image description — The ceremony will start at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Pittsfield Inaugural Ceremony Scheduled For Tuesday

Staff Reports02:03PM / Friday, December 29, 2017Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A new City Council will take the oath of office on Tuesday.

The 2018 inauguration ceremony is set for 10 a.m. in the City Council chambers. That is when two new councilors, two new School Committee members, and a new city clerk will take the oath of office.

The City Council will feature two new faces - Earl Persip III and Helen Moon - alongside nine incumbents - Kevin Morandi, Nicholas Caccamo, Christopher Connell, Donna Todd Rivers, John Krol, Anthony Simonelli, Melissa Mazzeo, Peter White, and Peter Marchetti.

On the School Committee Dennis Powell and William Cameron will be sworn in alongside incumbents Daniel Elias, Joshua Cutler, Cynthia Taylor, and Kathrine Yon.

Michele Cetti will take over as city clerk.

Following the oath of office for those elected seats, the City Council will elect both its president and vice president. Marchetti served as the council president for the last two years, was the highest vote-getter in the election, and has voiced interest in returning to the position. Krol served as vice president.

The councilors will then draw for seating positions on the dais and establishing rules of order.

Mayor Linda Tyer will provide her inaugural address.

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Lanesborough Hopes for Continued Talks on Mall Sale

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
06:41PM / Wednesday, November 11, 2026

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Select Board is optimistic that talks for the Berkshire Mall sale will continue.

Chair Deborah Maynard and Vice Chair Juli Baker were to meet with mall owner JMJ Holdings, the Baker Hill Road District, and proposed buyer Cypress Equities on Tuesday to discuss next steps. As of Wednesday, iBerkshires had received a "we are optimistic" from Maynard on the talks. The Berkshire Eagle reported a response from a Cypress representative saying talks will continue.

Baker had updated the Select Board on Monday about the status of the sale and the efforts being undertaken by the renamed Baker Hill Business District.

Cypress Equities pulled out of a purchase-and sale-agreement with mall owner JMJ last week for the following reasons.

Not enough water service/pressure to the property to support redevelopment without constructing costly water tanks.
The current septic system and former treatment facility is not acceptable for a project of the scale and magnitude proposed.
There is existing asbestos and bad soil from the treatment system that needs to be remediated off site.
And the current structure and tax assessment of the Baker Hill Road District.

Baker has been working with what is now being called the Baker Hill Business District and said she and the district members are happy that Cypress has decided to leave the door open to more discussions and that they have been working hard to try and address the company's needs.

Last month, the town had asked state Sen. Paul Mark and state Rep. John Barrett III to support the state Department of Transportation taking over the Connector Road, funding for a mall connection to Pittsfield's wastewater treatment plant and a connection to the town's water main.

Baker said an amendment has been drafted to cap the district's taxes to not grow more than 2.5 percent a year. She noted that, historically, taxes have not grown by more than one percent per year, so it won't be difficult to meet that cap.

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