Veteran Selectmen Re-elected in Adams, Cheshire

By Brian RhodesiBerkshires Staff
09:03PM / Monday, May 02, 2022Print Story | Email Story

ADAMS, Mass. — Incumbents Joseph Nowak and Richard Blanchard were re-elected on Monday to the Board of Selectmen as the town held its first election back in the former Memorial School Building.

All candidates on the ballot, whether incumbents or newcomers, were running unopposed in this year's election. Nowak received 335 votes, while Blanchard received 287.

The highest vote-getter on the ballot was Library Trustee Virginia Duval, who received 341 votes.

After the election of Amy Oberlin to the Board of Health, the board will still have one empty seat. Former members Peter Hoyt and Joyce Brewer decided not to run for re-election.

Elected were Myra Wilk as moderator; Kelly Rice as treasurer/tax collector; Lorraine Kalisz as assessor; Sandra Moderski as planner; Aimee Sinopoli as parks commissioner for one year and Mary Ciuk and Sarah Marie Panesecchi as parks commissioners for two years; Karen Kettles to a second seat on the library trustees; James Taylor as cemetery commissioner; Joseph Allard as a member of the Redevelopment Authority and as a member of the McCann School Committee; and John F. Duval and Erin Milne as Adams representatives and Michael Henault as the Cheshire representative to the Hoosac Valley Regional School Committee.

The election had been held at the town garage on Summer Street for more than a decade after the school closed. Renovations in the Memorial Building have been ongoing for several months, as the site will soon be the home of the Adams Council on Aging. COA Director Sarah Fontaine said she spent much of the day giving voters tours of the new facility.

"We had a great morning, and I gave a lot of tours. My throat was actually sore from talking so much," she said during Monday's COA meeting. "And people were excited to see the space and see how we're going to use it."

In Cheshire, voters swapped out a current selectman for a former one, returning Ronald DeAngelis to the board along with Michelle Francesconi in a three-way race for two seats.

Francesconi polled the highest with 171 votes, followed by DeAngelis with 165, leaving incumbent Mark Biagini third with 143.

A ballot vote to create a combined town treasurer/tax collector appointed position was affirmed 158-111.

Also elected were Nancy Delorey as assessor, Christopher "C.J." Garner to the Board of Health; Stephen LaFogg as water commissioner; Richard Francesconi as cemetery commissioner; Francis Griswold to a five-year seat and E. Richard Scholz to a one-year seat on the Planning Board; C.J. Garner, Timothy Garner and Alison Warner as constables; William D. Craig to the McCann School Committee; and Michael Henault as the Cheshire representative and Erin Milne and John F. Duval as Adams representatives to the Hoosac Valley Regional School Committee.

Offices left unfilled are moderator, two-year assessor, and four-year Planning Board member.

Tags: election 2022, town elections,

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Adams Prudential Committee Evaluating Truck Replacement

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:21AM / Thursday, September 03, 2026

ADAMS, Mass. — The Fire Department's Engine 2 is suffering from rust and the Prudential Committee needs to decide if it should be fixed or run until it can be replaced.

Fire Chief David Lennon told the Prudential Committee on Monday about the condition of the 20-year-old truck and acknowledged it's going to be an costly endeavor.

"If we choose to do this, it's going to be so expensive that it would have to be put out for multiple people to look at and possibly bid on, but moreover, we have to look at what the long-term plans are to decide if we want to spend that money on that truck," he said. "If we're going to replace it on its usual schedule, which would be in under 10 years now, so we have to decide."

Lennon said his thought was that it was similar to getting a medical diagnosis: since they've got one opinion, "it'd behoove us to get a second opinion to see.

"We see that it's rusting, but is that rust going to be completely detrimental to running that for the period that we want to run it for, and have somebody else look at it now," he said. "As far as who that would be, I don't know, but I think that's what we should discuss and see moving forward."

The committee set a workshop for Friday, Sept. 11, at 4 p.m.

Superintendent John C. Barrett said he plans to install a new system and water main for the Adams Housing Authority's 64 one-bedroom units in the Columbia Valley facility, which will mean a new suppression system for all of the buildings.

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