Great Barrington Community Impact Fund Committee Recommends Awards

10:47AM / Tuesday, January 02, 2024Print Story | Email Story

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The town Community Impact Fund Committee has recommended the distribution of the following funds to area nonprofits:

Railroad Street Youth Project, $162,000 for community work to educate and mentor youth in the community.
Rural Recovery Resources, $100,000 to support the addition of a bilingual recovery coach.
Volunteers in Medicine, $56,000 to support substance abuse counseling work, which also received CIF funding last year.
Great Barrington Police Department, $182,000 over two years to help fund a Co-responder Program, which includes a mental health professional to accompany police to calls when needed.

Funds are received annually by the town from cannabis-related businesses, and the CIF Committee recommends how the funds are allocated, with priority for organizations addressing health-related impacts of cannabis businesses in the community. Presently five such businesses operate in town.

Tags: Community Impact Grant,

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Elevated Mercury Level Found in Center Pond Fish

11:41AM / Friday, December 19, 2025

BECKET, Mass. — The state Department of Public Health has issued an advisory after a mercury-contaminated fish was found in Center Pond.

According to a letter sent to the local Board of Health from the Division of Environmental Toxicology, Hazard Assessment and Prevention, elevated levels of mercury were measured in the sample taken from the pond.

The concentration in the fish exceeded DPH's action level of 0.5 milligrams per kilogram, or parts per million.

"This indicates that daily consumption of fish from the waterbody may pose a health concern. Therefore, DPH has issued a FCA for Center Pond recommending that sensitive populations should not eat chain pickerel and all other people should limit consumption of chain pickerel to 2 meals/month," the letter states.

The letter specifically points to chain pickerel, but the 60-acre pond also has largemouth and smallmouth bass and yellow perch.

The "sensitive populations" include children younger than 12, those who are nursing, pregnant, or who may become pregnant.

The Toxicology Division recommends reducing intake of "large, predatory fish" or fish that feed on the bottoms of waterbodies, such as largemouth bass and carp. More information on safely eating fish can be found here.

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