Parks Commission OKs MOU for Springside Pump Track

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With a memorandum of understanding settled, the pump track at Springside Park is closer to becoming a reality.

The Parks Commission on Tuesday approved a final draft MOU between the city, New England Mountain Bike Association, Shire Shredders, and Berkshire Mountain Bike Training Series. Milestone dates are currently not included in the document and will need to be updated once the project is closer to fruition.

NEMBA plans to place a bicycle skills park and pump track near the north playground of the park at no cost to the city. 

"This MOU that's in your packet is identical to the last MOU that you saw and tacitly approved several months ago. The only change with this version that's in your packet is the addition of two new additional partners," Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resource Program Manager James McGrath said to the panel.

Since late 2021, McGrath and Commissioner Anthony DeMartino have been negotiating an MOU with NEMBA. In this form, the Shire Shredders and BMBTS are included to add further support.

The parties came to an agreement that half of the initial cost is given back in a five-year period and the remaining 50 percent is given back in a 10-year period.

"The funds raised by NEMBA for the removal of the Bike Skills Park shall be held by the City in fund available to pay for the removal of the Bike Skills Park (the "Removal Fund"). Fifty percent (50 percent) of the funds for removal shall be released to NEMBA or its designee on the 5th anniversary of the opening of the Bike Skills Park," the MOU states.

"The balance, if not expended for the removal to the Bike Skills Park shall be released to NEMBA or its designee on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Bike Skills Park."

It also stipulates that NEMBA maintains the park under a plan that is developed as part of the formal design process, obtains an insurance policy naming the city as an additional insured and that either party can terminate the agreement if there are insufficient funds raised for the construction and removal.

Milestone dates are left blank in the approved draft, as the city has not heard back from NEMBA on the matter and assumes they are still figuring out the timeline.

"The group has been operating out of that greenhouse since the '80s and they have a very robust membership and they do great work. It is a great partnership between the city and the greenhouse group to maintain the building and to offer a greenhouse space and instruction around plants and other things that they do up there," McGrath said.

"This license agreement simply spells out the terms of how they operate out of the greenhouse, their occupancy, what they're required to do, carry insurance, and minor maintenance versus major maintenance. This is not dissimilar to what we have approved in the past. This has been updated by the city solicitor. It will also be signed by the city's building maintenance director and the mayor."

Social Service Organizations Highlight Challenges, Successes at Poverty Talk

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
08:04AM / Sunday, April 05, 2026

Dr. Jennifer Michaels of the Brien Center demonstrates how to use Narcan. Easy access to the drug has cut overdose deaths in the county by nearly half. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Recent actions at the federal level are making it harder for people to climb out of poverty.

Brad Gordon, executive director of Upside413, said he felt like he was doing a disservice by not recognizing national challenges and how they draw a direct line from choices being made by the Trump administration and the challenges the United States is facing. 

"They more generally impact people's ability to work their way out of poverty, and that's really, that's really the overarching dynamic," he said. 

"Poverty is incredibly corrosive, and it impacts all the topics that we'll talk about today." 

His comments came during a conversation on poverty hosted by Berkshire Community Action Council. Eight local service agency leaders detailed how they are supporting people during the current housing and affordability crisis, and the Berkshire state delegation spoke to their own efforts.

The event held on March 27 at the Berkshire Athenaeum included a working lunch and encouraged public feedback. 

"All of this information that we're going to gather today from both you and the panelists is going to drive our next three-year strategic plan," explained Deborah Leonczyk, BCAC's executive director. 

The conversation ranged from health care and housing production to financial literacy and child care.  Participating agencies included Upside 413, The Brien Center, The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, MassHire Berkshire Career Center, Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Child Care of the Berkshires. 

The federal choices Gordon spoke about included allocating $140 billion for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, investing $38 billion to convert warehouses into detention centers, cutting $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years, a proposed 50 percent increase in the defense budget, and cutting federal funding for supportive housing programs. 

Gordon pointed to past comments about how the region can't build its way out of the housing crisis because of money. He withdrew that statement, explaining, "You know what? That's bullshit, actually."

"I'm going to be honest with you, that is absolute bullshit. I have just observed over the last year or so how we're spending our money and the amount of money that we're spending on the federal side, and I'm no longer saying in good conscience that we can't build our way out of this," he said. 

Upside 413 provided a "Housing Demand in Western Massachusetts" report that was done in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's Donahue Institute of Economic and Public Policy Research. It states that around 23,400 units are needed to meet current housing demand in Western Mass; 1,900 in Berkshire County in 2025.