EPA Sets Meeting on Silver Lake Maintenance

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency invites the public to attend a meeting on Tuesday, July 22, on Silver Lake.

The meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. 

GE will provide a presentation on upcoming maintenance of the cap that covers the bottom of Silver Lake and then take questions with members of EPA's GE-Housatonic River Superfund Site team. 

Under the 2000 Consent Decree, GE was required to remove contaminated bank soils, remove and replace sediments near an outfall from the GE plant, cap the entire 26-acre lake bottom and perform periodic reviews of the cap’s effectiveness and integrity. 

More information is available at www.epa.gov/ge-housatonic.


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Dalton Police Facility Report Complete; Station Future Still Uncertain

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The Public Safety Facility Advisory Committee's final report is complete but the future of the station remains uncertain. 
 
Several members of the committee attended the Select Board meeting last week, as co-Chair Craig Wilbur presented four options delineated in the presentation — build on town-owned land, build on private land, renovate or repurpose the existing buildings, and do nothing. The full report can be found here
 
According to the report, addressing the station's needs coincides with the town facing significant financial challenges, with rising fixed costs and declining state aid straining its budget. 
 
These financial pressures restrict the town's ability to fund major capital projects and a new police station has to compete with a backlog of deferred infrastructure needs like water, sewer, roads, and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.
 
In June 2024, Police Chief Deanna Strout informed the board of the station's dire condition — including issues with plumbing, mold, ventilation, mice, water damage, heating, and damaged cells — prompting the board to take action on two fronts. 
 
The board set aside American Rescue Plan Act funds to address the immediately dire issues, including the ventilation, and established the Public Safety Facility Advisory Committee to navigate long-term options
 
Very early on it was determined that the current facility is not adequate enough to meet the needs of a 21st-century Police Facility. This determination was backed up following a space needs assessment by Jacunski Humes Architects LLC
 
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