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The agreement was announced on Thursday afternoon at City Hall.

North Adams Reaches Insurance Agreement With Unions

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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North Adams Police Association Local 382 President Brian Kelly, North Adams Teachers Association President Susan Chilson and North Adams Firefighters Association Local 1781 Vice President Matt LaBonte.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city will pay back an estimated $800,000 to settle a long-running battle over insurance with its public employees unions through a new insurance plan and reductions in workers' premiums over the next three years.

The agreement also includes switching from the city's self-insurance to coverage under the Municipal Interlocal Insurance Association beginning July 1. In return, the police and teachers unions have agreed to drop their grievances against the city.
 
"This is the best possible outcome for both the taxpayers of North Adams and the employees," said Mayor Richard Alcombright at a press conference on Thursday with union leaders. "We've reached an amicable and mutually beneficial agreement with our employees. "We're extremely happy to put this isue behind us; litigation of this issue would have been costly and may have resulted in a much larger settlement."

The unions had charged that the city failed to fully fund the Medical Insurance Trust Fund, meaning that workers were paying more than their 30 percent share. A review of the fund commissioned by the new administration found that the city had not fully funded the account as mandated by state law for at least the last three years.

However, paying the runout, or claims not yet received at the end of the fiscal year, will mean borrowing or amortizing some $650,000.

"Let me make this very clear, that had the plan been funded properly in the past, those dollars would have been there," said Alcombright. "Because of the underfunding, we will need to borrow or amortize this amount over a five- to seven-year period."

That will require a special act of the Legislature, said the mayor, and Rep. Daniel E. Bosley and Sen. Benjamin B. Downing are preparing to file that legislation.

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The premium split will change from 70 percent for the city and 30 percent for employees to 77/23 for fiscal 2011 and 75/25 for fiscal 2012. The two-year contract with MIIA will be renegotiated with the unions in 2012.

Alcombright and his staff have been meeting with the public employees' insurance group for more than a month. Both sides said the talks were amicable, if not always agreeable. "No one raised their voice," said Alcombright, adding that parley boded well for upcoming contract negotiations.

"We're very pleased with the settlement on many different levels," said Brian Kelly, president of the North Adams Police Association Local 382. "We're very grateful to the mayor for reviewing the trust fund, and then cooperating with the unions and treating us with dignity and respect throughout the negotiations and bringing it to an amicable vote and putting a very ugly situation in the past for the city of North Adams."

Moving to MIIA will actually mean a 6 percent savings of about $500,000 and will cost the city about the same as it would to properly fund the self-insurance account for the year. The city has budgeted $3.5 million for insurance next year.

MIIA is the nonprofit insurance arm of the Massachusetts Municipal Association and has 125 municipalities participating in its membership-driven trust fund. It offers at lower cost the same Blue Cross Blue Shield plans the city currently has; an affordable, higher-deductible HMO will be added as an option. The plans cover the seven public employee unions and nonunion workers as well.

"It allows us to stay with what we have and I think that's what makes people most nervous, if they have to change what they're doing, if they have to change their doctor," said North Adams Teachers Association President Susan Chilson.

The agreement allows the city to focus on bigger things, said Alcombright, and a legal process that could mean shelling out "potentially several millions of contractually and legally mandated costs."

"I want to applaud this administration," said City Council Chairman Ronald Boucher. "We've inherited a mess and to the mayor's credit, he didn't point fingers he kept his sights straight ahead and just moved forward to find a resolution to this problem."
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Hoosic River Revival to Host Hybrid Fundraiser and Community Events

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Hoosic River Revival is scheduled to host a hybrid internet and event fundraiser from June 9 to June 21, 2025, which includes an online silent auction and an in-person walk and gathering at MASS MoCA.
 
The online "Confluence Of Two" Silent-Auction Fundraiser will run from June 9 to June 20 at 12 p.m. This auction provides an opportunity to bid on one-on-one time with various Berkshires-celebrated VIPs, with proceeds benefiting the non-profit Hoosic River Revival. The VIP experiences offer winning bidders the chance to walk up to one mile with a community leader as they lead registered walkers in the "Hoosic River Run" on the morning of June 21.
 
The "Hoosic River Run" is a mile walk and timed 5k race, hosted by Hoosic River Revival and the City of North Adams. The event begins and ends at MASS MoCA, following a route along a section of the Hoosic River that is lined with flood chutes. For those who do not win auction lots, in-person registration to walk or run will be available on June 21, starting at 7 a.m.
 
At 7 a.m. on June 21, the "Confluence Of Two" meetup and photo opportunity will take place at MASS MoCA Courtyard A. Winning bidders and their VIP walking partners will be introduced by Hoosic River Revival. Participants will receive Hoosic River Run T-shirts and swag bags, and each duo will be photographed for publication.
 
Also at 7 a.m., conceptual designs for a new architectural riverwalk will be premiered. These designs, recently commissioned by Hoosic River Revival, in collaboration with the City of North Adams and internationally-acclaimed architecture firm Group Work, aim to transform the river into a central asset for the city. The visualized concepts are intended to enhance flood safety, ecology, infrastructure for recreation, and riverside accessibility for residents and visitors. They include the option for a riverwalk loop that could connect diverse neighborhoods and potentially link to the Natural Bridge State Park, expanding on the vision of Hoosic River Revival Founder Judy Grinnell since 2008.
 
The one-mile walk will commence at 8 a.m., following the same route as the timed race. Participants will traverse the MASS MoCA campus, pass the Little Hoosac Tunnel, and circle back at Western Gateway Heritage State Park. At the park, students from the Berkshires' Academy for Advanced Musical Studies (BAAMS), accompanied by founding musician Richard Boulger, faculty, and alumni, will premiere an original song titled "The Wise Old Hoosic," dedicated to the Hoosic River.
 
Following the outdoor gatherings and race awards presentation at Courtyard A, MASS MoCA Community Day will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., offering additional special events. Visitors can view the industrial-engineering perspective of the "Confluence Of Two" branches of the Hoosic River from The Prow balcony in Building 6, which was redesigned by Bruner/Cott Architects.
 
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