Pittsfield Airport Navigation Easement Acquisitions Almost Closed

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Gale Associates updated the Airport Commission on the status of various projects during its meeting last week.  
 
The Runway 14 navigation easement acquisitions are almost closed. Gale Associates submitted the forms along with all the necessary backup documentation to the state Department of Transportation on March 10.
 
Once the city is reimbursed for the outstanding MassDOT balance, the project will be removed from Gale's update, civil engineer Mark Ottariano said. 
 
The permit design for tree clearing went out to bid starting March 29 and will remain open for three weeks, he said. 
 
The bids will be opened at City Hall on April 19 at 2 p.m. instead of 11 a.m. That was a recent change.
 
At the time of the meeting, there was one bidder who had pulled plans. Ottariano said Gail Associates will reach out to some of the contractors that it has worked with in the past to inform them of the project in case they missed the advertisement. 
 
The construction for the project was originally budgeted for $165,000. There were a couple of permitting things that drove the budget up to 200,000, including the added cost for herbicide. 
 
The $200,000 is a conservative estimate, Ottariano said. A more accurate construction cost will be available in a couple of weeks.
 
The Federal Aviation Administration split the removal project into a design only and construction phase. 
 
Gale Associates recently submitted its scope of services and fees for the construction phase of the projects and were sent out on for a Independent Fee Estimate on March 29. 
 
Once the IFE is returned and negotiations complete, the scope and fee will be finalized and will be submitted along with the construction costs based on the April 19 bids to the grant application that is due on May 5. 

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Dalton OKs $22M Budget; Tables Concrete Sidewalk Article

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — Voters approved all but one of the 22 articles on the warrant at the annual town meeting on Monday night at Wahconah Regional High School.
 
More than one hundred registered voters attended the meeting, which lasted more than three hours, to vote on the budget, school district regional agreement, a proposed bylaw change, and various spending items for town equipment, repairs, projects, and initiatives.
 
The town budget of $22,951,092 is an increase of $1,449,376, or approximately 6.74 percent, over this year. Of that, the Central Berkshire Regional School District assessment of $10,537,044 and the town operating budget of $10,147,991 are included. 
 
Article 1, which proposed amending the town bylaw to make concrete sidewalks the standard, was tabled after a 20-minute discussion that included questions and concerns about its language. More on sidewalks here.
 
This has recently been a hot topic, making its way through town government boards and committees will continue with a Planning Board public hearing.  
 
Planning Board member Zack McCain motioned to table the article until a public hearing, where the details could be discussed further. He said this is common practice for bylaw amendments. 
 
During the discussion, voters also urged the need for sidewalks on Orchard Road. The Department of Public Works budget only has $12,000 to cover the cost of maintaining town sidewalks. 
 
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