NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Police Department expects to be moving into its temporary quarters next month.
Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday that the renovations at the former juvenile are "about 95 percent complete" and that the furniture will be arriving this week.
"Our hope is to have all the communications and everything run by March 1, but I will say that's a soft date," she said. "We're doing a little bit of a dance with Verizon right now. But we're hoping very soon that we could at least take all of you through."
The relocation is a short-term solution to the deficiencies of the 68-year-old public safety building, including lack of space and access, and general deterioration.
The structure is also under a U.S. Department of Justice order dating back to a 2010 audit of the city's compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act that rose from a complaint about the police station. The city spent more than $1.2 million making upgrades but little of that went to the public safety building, which city officials have expected to completely replace.
The police union had advocated for the Berkshire Plaza space two years ago as a meeting their needs. The location is central to downtown, on one level and accessible, has holding cells and a sally port to allow safe and discrete transfer of those being detained.
Macksey had informed the council in December that she had signed a two-year lease with owner Scarafoni & Associates with an option for a third.
What won't be moving over for now is dispatch services.
"We are in the process of applying for a 911 equipment grant, which not only includes equipment but also the infrastructure improvements that we really need to be done no matter where we are," the mayor said. "Our equipment will not survive a move. So our thought is more to keep dispatching where it is for the moment."
She said the grant application is due in the next month or so and the city will be notified of any awards in July. The hope is to have dispatch set up in the new location with all new equipment by August.
Once the temporary headquarters are cleaned up, she said the councilors will be invited on a tour.
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Companion Corner: Mimi and Herman at Second Chance
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
ARLINGTON, Vt. — There is a sweet bonded pair of felines looking for a new home together.
iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.
Mimi and Herman have been at the shelter since May and are 9 years old.
Feline program administrator Santana Snyder introduced us to them, noting this is their second time at Second Chance.
"They are a bonded pair of nine year old kitties that came to the shelter because their previous owner had to go to a nursing home," she said. "They were adopted from the shelter as kittens, and things just changed. They've been together, like I said, their whole life, brother and sister, so they do need to go together."
The two have a bit of differing personalities as Mimi is more outgoing than Herman, who is quite shy and will hide at first.
"Herman's definitely gonna take time to warm up. He is a little bit of a scaredy cat. He hides a lot. It took a little while for him to come out and sit on the cat tree and be out in the open here. Mimi took pretty quickly to being out and about and interacting with everybody, so they just need somebody that's going to have some patience with them and kind of let them come out of their shell at their own pace," she said.
Mimi likes to play and be around you. Herman has mainly hid since being at the shelter.
Herman does have one eye but it does not bother him.
"Mimi will get playful every now and then I don't think I've ever seen Herman play. Herman is missing an eye. He was, I guess, found like that as a kitten before he even came to the shelter originally," said Snyder. "Doesn't seem to bother him any. It's completely closed, but he sees perfectly fine out the other one."
But the two are healthy besides being on a diet, as Herman is pushing 20 pounds.
The two would do well in a quiet home without kids. They have not been with other animals previously.
"A quiet home, for sure. We would probably say no kids. They've never been around cats or dogs before, but potentially mellow, feline-friendly cats would be OK. They spend most of their time as senior kitties just lounging, napping, getting attention from the visitors at the shelter," she said. "I definitely think maybe an older couple would be really good for them. Someone who's home a lot, they're kind of used to that in their previous home."
But the two are ready for their new home where they can give and receive love from a new family.
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