance was being crafted so he expects more vendors to apply. The vendors have to show an undue hardship and Green said he'd like the whole board to agree to the limits of that.
"Everything we do will be used as a measuring stick," Green said.
The board tabled the proposal for one month and asked the company to come back and present again. The polystyrene ban in the city on food containers goes into effect on July 1.
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Central Berkshire School Officials OK $35M Budget
By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The Central Berkshire Regional School Committee approved a $35 million budget for fiscal 2025 during its meeting on Thursday.
Much of the proposed spending plan is similar to what was predicted in the initial and tentative budget presentations, however, the district did work with the Finance subcommittee to further offset the assessments to the towns, Superintendent Leslie Blake-Davis said.
"What you're going see in this budget is a lower average assessment to the towns than what you saw in the other in the tentative budget that was approved," she said.
The fiscal 2025 budget is $35,428,892, a 5.56 percent or $1,867,649, over this year's $33,561,243.
"This is using our operating funds, revolving revenue or grant revenue. So what made up the budget for the tentative budget is pretty much the same," Director of Finance and Operations Gregory Boino said.
"We're just moving around funds … so, we're using more of the FY25 rural aid funds instead of operating funds next year."
Increases the district has in the FY25 operating budget are from active employee health insurance, retiree health insurance, special education out-of-district tuition, temporary bond principal and interest payment, pupil transportation, Berkshire County Retirement contributions, and the federal payroll tax.
The students have also been able to build friendships and experience new things, such as dancing for community events, taking a trip to Ireland and participating in competitions.
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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.
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Independent Connections officially unveiled its Massachusetts branch on Thursdsay with a ribbon cutting. The IT solutions company's specializations include consulting, cloud computing, and cybersecurity.
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Taylor Garabedian scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed five rebounds, and Abby Scialabba scored 16 points for the ‘Canes, who got 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists from Ashlyn Lesure. click for more