BRPC Berkshire Benchmarks Survey

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) announced the 2022 Berkshire Benchmarks Survey. 
 
BRPC, working with the Berkshire Leadership Impact Council and numerous organizations around the county, developed the survey to better understand the issues affecting county residents.
 
Postcards are being mailed to all county residents with the survey link. Survey participants may also go directly to www.surveymonkey.com/r/Berkshire22 or to www.surveymonkey.com/r/Berkshire22_Spanish for a Spanish language version.
 
The survey asks a range of questions, such as "How much are you able to save for retirement?", "How welcome do you feel in outdoor spaces, like parks, conservation areas, and reserves?" and "How well do you feel your local town or city government represents your beliefs and values?"
 
The goals of Berkshire Benchmarks are to work with the community to understand priorities, help inform the region on how BRPC are doing, and assess whether BRPC are seeing improvement. Berkshire Benchmarks achieves these goals by improving the region's access to data and quality analysis. BRPC can all make better informed decisions and more accurately track performance over time through better data.
 
The survey results and recently revised "Regional Indicators" will provide vital information on how the region is performing in a diverse set of sectors. These sectors include economy, education, environment, government, health, housing, social environment, and transportation.
 
The survey results will be shared in April at a bi-annual convening which will also include the unveiling of a new Berkshire Benchmarks website and the release of a State of the County report.

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Pittsfield Park Getting Basketball Court Renovations

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The basketball courts at Dorothy Amos Park will see some renovations for players of all ages who use them.  

On Thursday, the Conservation Commission OK'd court paving and repainting on the property at 320 West St. One of the courts will be milled, and all three will be repainted. 

The park, which also has a playground and seating areas, is along the West Branch of the Housatonic River, and the work requires ConCom approval. Dorothy Amos Park is a popular recreation spot in the West Side neighborhood, and is home to the Beat the Streets youth summer basketball league. 

Conservation Agent Shannon Poulin reported concern about a tree with roots growing through one of the courts, and that the tree will more than likely need to be cut down. 

"Other than that, I mean, the courts already exist, and it's just an upgrade," she said. 

Commissioner Jonathan Lothrop commented that he has seen roots become a problem long after the tree is removed. As a taxpayer, he would like to see the tree's root system removed to avoid spending more money on it in the future. 

Work was approved with two special conditions: all materials are stored outside of the resource areas, and erosion controls are to be placed along the fence line before work begins.

In other news, commissioners issued 20 orders of conditions for the filling of an isolated wetland on property located at 100 Dan Fox Drive, or Bousquet Sport.  

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