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Representatives for Berkshire Kind go over plans for the company's marijuana cultivation facility at Tuesday's Community Development Board meeting.

Pittsfield Approves Industrial Park Pot Cultivator's Site Plan

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Community Development Board approved a site plan from Berkshire Kind, which plans to cultivate marijuana in the William Stanley Business Park.
 
The board was happy Tuesday with some of the changes Berkshire Kind made to its proposed 20,000 square foot indoor cultivation building and blessed the site plan.
 
"This is a big step forward because in the beginning it looked like a big garage," Chairwoman Sheila Irvin said. "We look forward to a little more detail."
 
Brothers Philip and Jeremy Silverman, owners of Berkshire Kind, executed an agreement with the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority (PEDA) in the fall of 2019. They plan to occupy site 4 in the park, right across the street from the Berkshire Innovation Center.
 
The brothers plan to invest $2.8 million to $2.9 million in the 1.5 acre site that would accommodate 5,000 to 6,000 square feet of canopy in the 20,000 square-foot building that would double in later phases of the project.
 
The design that Darrin Harris of Hill Engineering presented to the board was altered from the original to make the building look less boxy.
 
"We submitted some plans and we got some feedback so we dressed up the building a little bit," Harris said. "We will say the site is very difficult to see ... but it was still a pretty plain building."
 
Harris said false windows, brick, and canopies were added.
 
The board felt the changes were a huge improvement.
 
There was some discussion over the color of the building with board members advocating for a darker tone that would help the building blend in — perhaps matching the Berkshire Innovation Center.
 
"It is much better than what was in the plan," board member Elizabeth Herland said. "It is a long building and I understand a lot won't be visible but you still will be able to see it. When you drive north on Woodlawn [Avenue] you are going to see this big long building."
 
Jeremy Silverman, who plans to move to the area to oversee the business, said they are willing to use any color the city wants as long as it complies with the William Stanley Park standards.
 
"We are open to whatever," he said. "Color to us is irrelevant."
 
Other than the aesthetics, Harris said they meet all other zoning standards and have met with the building department and Fire Department. Hill Engineer Jeff Randall added that there will be 12 parking spaces and the parking lot and facility entrance will be relined and cleaned up. 
 
"We will do it because it is kind of all over the place with all of these lines that don't go anywhere," he said. 

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EPA Lays Out Draft Plan for PCB Remediation in Pittsfield

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Ward 4 Councilor James Conant requested the meeting be held at Herberg Middle School as his ward will be most affected. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric have a preliminary plan to remediate polychlorinated biphenyls from the city's Rest of River stretch by 2032.

"We're going to implement the remedy, move on, and in five years we can be done with the majority of the issues in Pittsfield," Project Manager Dean Tagliaferro said during a hearing on Wednesday.

"The goal is to restore the (Housatonic) river, make the river an asset. Right now, it's a liability."

The PCB-polluted "Rest of River" stretches nearly 125 miles from the confluence of the East and West Branches of the river in Pittsfield to the end of Reach 16 just before Long Island Sound in Connecticut.  The city's five-mile reach, 5A, goes from the confluence to the wastewater treatment plant and includes river channels, banks, backwaters, and 325 acres of floodplains.

The event was held at Herberg Middle School, as Ward 4 Councilor James Conant wanted to ensure that the residents who will be most affected by the cleanup didn't have to travel far.

Conant emphasized that "nothing is set in actual stone" and it will not be solidified for many months.

In February 2020, the Rest of River settlement agreement that outlines the continued cleanup was signed by the U.S. EPA, GE, the state, the city of Pittsfield, the towns of Lenox, Lee, Stockbridge, Great Barrington, and Sheffield, and other interested parties.

Remediation has been in progress since the 1970s, including 27 cleanups. The remedy settled in 2020 includes the removal of one million cubic yards of contaminated sediment and floodplain soils, an 89 percent reduction of downstream transport of PCBs, an upland disposal facility located near Woods Pond (which has been contested by Southern Berkshire residents) as well as offsite disposal, and the removal of two dams.

The estimated cost is about $576 million and will take about 13 years to complete once construction begins.

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