Court Allows Petricca to Collect Rent From Mall Tenants

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
02:39AM / Friday, January 05, 2018Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Judge Paul Smyth has allowed Petricca Construction to recoup some $72,000 of credits tenants owe to the Berkshire Mall.

Petricca is attempting to essentially garnish the mall owner's wages to the tune of $248,997 owed to the company for snow removal. Petricca had sued and won the case against Berkshire Mall Realty Holdings over work performed last winter.

The owners never paid the Berkshire Superior Court judgement and, in November, Petricca started a trustee process. The court summonsed 19 stores at the Berkshire Mall to disclose what they owed in credits to the mall and, one by one, the majority of the stores agreed to withhold rent or other payments until the court made a judgement on the process.

On Wednesday, Smyth approved a motion to charge the Palace Hair Design, His and Hers Inc, Regal Cinemas, Sears Roebuck and Co., Solomon's Furniture, and Spencer Gifts amounts the companies disclosed owing to the mall owners.

The collection, however, is only part of what is owed to Petricca. In seeking the ex parte trustee process, Petricca's attorneys wrote there "is a clear danger that the defendant, if notified in advance of the motion for approval of the trustee process, will attempt to divert or conceal, or otherwise place out of reach the funds in the hands and possession of the trustee sought by this attachment."

The issue dates back to last winter, when Petricca had entered an agreement to plow and remove snow from the Berkshire Mall parking lot.

"On or around October 26, 2016, Berkshire Realty and PCC entered into an agreement concerning the provision of services at the Berkshire Mall. According to the agreement, Petricca Construction Company agreed to provide snow removal services as well as services incidental to snow removal, including salting, at a property operated by Berkshire Realty known as the Berkshire Mall," reads the docket filed in Berkshire Superior Court.

The lawsuit is the largest of three filed against the owners of the Berkshire Mall in 2017 for unpaid bills.

The Berkshire Mall has been struggling recently with the loss of multiple anchor stores. Macy's, Best Buy, Sears, and J.C. Penney have all opted to vacate the property.

Tags: Berkshire Mall, lawsuit,

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Lanesborough Chooses New Town Administrator

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
09:19PM / Tuesday, October 06, 2026

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Select Board has named longtime Easthampton official John Mason as the new town administrator after interviewing him and one other candidate on Tuesday.

About 45 applications were received. Eleven were brought before the seven-member selection committee. From that pool, the committee brought forward two candidates to the Select Board: Mason, Easthampton's director of Parks And Recreation, and Allison Schmitt, executive director for Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll).

During the Select Board meeting on Tuesday, the board voted, 4-1, to offer the post to Mason, following a meeting that lasted more than two hours.

Prior to the interviews, the board bid farewell to outgoing Town Administrator Gina Dario, who is taking a position as Adams' new Community Development Director. Her last day is Friday, but she will be a resource to Lanesborough to ensure a smooth transition.

Mason brings about 20 years of experience in municipal government, including the last 17 years as director of Parks And Recreation in Easthampton, where his responsibilities included grant writing, managing state and federal grants, overseeing budgets, and managing projects.

Prior to that, he served as executive director of a Boys & Girls Club near Boston, where he developed his grant-writing experience. He credits that role with helping him grow.

"We were trying to run an operation on good feelings and no money. It's tough to operate that way. So it was very challenging, and I had to learn how to grant write and to do it well," he said.

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