Adams Gets Another Shipment of COVID Tests, PPE

By Brian RhodesiBerkshires Staff
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ADAMS, Mass. — The town has received another shipment of COVID tests and personal protective equipment.

The Board of Health discussed the shipment, which arrived at the Council on Aging for storage prior to distribution, at its meeting on Tuesday. Board Chair David Rhoads said the town received 23 boxes with 90 test kits each, which will be distributed and made available throughout town by the board, the Council on Aging, town emergency responders and others.  

"[COA Director] Sarah [Fontaine] was in the process of divvying them up and organizing. She anticipated being able to distribute them throughout town how some point this week," said Code Enforcement Officer Sarah Lesure.

Rhoads and Vice Chair Board Amy Oberlin said they distributed some tests at Ramblefest over the weekend. Several event-goers, they said, were interested.

"Amy and I passed out several dozen at Ramblefest," he said. "... They gave us a few more boxes this time around. So that's why I felt I could grab one myself that we just passed out and have for the Board of Health."  

The board also briefly discussed its coronavirus messaging on the town website. Rhoads said he added the Berkshire Public Health Alliance's vaccination clinic list.


Oberlin suggested adding the CDC vaccination location website as well.

"There is a CDC link on here but it just links to their website, so I was thinking, if you can if we can put a link up there that goes directly to their vaccine search, their vaccine provider search," she said, noting she had trouble herself finding a vaccine appointment.

In other business, Rhoads updated the board on ongoing work by the Northern Berkshire Solid Waste Management District for mattress recycling program agreement with Dalton. He said changes to mattress recycling regulations, which require specific disposal methods, necessitated the change.

"They dispose of it in the appropriate way. So more to come on that," he said.  

Rhoads said he is in the process of sending the board's sanitary code regulations to the central Department Environmental Protection Registry.

"I investigated and, indeed yes, the DEP does have a registry. So all of our regulations regarding the environmental code, sanitary code, are supposed to be sent to the central register," he said, noting he was waiting on the approved minutes from that night to send the letter to the registry.


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Adams Select Board Discusses Steps for Appointing Police Chief

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass. — The town could have a new permanent police chief by the start of the new year.
 
On Wednesday, the select board approved a framework for a candidate screening committee and heard a potential timeline for making a decision to appoint the next leader of the 18-officer department.
 
The board heard a report from Chair Jay T. Meczywor, who serves on the panel's Public Safety Subcommittee along with Select Board Vice Chair Ann M. Bartlett.
 
Meczywor said the subcommittee recommended that the board appoint a seven-member panel to screen applicants and recommend three finalists for interviews and selection by the full board.
 
"If we move quickly enough, we could potentially get the screening committee up and moving by early September," Town Administrator Nicholas Caccamo told the board. "We would want to get the job posting up right behind it. Potentially, by mid-November, the screening committee could make recommendations to the board.
 
"Potentially, you could be making an appointment by the end of the calendar year."
 
Caccamo reminded the board that interim Police Chief Timothy Sorrell, who joined the force in October 2025 to serve in place of then-Chief K. Scott Kelley, has a contract that runs through Dec. 31 with an option to renew for up to six months.
 
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