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The Airport Commission was updated about the progress of multiple ongoing improvement projects.

North Adams Hangar Project To Be Extended

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Shamrock Hangar renovation project, although moving along, will be completed later than expected.
 
Peter Enzien of Stantec, the engineering firm overseeing the airport improvement projects, told the Airport Commission Tuesday that instead of completing the Shamrock Hangar by December 4, as agreed upon, the project will be pushed out towards the end of the month.
 
"They are hoping by the end of this week to have the windows in and do some of the electrical work," Enzien said.
 
"The ultimate goal here is to get the space wrapped up by Christmas to a point where there may be a few miscellaneous things that need to be addressed but the space is mostly complete."
 
The city purchased the hangar this summer and through Non-Primary Entitlement Funds from the Federal Aviation Authority, the city is renovating the space.
 
Enzien said the project is being held up by materials that have not yet arrived such as the windows. He said much of the plumbing is complete and the interior walls have been framed.
 
Enzien said while removing old sheetrock, they found that a portion of the lower wall was rotting but they were able to correct the issue.
 
"The bottom portion of the wall was rotted right out about 8 inches from the floor so water coming in from the outside over the years had caused a lot of the wood to rot," he said. 
 
Enzien said although the hangar is anticipated to be largely complete by Christmas, the hangar door installation will likely be complete sometime in the early new year because the contractor must work in tandem with the door manufacturers. 
 
Chairman Jeff Naughton asked that the contractor submit an official request for an extension.
 
Enzien said not much work has been done on the administrative building project, which is also planned to be renovated, however, the gate improvements are mostly complete.
 
Enzien said gate eight and gate ten have been motorized and although both gates seem to be functioning, there is a slight issue with the remote-control operation of gate ten. The remote should be able to operate within a 500-foot radius of the gate.
 
"They don’t know if it is the plantings that are causing a line of sight issue, but I spoke with Berkshire Fence and they are looking at other options," he said. "Hopefully in the next week or so we will have a solution and then we can close out the project." 

Tags: airport commission,   harriman west,   

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Q&A with State Representative Challenger Andrew Fitch

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — On Sept. 1, voters in the First Berkshire District will decide whether they want to send a new representative to Beacon Hill in Boston.
 
Andrew Fitch, currently a city councilor in the district's largest municipality — and the commonwealth's smallest city — is challenging former North Adams Mayor John Barrett III, who won the First Berkshire seat in a 2017 special election, in the Democratic Party primary.
 
There is no Republican on the primary ballot for the First Berkshire seat so the primary will effectively be the election for the seat. 
 
The two candidates met for their only debate on Aug. 13 at Williams College. iBerkshires.com reached out to both candidates to follow up on some of the points raised in the debate and get their thoughts on some other issues facing the district.
 
Below are excerpts from a conversation with challenger Andrew Fitch:
 
Question: From the very beginning, you talked about the campaign as a listening experience, and this week you're continuing that with the bike tour …
 
Andrew Fitch: Knocking on doors that have never been knocked on before. … I was riding through, I believe it was Hinsdale coming into Windsor, and they started to yell at me, 'No!' And then the guy was like, 'Wait a second. That's Andrew Fitch.' They actually knew who I was, and they were actually wanting to chat with me.
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