Central Berkshire Emergency Planning Committee Seeks New Members
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Central Berkshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee is looking for new members.
"We need some new blood in here," Chairman Robert Czerwinski said at the committee's meeting on Wednesday.
About six first responders from different communities gathered at the Fire Department for CBREPC's first meeting of the year.
The committee's priority is to minimize the risk to public safety, health, and property damage. It aims to assist in responses to and the control and mitigation of hazardous materials incidents in member communities and work on hazardous materials response plans.
Pittsfield's Emergency Management Agency works with the committee to prepare for potential disasters. Other partnering communities are Becket, Dalton, Hancock, Hinsdale, Lanesborough, Lee, Lenox, Peru, Pittsfield, Richmond, Washington, Williamstown and Windsor.
According to the city of Pittsfield's website, members can include first responders, elected and state officials, media, community groups, owners and operators of facilities with hazardous materials, and members of business and industry.
Czerwinski said that since the committee's establishment, it has branched out to assist in a variety of challenges that the city and towns face.
"The original purpose of this committee was for hazardous material challenges and things like that, we've branched out into all hazards, which isn't a bad thing by any means, but how many of our communities are coming to us looking for that help and expertise? How many people have gotten Tier 2 reports this past month and they look at you like, 'What are we supposed to do with these reports?'" the retired Pittsfield fire chief said, referencing an annual federal report that is mandatory for companies that store hazardous materials.
"So I think we had a need to refocus some of the stuff that we're doing and maybe we need to have some education sessions or whatever and try to bring in some new blood."
Czerwinski also wondered if there would be a greater turnout for meetings if they were in the evening.
Lt. Col. Thomas Grady of the Berkshire County Sheriff’s Office pointed out that many first responders are wearing dual hats, which could contribute to them not being able to make meetings.
He thought that emergency management departments could provide assistance in situations like the proposed waste site for polychlorinated biphenyls in Lee (part of the Rest of the River cleanup), where the committee members could help provide education in the hazardous material realm.
"There are things that we face in Berkshire County that EMDs can play, I think, a critical role in," Grady added.
He also reported a challenge that came up in December with the Dalton Police Department because of COVID-19 that was able to be resolved by collaborative work.
"Is everybody aware of that challenge that came up in December just before Christmas where the Dalton dispatch and Dalton Police Department were pretty much down and out with COVID and [State Police] ended up stepping up to do patrols up there to help fill the gaps?" he said to the committee.
"And then [Dalton Police Chief Deanna Strout] reached out to see if we could help with dispatch and we were able to pretty quickly be able to get all of the frequencies and stuff tied into our center so that we could take over their operations completely, including toning out, paging, radio communications, all that stuff," he said, referring to the sheriff's dispatch arm.
"And we already have that communication with MSP so it was a good test of all of the work that we've done over the course of the years and obviously, it's important this group as well."
The CBREPC is planning to hold another meeting in April.
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