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Lanesborough Police Station Committee Tours Current Police Building

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — After establishing goals for the estimated $3.8 million new police building project at its first meeting on Tuesday, the newly-formed Police Station Committee conducted a tour of the current police building to examine its many issues. 

Police Chief Robert Derksen pointed out several deficiencies with the structure, including its size, lack of privacy, mold presence, and the lack of insulation and proper air conditioning. Many of these issues, he said, are due to the age of the structure. 

"It's been a lot of things over the years. I think it's from around 1827," he said. "It was a school; it was an ambulance garage." 

The estimated $3.8 million price for the new station came in February from Jacunski & Humes Architects, which has created two previous plans for the structure. The committee will be meeting with Humes to discuss the proposed designs at next week's meeting. 

Board of Selectmen Chair John Goerlach was present for the walkthrough and the discussion by the committee that followed. He said state Rep. John Barrett III recently visited the station. 

"He's going to try and work on a grant," Goerlach said. 

Committee Chair Kristen Tool said seeing the current station was helpful and is confident they can find grant funding for the new building. 

"[The new station] is going to meet the needs of the community," she said. "This building not only does not meet the needs of the community, it's not safe for community members to go in there. It does not meet the needs of our officers."

Committee member Bill Calderwood suggested several ways to lower the new station's $3.8 million estimated cost. He said some cost-saving measures are needed if the committee wants to decrease the price. 

"You can't just cross out one line item. You got to get 5 percent of this one and 4 percent of that one and 10 percent out of this one. You got to make some concessions," he said. 

The committee expects construction to begin within the next 18 months if it keeps pace with its goals. Town Administrator Joshua Lang said the committee must conduct a request for proposals for a project manager. 

Derksen acknowledged that cost limits what is possible with the new station but said if the cost was not an issue, he would opt for a training room in the new station. He previously spoke to the Finance Committee about new state training regulations for officers and said hosting training would benefit the town. 

Former Police Chief Tim Sorrell said there is no similar training facility anywhere in the county. 

"There is no dedicated training room in the county for anything," Sorrell said. "We've been so desperate we've used Berkshire Hills, we use the armory . . . you're scraping to find locations." 

The committee also discussed the need for a temporary station while construction of the new station is ongoing, proposing several potential solutions. Derksen said he is willing to consider any option.

"I'm open to everything," he said. "I would love to be able to rent a place in town if I have to be in a temporary location." 

The committee will discuss potential locations for a temporary facility again at its meeting next week. The committee will hold a joint meeting with the Board of Selectmen on Monday.

Toys for Tots Bringing Presents to Thousands of Kids This Year

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:21PM / Friday, December 05, 2025

Volunteers organize toys by age and gender in the House of Corrections storage facility. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Plenty of toys are on their way to children this holiday season thanks to Toys for Tots.

Christopher Keegan has coordinated the local toy drive for the Berkshire Chapter of the Marine Corps Reserve since 2015 and said he has seen the need rise every year, last year helping more than 6,000 kids.

"This is 11 years I've been doing it, and the need has gone up every year. It's gone up every year, and I anticipate it going up even more this year," Keegan said.

On Thursday, the Berkshire County House of Corrections storage facility was overflowing with toys making it the county's very own Santa's workshop. 

Keegan said Berkshire County always shows up with toys or donations. 

"This county is outstanding when it comes to charity. They rally around stuff. They're very giving, they're very generous, and they've been tremendous in this effort, the toys for pride effort, since I've been doing it, our goal is to honor every request, and we've always reached that goal," he said.

Keegan's team is about 20 to 25 volunteers who sort out toys based on age and gender. This week, the crew started collecting from the 230 or so boxes set out around the county on Oct. 1.

"The two age groups that are probably more difficult — there's a newborn to 2s, boys and girls, and 11 to 14, boys and girls. Those are the two challenging ages where we need to focus our attention on a little bit more," he said.

Toys For Tots has about 30 participating schools and agencies that sign up families and individuals who need help putting gifts under the tree. Keegan takes requests right up until the last minute on Christmas.

"We can go out shopping for Christmas. I had sent my daughter out Christmas Eve morning. Hey, we need X amount of toys and stuff, but the requests are still rolling in from individuals, and I don't say no, we'll make it work however we can," he said.

Community members help to raise money or bring in unopened and unused toys. Capeless Elementary student Thomas St. John recently raised $1,000 selling hot chocolate and used the money to buy toys for the drive.

"It's amazing how much it's grown and how broad it is, how many people who were involved," Keegan said.

On Saturday, Live 95.9 personalities Bryan Slater and Marjo Catalano of "Slater and Marjo in the Morning" will host a Toys for Tots challenge at The Hot Dog Ranch and Proprietor's Lodge. Keegan said they have been very supportive of the drive and that they were able to collect more than 3,000 toys for the drive last year.

Volunteer Debbie Melle has been volunteering with Toys for Tots in the county for about five years and said people really showed up to give this year.

"I absolutely love it. It's what we always say. It's organized chaos, but it's rewarding. And what I actually this year, I'm so surprised, because the amount that the community has given us, and you can see that when you see these pictures, that you've taken, this is probably the most toys we've ever gotten," she said. "So I don't know if people just feel like this is a time to give and they're just going above and beyond, but I'm blown away. This year we can barely walk down the aisles for how much, how many toys are here. It's wonderful."