Dalton Voters OK Articles at Special Town Meeting

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
09:38PM / Monday, June 27, 2022Print Story | Email Story

DALTON, Mass. — Fewer than a dozen voters at Monday's special town meeting took only 10 minutes to pass the two articles on the warrant.

Article 1 was amended to include an additional $4,000 to cover trash removal from Town Hall, the senior center, garage, and park, based on a recent contract proposal with Casella.

This addition brought the total amount for Article 1 to $12,643, of which $8,6324 will pay sewer and debt expenses that were not anticipated for the annual town meeting.

Article 3 transfers $2,066 from free cash to the Miscellaneous Grants account to cure a deficit.

Of this amount, $1,436 will be used for an e-911 grant, $630 will be used for funding the Coronavirus Supplemental Funding Program.

Each of these articles passed with little to no discussion.

The town meeting voted to pass over Article 2 based off the recommendation from the Select Board and Finance Committee. The question would have added another $100,000 to the Town Hall renovation project but the two boards agreed to delay any work on the third floor that was expected to trip more costly accessibility updates.

Tags: special town meeting,

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Pittsfield Wants People to Know Where Free Public Wifi Is

By Brittany PolitoiBerkhshires Staff
04:46AM / Friday, September 18, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city wants it to be clear where people can connect to free public wifi— which expands beyond downtown.

On Tuesday, the Parks Commission approved "Free Wifi" signage at The Common, Riverway Park, and Durant Park. Community members can access the internet without charge in these locations, as well as in downtown areas.

Two years ago, Pittsfield received a $99,972 Digital Equity Implementation Grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. This allowed the city to take a comprehensive look at digital equity and determine where to focus attention.

"That was a lengthy process that we worked on, and there was a lot of public input. We did some surveying. We met with a lot of focus groups; [Berkshire Regional Planning Commission] was the group that spearheaded that for us, and one of the things that came up was the lack of accessible wifi," Director of Community Development Justine Dodds reported. "Particularly in the westside."

Throughout this process, residents also wanted to see connectivity at the nearby Westside Riverway Park.

In 2023, Pittsfield was selected to participate in the Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program launched by the state and MBI, focused on ensuring residents can use the internet to conduct day-to-day activities. A digital equity plan also qualifies Pittsfield for additional grant funding.

Around 16,000 city households qualified for the Federal Communications Commission's affordable internet program that ended in 2024.

Dodds said adding Wi-FI and signage to Durant and Riverway Parks is a small piece of the larger digital equity project. Signage is already downtown, and the city plans to hire the same designer for the expanded wayfinding so it is cohesive.

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