PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Committee on Ordinances & Rules is eliminating some redundancies in the city code and cleaned up some language in the council's rules and orders.
"This is all really housekeeping," committee member Melissa Mazzeo said at Wednesday's meeting.
The first amendment the City Council subcommittee made was to Chapter 6, finance and taxation. It voted to strike language from Section 6-44 "Department of Purchase-establishment; appointment of purchasing agent" to eliminate redundancies.
Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said the City Council recently approved an ordinance that eliminated the bonding requirements for the police chief and the commissioner of public services. This would extend this elimination to the purchasing agent.
"Now that we carry professional liability insurance, there is no reason for these individuals to be bonded," he said. "It is not a huge amount of cost savings, this bond is around $500, but it is just one of those things that reduce redundancies where we already have mechanisms in place."
The change strikes the sentence: "The purchasing agent shall furnish bond for the faithful performance of his duties, in such form as shall be approved by the city solicitor and in such sum as shall be determined by the mayor."
The committee then looked at a petition from Kenneth Warren asking for a review the use of the words "committee on public works" in the Rules and Orders of the City Council.
The committee voted to change the name to Public Services and Utilities. Chairman Peter White said that it really was a matter of semantics.
"It is pretty straight forward," White said. "We have to amend it to include public services and public utilities."
Warren put forth a second petition that asked the committee to review the use of the words "public works" in the city code for consistency.
The committee voted to ask the city solicitor to go through the city code and change "public works" to "public services."
"Which is something that I think we have started in general. There may be a few stragglers," Mazzeo said.
White noted that this change should only be made in reference to the city, not the state.
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North Street Parking Study Favors Parallel Parking
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A parking study of North Street will be presented at Tuesday's City Council meeting. The design maintains parallel parking while expanding pedestrian zones and adding protected bike lanes.
The city, by request, has studied parking and bike lane opportunities for North Street and come up with the proposal staged for implementation next year.
While the request was to evaluate angle parking configurations, it was determined that it would present too many trade-offs such as impacts on emergency services, bike lanes, and pedestrian spaces.
"The commissioner has been working with Downtown Pittsfield Inc. and my office to come up with this plan," Mayor Peter Marchetti said during his biweekly television show "One Pittsfield."
"We will probably take this plan on the road to have many public input sessions and hopefully break ground sometime in the summer of 2025."
Working with Kittleson & Associates, the city evaluated existing typical sections, potential parking
configurations, and a review of parking standards. It compared front-in and back-in angle parking and explored parking-space count alterations, emergency routing, and alternate routes for passing through traffic within the framework of current infrastructure constraints.
The chosen option is said to align with the commitment to safety, inclusivity, and aesthetic appeal and offer a solution that enhances the streetscape for pedestrians, businesses, cyclists, and drivers without compromising the functionality of the corridor.
"The potential for increasing parking space is considerable; however, the implications on safety and the overall streetscape call for a balanced approach," Commissioner of Public Services and Utilities Ricardo Morales wrote.
Bike lanes and parking have been a hot topic over the last few years since North Street was redesigned.
In September 2020, the city received around $239,000 in a state Shared Streets and Spaces grant to support new bike lanes, curb extensions, vehicle lane reductions, and outdoor seating areas, and enhanced intersections for better pedestrian safety and comfort.
A parking study of North Street will be presented at Tuesday's City Council meeting. The design maintains parallel parking while expanding pedestrian zones and adding protected bike lanes. click for more
Amy Schirmer was recognized as the Volunteer of the Year for creating a weekly therapeutic art class at the George B. Crane Center to help those in recovery from substance use. click for more