EZ Pass Van Coming to 4-H Youth Fair

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier and Angelica Paredes of the Berkshire County 4-H Fair Association have collaborated to bring the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s EZ Pass Van to the annual 4-H Youth Fair, set for Saturday, Aug. 20, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 

The fair is at the Berkshire County 4-H Fairgrounds on Utility Drive (Off Holmes Road), and the fair itself will run 9-5 and is free. The free transponders will be distributed for the Massachusetts Turnpike.

After an overwhelming response to the EZ Pass van at the downtown Farmers Market on Aug. 6, Farley-Bouvier was contacted by Angelica Paredes about bringing the EZ pass van to the 4-H Fair. John Naughton from Mass DOT, who was with the van on Aug. 6, said that 430 transponders were given out and agreed to return with the van so additional people can sign up. Paredes noted that having the EZ pass van at the fair is another opportunity to not only draw people to the fair but to offer a community service.

MassDOT is currently in the process of transitioning to All Electronic Tolling (AET) for I-90, both directions. MassDOT intends to test AET software during the summer of 2016 and to activate AET by the end of the year. A previously scheduled “go live” date in the month of October will occur if software testing goes as planned before September.

AET gantries, placed over the road and equipped with sensors, will electronically register tolls from vehicles that pass under any gantry. Drivers will no longer have to stop at a toll plaza and will be able to maintain a safe highway speed.

If a vehicle has an EZ Pass transponder, the toll is automatically charged to the customer’s E-ZPass account that the transponder is registered to. If a vehicle does not have an EZ Pass transponder, cameras mounted on the gantry will capture a photograph of the vehicle’s license plate and the registered owner of the vehicle will be sent an invoice. Pay-by-Plate users will pay a surcharge. EZ-Pass users pay the normal toll. 

Drivers who currently have no EZ Pass transponder are encouraged to obtain one.  Applicants must bring vehicle registration, $20 credit card or check only (no cash please) to open an EZ  Pass account, and photo identification to obtain a transponder. The transponders are issued free and the $20 account will be used to pay charges for Massachusetts Turnpike travel.

Pittsfield Celebrates Robert 'Bob' Presutti on Arbor Day

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:33PM / Friday, April 26, 2024

Bob Presutti, right, is presented the Hebert Award in 2017 for his volunteer efforts at Springside Park. He died in 2023 at age 88.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A tree has been planted next to the Berkshire Athenaeum in honor of local "giant" Robert Presutti.

Officials celebrated Arbor Day on Friday by installing a commemorative plaque next to the American elm sapling. This is a tree that James McGrath, the city's park program manager, said Presutti would have been particularly proud of.

"Today is a day where we yes, celebrate trees, but today is also a day where here in the city we intentionally try to acknowledge the good work of folks in our community who spend their time and their efforts and their talents to make Pittsfield a more beautiful place," he said to a crowd of about 20 people.

"Today we are honoring a longtime community volunteer named Bob Presutti. I'm sure a lot of you here know Bob and know his contributions to the city, not only when it comes to trees and parks but also to the Retired Senior Volunteer Program."

The longtime volunteer passed away last year at the age of 88. He contributed more than 10,600 hours to RSVP and had great impacts on the Parks Department over the years from sharing his knowledge and talents to ensuring that workers were safe when working on trees.

"This morning I went through my emails to see how many emails Bob Presutti sent me since the year 2001 when I started with the city. Bob Presutti sent me 14,000 emails and nearly every single one of those was about trees," McGrath said, prompting laughter and smiles from attendees.

One thread struck him as particularly important because it showed Presutti's empathy when it comes to the safety of city workers while caring for trees.

"There were multiple emails from Bob about the need to get the Parks Department maintenance guys into a program learning about chainsaw safety and learning about ladder safety. He was really into making certain that our city workers were well cared for and had all of the instruction that they needed and in fact, he even offered his own time and services after he became certified to teach our city workers," McGrath said.