Dalton Cable Advisory Commission Recommends Attorney

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:13AM / Tuesday, January 09, 2024Print Story | Email Story

DALTON, Mass. — The Cable Advisory Commission continued its efforts in negotiating a new contract with Charter Communications during its meeting on Monday evening.

During the meeting, the commissioners spoke to attorney William Solomon over the phone, during which they reiterated some of their priorities during the negotiation process.

These priorities include adding to the contract a 5 percent gross revenue, capital funds, funding for fiber optic cables to enhance connections, and updated equipment needed to handle this upgrade.

The commission voted to recommend hiring Solomon for the negotiations. Although Solomon does not usually charge less than $225 an hour he agreed to charge the town $200 an hour for his service because he enjoys the work.

Solomon has worked for other cities and towns in Massachusetts on contracts and negotiations for cable contracts.

The last time the town had a contract was in 1997 with Time Warner Cable, which was purchased by Spectrum in 2016.

The 1997 contract requires that Time Warner Cable give the Dalton Community Cable Association 5 percent of the gross revenue, which is used as the operating budget

In the new contract with Charter Communications, commissioners urged the need to retain this percentage.

Commissioners and station manager Michael Sinopoli urged the need for new equipment as the current equipment is outdated. They also requested that upgrading to high definition be included in the contract.

The fact that the association is on its current coaxial cabling could be problematic because of the possible quality of the signal and high cost of upgrading, Solomon said.

They would also like to have added to the contract a requirement of Charter Communications providing Dalton Community Cable Association a contact person to expedite troubleshooting.

Solomon will be sending the legal services agreement draft to the town manager and commission Chair Rachel Branch.

He is going to create an outline of the issues based on the commission's discussion and will also set up an additional two meetings to discuss their needs and interests.

Tags: cable television, spectrum,

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Pittsfield Schools Schedule Morningside, Budget Hearings This Week

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:23AM / Monday, April 06, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee will hold another public hearing for the potential closure of Morningside Community School.

On Thursday, April 9, at 6 p.m., community members will have the chance to give feedback in the Reid Middle School library. Last month, the Pittsfield Public Schools announced the possible closure of Morningside, which serves elementary grades, for the 2026-2027 school year and redistribution of its students to other city schools.

In the last couple of weeks, the district has solicited input from employees and community members through meetings at the school.

Morningside Community School was built in the mid-1970s with an open classroom concept. Morningside serves about 374 students and has a 7 percent accountability score, outperformed by 93 percent of the state.

For fiscal year 2027, the district has allocated about $5.2 million for the school. The committee has also requested a version of the proposed $87.2 million district budget with Morningside closed.

Pittsfield has another open concept school, Conte Community School, that is planned to consolidate with Crosby Elementary School, and possibly Stearns Elementary School, in a new building on the Crosby site by 2030. The status of the project's owner's project manager will be discussed on Tuesday, April 7, at 5 p.m. at Taconic High School during the School Building Needs Commission meeting.

That leaves the school officials wondering if Morningside students could have better educational outcomes if resources followed them to other nearby schools. Interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips has stressed that a decision has not yet been made.

Considerations for the school’s closure include: The feasibility of the facility to provide a conducive teaching and learning environment with an open campus design, the funding allocation needed to ensure Morningside students can have equitable learning opportunities, and declining enrollment across Pittsfield elementary schools.