DALTON, Mass. — Voters will convene on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. for a special town meeting at Wahconah Regional High School to decide five warrant articles. 

 

Four articles are to authorize funding for specific projects and address budget changes and the fifth will revisit the Central Berkshire Regional School District's regional agreement

 

In 2024, Dalton passed an amended version of the district’s regional agreement, which updated its language to better align with state laws. 

 

The original agreement, created in 1958, has been amended several times and approved locally but never by the state Department of Education, which is required.

 

Despite passing in Dalton, the item failed during town meetings in Hinsdale and Peru, as well as Cummington's special town meeting — the regional agreement needed six out of the seven towns to vote in favor of passing. 

 

The regional agreement is unchanged since being passed in 2024. In April, the School Committee voted to have the agreement go to the towns again unchanged, this time with more education on the topic to inform residents on what the document is, its benefits, and what the district can include in it.  More information here. 

 

Article 2 authorizes a number of budget increases and decreases for personnel, vocational education, and debt service changes, amounting to a decrease in the operational budget $90,824.

 

Four students withdrew from vocational education, decreasing the budget by $90,000, said interim Town Manager "Terry" Williams. 

 

The article requests to decrease the debt exclusion budget by $15,324 because the engineering bond that the town has been paying for Dalton Division Road has been reduced to the actual debt service amount, Williams said. 

 

Following former Health Agent Agnes Witkowski’s resignation, the town contracted Berkshire Public Health Alliance to fill the role until a permanent replacement could be found. Included in Article 2 is moving Witkowski's salary to the expenses line item.

 

"Truthfully we don't know what the net is on the town manager and town accountant. We're going to sit down I think cooperatively and talk. Part of it will be what you guys negotiate with the new hire[s]," Williams said. "That amount there essentially, it's a slight difference but that's to incorporate the amount of the contract that we have signed. But it's virtually a wash."

 

Article 2 also has a request for $14,500 so the town can upgrade its technology systems. The town has Windows 10, Microsoft 16, and Microsoft 19. 

 

Microsoft is ending support for all these services, so the town has to switch to a newer subscription based system, Williams said. 

 

The town's information technology and cybersecurity solutions contractor, Renatus Solutions, recommended the monthly payment subscription, Williams said. 

 

This update requires that the town upgrade nine of its computers at Town Hall because they cannot run Windows 11 or Microsoft 365. The cost of about $10,000 to replace these computers is included in Article 4.  

 

Article 3, is requesting voters authorize about $94,000 from sewer stabilization to fund environmental consultant services to address storm water management concerns to align with the state's Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System permit. The town has 1,103,649 remaining in sewer stabilization. 

 

The town pays Berkshire Regional Planning Commission $2,000 annually to aid in meeting the six required action items that are in the town's stormwater management plan, Stormwater Management Committee Chair Thomas Irwin said. 

 

Although BRPC's work has been invaluable, ensuring the town is fully compliant with its MS4 permit will require additional investments, Irwin said. 

 

Items of improvement include updating, reviewing, or preparing MS4 documents including the Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination Plan, Operations and Maintenance plan, Stormwater Management Program, and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, Irwin said. 

 

Additional needs include completing piping interconnection details on the current stormwater map, wet weather outfall testing and reporting, developing a detailed map of the town's storm sewer systems, determining key junction manholes, and implementing a system to easily capture catch-basin sump cleaning results

 

Addressing these needs will help avoid potential fines ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 per week in penalties, Irwin said. 

 

Article 4 is requesting voters authorize the transfer of $175,000 funds from capitalization for three projects, including the computers.

 

The town has about $1.3 million remaining in the capital stabilization account.

 

Of this request, $15,000, would fund the replacement of Town Hall gutters, redirecting runoff to prevent basement dampness and mold, especially at police stations, Williams said. 

 

The front of Town Hall has copper gutters but there aren't gutters on the sides and back. 

 

The Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association is in favor of the town getting gutters on those sections of the building. 

 

"They really feel that if we can gutter this off and make the water go away from the building that we'll see a real improvement there," Williams said. 

 

"And they really are almost insisting on doing this because you know it costs them money when there are claims and then they give us suggestions on how to reduce future claims and that saves us money and saves them money. So, we need to make this investment."

 

A portion of Article 4 requests funds to address repairs to a failing culvert on Yvonne Drive that has become a safety concern. 

 

On July 1, Edward "Bud" Hall, Department of Public Works superintendent, informed Williams that the edge of the road was collapsing. 

 

The pipe is flat and the two headwalls have started to slide down the embankment, exposing a 2-inch gas line, Hall wrote in the email correspondence. 

 

The town originally estimated that the repairs would cost about $70,000. However, the estimates that came back from the town's consultants, Foresight Land Services, were much higher — in the ballpark of $200,000 to $300,000.

 

Hall is skeptical that the repair cost will be that much and recommended requesting at town meeting $150,000 for the repairs. The remaining costs Hall said can be covered from Chapter 90 funds. 

 

Finally, Article 5 is requesting $89,000, to hire engineering firm Fuss & O’Neil to complete the remaining engineering work for the Dalton Division Road Sewer project.  

 

The Dalton Division Road sewer project aims to extend sewer service to the middle third of Dalton Division Road, where homes currently rely on septic systems. 

 

The town had initially invested American Rescue Plan Act funds to have Fuss & O’Neil complete the feasibility study and engineering for the project. 

 

However, for reasons unknown, the project stopped after the feasibility study and a portion of the ARPA funds were refunded and used for other things, Williams explained. 

 

Completing the engineering now would make the town eligible for grants and low-interest loans to help fund construction, he said. 

 

The town recently received a new quote of $89,000 from Fuss & O’Neil to not only complete the engineering but to also do the bidding for the project.