ADAMS, Mass. — The Board of Health has welcomed newly hired Code Enforcement Officer Mark Blaisdell. He is the town's third code enforcement officer in as many years.
"We would like to welcome Mark as our new code enforcement officer and we appreciate you helping us out," Chairman Peter Hoyt said Wednesday. "We appreciate your willingness to help us out and educate us a little bit."
Former Code Enforcement Officer Thomas Romaniak announced his retirement in August.
Romaniak replaced Scott Koczela, who left the position in 2016 after the town briefly eliminated the position in 2015.
Town Administrator Jay Green attended the meeting said Blaisdell worked for the Pittsfield Health Department prior to coming to Adams.
Green, who once served as the chairman of the Pittsfield Board of Health, said he has worked with Blaisdell in the past.
"I was always impressed by his research and organizational skills and ability to work with the general public on what is not always a pleasant topic," Green said. "He brings eight years of experience with the Pittsfield Health Department."
He added that Blaisdell also served in the Air Force and as a North Adams police officer.
Green said Blaisdell plans to take more proactive action with blight in the community and will be a resource for the board.
"The town of Adams is lucky to have him and I think he will be able to serve quite well as a resource to the board of health," the town administrator said.
In other business, the board agreed to a meeting with real estate developer Stephen Stenson to discuss the proposed Adams Food Innovation Project at the Mausert Block.
"Given the public health implications, I think for us to know what he has going on there would be important," board member David Rhoads said. "Maybe there is a place we could plug in or help him promote."
The project includes a co-working industrial kitchen and a space for community food programs and pop-up restaurants.
The building project itself includes apartments on the upper levels and has gone through multiple iterations. Much of the work has been delayed with just the apartments nearing completion after six years.
Rhoads said he was under the impression that the kitchen would be completed in the spring, however, Green said he was not even sure if Stenson received the grant needed to install this kitchen.
The original plan was to meet with Stenson in January but board member Peter Hoyt thought it may be prudent to schedule a meeting only after they know the project's status.
"Maybe we should wait until we know what the plan is," Hoyt said. "If he does not have the grant funds, I don't think there is really a point to meet and report on anything. Maybe we can revisit this next meeting."
Editor's note: the wrong person named in this article has been corrected.
