Dalton Holds Community Sessions on Public Safety Building

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
06:07PM / Sunday, August 17, 2025Print Story | Email Story

DALTON, Mass. — Since last August, public officials said the basement of the Town Hall is inadequate to house its police station, and now the town will demonstrate why through several community outreach initiatives.

QR Code to Public Safety Facility Survey. More information at the bottom of the article.

From tours of the deteriorating precinct, information sessions with the Public Safety Facility Committee, the development of a Facebook page, to a survey, the town is engaging the community to keep them informed of the situation and develop a solution.

During numerous meetings, Police Chief Deanna Strout demonstrated the decaying condition of the current location of the department including mold, mice, water damage, plumbing issues, damage to cells, and more.

For the last year, the committee has been coordinating the department, communication center, and town to determine the future of the department and communication center.

Listed on the town website is a timeline and links to several documents including the indoor air quality report, air quality assessment, sewage backup, and the draft space needs assessment by the town’s consultant Jacunski Humes Architects LLC.

Throughout August, the Public Safety Facility Committee will hold information sessions to provide community members with an update on its progress thus far. The first was held last Wednesday and the next on Monday at 1 p.m.

These sessions will include presentations on the current state of the department, a question-and-answer session, and a review of prior assessments of the station and possibilities for the future.

Dates for the information sessions are as follows:

Aug. 18 at 1 p.m. at the Dalton Senior Center
Aug. 19 at 6 p.m. at the Dalton Library
Aug. 30 at 11 a.m. at the Dalton Senior Center

Community members can see first hand the state of the police station during tours of the precinct which will take place on: Tuesday, Aug. 19, between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Saturday, Aug. 23, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m

Additionally, citizens are asked to complete a survey, which will help the town understand residents’ priorities surrounding the proposed facility.

The brief survey includes questions that rate the department and communication center’s level of service and explores residents' understanding of the station's needs.

It also requests what information they require to make an informed decision about the proposed facility, their level of support for the facility, and the reasons behind their opinions.

Tags: community forum, Dalton Police, police station,

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Pittsfield Council to See 2-Year Moratorium on Data Centers

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:34AM / Friday, October 23, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council will consider a two-year data center moratorium from the Community Development Board.

The board endorsed the moratorium on Tuesday; it had previously voted to become the petitioner.

"I still think that it is a necessary, proactive, responsible measure by the city in order to take some time to assess the potential impacts of these improvements on Pittsfield and on the county, and make sure that we understand these systems and create some really truly responsible regulations that take into account all the different aspects of this technology," City Planner Kevin Rayner said.

The petition would amend City Code Chapter 23 and create Article 23-4 Section 4.332, "Data Center, Temporary Moratorium."

Last month, Gov. Maura Healey signed an executive order that gives municipalities the power to say "no" to data centers, and earlier this year, Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren petitioned to explore implementing a moratorium on the establishment and siting of data centers.

Based on web results, there are as many as 75 data centers or projects in Massachusetts, none in Berkshire County.

Rayner explained that he brought forward the same petition as before; it was sent to the council and then back to the board for a public hearing as part of the zoning amendment process.

It defines a data center as a building or group of buildings where the primary use is to house computer systems, servers, data storage equipment, networking equipment, and associated infrastructure necessary for the processing, storage, and distribution of data and digital applications.

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