NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday night will be asked to authorize borrowing $2.2 million to pay for damage caused by Hurricane Irene.
According to a communication from Mayor Richard Alcombright, the city will be responsible for 25 percent of the cost, or $550,000. He said 75 percent of the reimbursements from federal and state agencies have been acquired and much of the work has been done or started.
The council will be asked to authorize deficit spending (along with a retroactive approval of the state of emergency declared when the storm hit at the end of August) for disaster-related expenses.
The council will also be asked to approve expanding the veterans service district to include Clarksburg and Florida, pending approval by the boards of those towns. The city's veterans agent is already shared with Adams and Williamstown. The city is reimbursed for services provided to the towns.
Also on the agenda is a request for a 2 percent raise for non-union city employees who have gone without a raise for three cycles. The cost would be $24,000 and would not be retroactive. The mayor said he is still negotiating with police and fire.
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So will this borrowing result in either additional taxes or fee increases for this year? Remember dick said there will be no more
wow lower taxes don't you ever give it a rest!! Maybe we shouldn't have fixed anything damaged by the storm because that costs money. gee wiz you must be really fun to be around.
Its called accountability and credibility, 2 things which the current mayor sorely lacks. And since iBerkshire and the transcript wont hold him accountable, I will.
It called mother nature. Are you going to hold her accountable too! We have a devastating storm with incredible damage and we should what, not fix anything, really? Oh I get it we should maybe require all children to be home schooled and we can get rid of all schools; don't repair or plow roads; close the library; shut off the street lights; anything else you can think of lowertaxes? I understand now, you don't mind living in a third world-type city as long as it doesn't cost you a dime. Ridiculous.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Shore Navigators capitalized on aggressive baserunning and timely hitting Friday night, defeating the North Adams SteepleCats 13-4 at Joe Wolfe Field and dropping the Cats to 0-6 on the young NECBL season.
The Navigators struck first in the opening inning against North Adams starter Garrett Gates. Michael Brown opened the game by reaching after being hit by a pitch before Hunter Kingsbury followed with an infield single. After a double steal moved both runners into scoring position, Gates recorded his first strikeout of the season by retiring Jay Slater. North Shore quickly responded, however, as Grant Hunter lined a two-run double into the gap to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
North Adams threatened in the bottom of the first. Bobby Stang singled and stole second while Evan Meier worked a walk, but North Shore starter John Hegarty escaped the inning without allowing a run.
Gates settled in during the second inning, striking out Luke Johnson and working around a two-out double by Tyler Shulman to post a scoreless frame. He added two more strikeouts in the third, but Slater connected for a solo home run over the left-field fence to extend the Navigators' lead to 3-0. Gates recovered by picking off Simmi Whitehill after a single and later struck out Hunter to end the inning.
The SteepleCats broke through in the bottom of the third. Alex Barrist reached base and advanced into scoring position on a throwing error before Nelphie Lopez worked a walk. A wild pitch moved both runners up, and after Evan Meier battled back from a 1-2 count to draw another walk, Tony Woodie delivered North Adams' biggest hit of the night. His two-run ground-rule double brought home Barrist and Lopez, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
North Shore answered immediately in the fourth. After Steven Sams entered in relief, the Navigators used a combination of walks, stolen bases, wild pitches and defensive miscues to plate three runs and stretch the lead to 6-2.
The game began to slip away in the fifth. Grant Hunter opened the inning with a single before the Navigators loaded the bases. Daniel Leikus delivered a bases-clearing double to right field, helping North Shore push four more runs across the plate. Jake Foster eventually entered to stop the rally, but the damage had been done as the Navigators moved comfortably in front.
On Friday, June 12, Matthew Parker will be arraigned in Northern Berkshire District Court for an incident that occurred on Wednesday evening, June 10, into the early morning of Thursday, June 11. click for more
The upper section of Houghton Street was blocked off for hours on Wednesday night as authorities sought to deal with an individual reportedly having a mental health issue.
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