image description

Dalton Special Town Meeting Postponed

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story
DALTON, Mass. — The special town meeting scheduled for Monday, June 9, has been postponed to a tentative date of June 26. 
 
Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson explained that the rescheduling is because the warrant was not posted within the state-required 14 business days in advance. 
 
There will be a Select Board meeting this Wednesday to sign the warrant so it can be properly posted. 
 
The meeting was to decide on six warrant articles, including the contentious police budget and an article to transfer free cash to fund professional and technical work to ensure Berkshire Concrete Corp.'s compliance with its special permit and town orders. The funding articles must be completed before the end of the fiscal year on June 30
 
According to Select Board member Robert Bishop, the town is working on putting out a CodeRed to alert voters. The post was made on Select Board member Marc Strout's town Facebook page.
 
In a follow-up, Town Clerk Heather Hunt explained that there were several deficiencies surrounding the warrant.
 
One included the Select Board’s delay in approving the warrant because of the discussions surrounding the controversial items.  
 
Hunt said that the town’s efforts in getting the word out about the postponement have been effective, with tonight's cancellation being posted in town and on the town website. 
 
She also highlighted how Finance Committee member Thomas Irwin has volunteered to stand outside of Wahconah Regional High School from 6 to 7 p.m. to inform anyone who may not have seen the update. 
 

 


Tags: special town meeting,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Dalton Prudential Committee Eyes Broader Involvement

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — With new members joining the Fire District's Prudential Committee, these elected officials are eager to revitalize the committee's involvement by making it more active than it has been in recent years. 
 
The committee met on last week, with an ambitious agenda that garnered some criticism and confusion surrounding procedural processes. 
 
The, at times tense, meeting started with the swearing in of the committee's newest member David Pugh. Vice Chair Dennis Croughwell was elected onto the committee in May 2025, and Chair Daniel Filiault has served for several years. 
 
The committee previously only met for financial discussions, mostly during budget season prior to town meeting. Under this new leadership, the committee plans to meet the second Tuesday of the month at 6:30. 
 
The agenda item included policy and operational items that had previously not been in the committee's scope of duties, including a potential support person policy, proposal to establish working groups, and an update on recent legislative efforts that could impact the district. 
 
Fire Chief Ryan Foley expressed concern over the inclusion of what he described as "several controversial operational topics" on the agenda without prior discussion with other district leadership or department members. 
 
He specifically cited items including the potential financial separation of the emergency medical services and fire department budgets, fire department collaboration between the town and district, capital planning, mutual aid agreements, and fire department policies and reporting.
 
View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories