image description — Hilltop Orchards is back making cider doughnuts after a fire damaged the orchard's store at Christmas.

Hilltop Orchards Reopens Store Damaged in Christmas Fire

10:15AM / Sunday, January 09, 2022Print Story | Email Story

RICHMOND, Mass. — Hilltop Orchards has reopened this weekend after a Christmas morning fire caused smoke and fire damage the its store.

David Martell, farm manager and master wine/cider maker, said the orchard faced uncertainty after the fire.

However, he said, with hard work, dedicated deep cleaning, and a retail inspection by the Massachusetts Department of Health, store is once more offering freshly made cider doughnuts and other products such as wines and Johnny Mash/JMASH Ciders.

"The Christmas day fire was tough but we know it could have been much worse," Martell said in a statement announcing the reopening. "We feel fortunate for so much: that our dog, Benjamin, barked and woke us up, that the Richmond Fire department and others responded quickly and put the fire out in 10 minutes, that no one was hurt, and that our staff and community have been so supportive."

Hilltop's farm building suffered damage because of a tractor's malfunctioning engine block heater. The farm building, production room, and retail space suffered heavy smoke damage.

Staff, and the Vittori family, owners of Hilltop Orchards, said they are grateful to Richmond, Lenox and other local fire departments for their quick response that resulted in limited damage.

Hilltop Orchards is once again open seven days a week, 9 to 5 p.m.

Tags: reopening,

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Pittsfield Switching to OpenGov for Permitting Software

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:09AM / Tuesday, February 24, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city plans to move on from its "clunky" permitting software in the new fiscal year, switching to OpenGov instead.

On Thursday, the Finance Subcommittee supported a $199,269 free cash appropriation for the conversion to a new online permitting software. Chief Information Officer Kevin Zawistowski explained that Permit Eyes, the current governmental software, is no longer meeting Pittsfield's needs.

The nearly $200,000 appropriation is for the software license and implementation. Going forward, the annual cost for OpenGov will be about $83,000; about $66,000 for the next fiscal year, not including building permits.

"We've had significant issues across the board with the functionality of the system, right down to the actual permits that they're attempting to help us with," he said.

"Without going into details with that, we have to find a new system so that our permits can actually be done effectively, and we can kind of restore trust in our permitting process online."

The city is having delays on permits, customer support, and a "lack of ownership and apology" when mistakes are made, Zawistowski reported. Pittsfield currently pays $49,280 annually for the software, which Open Gov is expected to replace after July 1.

Running alongside this effort, the city wants to bring building permitting software under the city umbrella, rather than being countywide under the vendor Pittsfield is moving away from.

Finance Director Matthew Kerwood explained that the city has gone through a procurement process, OpenGov being the lowest bidder, and the vendor has been paid with contingency money "because we needed to get this project moving." He said Permit Eyes is a "clunky" piece of software, and the company has not invested in technology upgrades where it should have.

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