Adams Arts Advisory Board Member Francie Anne Riley informed the board that the Great Chair Auction has kicked off.

ADAMS, Mass. — The Memorial Building will be closed to all use until the town can test it for mold and other health concerns.

The Selectmen tabled a request Wednesday from the Berkshire Arts and Technology Public Charter School to use the former middle school building, which has seen limited use the past few years, because of concerns over mold.

"I don't know why we are even considering this tonight ... either everyone can use it and fill out a form or no one can use it," Selectman Arthur "Skip" Harrington said. "What are we doing? Opening up ourselves for a lawsuit. We have been told there is problem there and now we are going to let BArT go in there with young kids and run around the gym where there may or may not be mold?"

Selectman Richard Blanchard said the board was told the mold issue was remediated a while ago.

Resident George Haddad said this is not the case and it has been well known in town for a while now that there is a mold issue in the building.

Chairman Jeffrey Snoonian said he would rather have it tested than make a decision guided by rumor.

"I hear a lot of things and a lot of the time there is no truth to it but I do agree if we are going to start using it, we should get it tested," he said. "Let's forget all the 'I hear' and 'she hears' and 'he hears' and starting from this point, we will find out if that building can be used."

Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco said he thought it was a good idea and the board can hold a workshop meeting in the near future.

In other business, the Selectmen voted to hire a patrol officer to fill in the now vacant dispatcher seat.

Longtime dispatcher Anthony Piscioneri, who was retained after the town transferred its dispatch service to the Berkshire County sheriff's office, has left his post to take a job in Pittsfield.

Mazzucco said instead of hiring a new dispatcher, the town can bring on another patrol officer to man the desk and handle walk-ins, administrative duties, the phones and the many emergency calls that still come through the station's number.

That officer could also handle more responsibilities

"The day shift in particular gets very busy and there are a lot of walk-ins and administration items so we still want to keep a body there," Mazzucco said. "We just get more out of having an officer there. There is a lot more they can do."

Police Chief Richard Tarsa said an officer would be far more versatile at the front desk and he is always glad to hire more officers.

Mazzucco said there is money in the budget to handle a small increase and the difference between a dispatcher and a patrolman is less than $10,000.

Tarsa said Piscioneri was an important part of the force and he wishes him well.

"Tony was one of the very first dispatchers Adams had when they moved to that concept ... I wish him well and I have known him a very long time and consider him a close friend," Tarsa said.

Selectman Joseph Nowak agreed.

"I know he has done a lot for this community not only as a dispatcher but for other functions and other safety components of our community," he said.  

• The board shot down a plan to create a three-week window in November during which the Department of Public Works would pick up leaves that residents rake into the road.

Mazzucco said the DPW provides a "Cadillac service" by picking up leaves all during fall that most communities do not offer. He said it would be more efficient to only have pick up from Nov. 1 to Nov. 23.

"Before we would just start in October and the DPW would just constantly have few guys driving around doing leaves until the snow picked up," he said. "So we just want a more efficient way to use our time."

Harrington voted against the change because he wanted to move to a bag system right away. Instead of residents just raking leaves into the road, they would have to bag themselves.

Mazzucco said the DPW is not ready to process the bags and this would take some time to set up.

Nowak voted against the plan because he felt the town should invest in a leaf compactor instead of just loading them all on a truck where they could blow away.

Mazzucco said this kind of machine would be incredibly expensive.

Blanchard voted against the motion because he felt it was not the DPW's job to rake up peoples' leaves at all.

"I remember last year we talked about not allowing the sweeping into the streets now we are telling people to sweep into the street," Blanchard said. "I remember I wanted to buy a big jet truck to blow the leaves back onto their lawns."

Snoonian and Duval voted for the program.

Mazzucco said the DPW will just operate the way it has in the past or figure something else out.

• The state has informed the town it can use Chapter 90 funds to purchase a hot box and recycler to patch potholes using recycled asphalt. Mazzucco said the state also will allow the town to use Chapter 90 road funds on the Jordan Street culvert project.

• The board officially voted to change Town hall Hours to 8 to 5 Monday through Thursday. This will start Monday, Oct. 3.

• The board voted to allow the transfer of CJ's Sports Pub's liquor license to new owners Amy McCarthy and Ben Hanson, who will operate the Pleasant Street bar and restaurant as AJ's Trailside Pub.

"We are moving here from Chelsea with our new baby and we would love nothing more than to raise our baby here in Adams," Hanson said. "So here we are, and we are very excited."

McCarthy, a Cheshire native, and Hanson said they both have restaurant and bar experience and plan to keep the pub mostly the same.