Letter: Dalton Public Safety Facility

To the Editor:

To the Dalton Select Board, I would like to present a practical suggestion for the new Dalton Police Facility as follows:

• Purchase the bank building located on the corner of Main Street and South Carson Avenue. Extend the building toward Main Street. Then buildout the interior to accommodate the town offices. The offices would then be accessible to the handicapped.
• Stage the moving of the town offices to facilitate the renovation of the Town Hall for the new police facility. To minimize disruption and inconvenience.
• I know that Hill Engineering put together a cost estimate to fix the problems in the basement of the town hall. I recall it was very reasonable.
• Add an elevator in the Town Hall for to accommodate handicapped individuals.

I believe the above suggestions would cost considerably less that what has been proposed. If planned out properly it would be a lot less disruptive. It would satisfy the needs for a new police facility.

Comments:

• Abandon the idea of putting the police station behind the Senior Center. The residents have spoken out twice. They do not want it in their neighborhood.
• The taxpayers, especially the seniors are now at a breaking point. They cannot afford an increase in their tax bill to pay for $10-plus-million police station.
• End your relationship with the engineering firm that was hired. They have proven to be incompetent and just a waste of Town money. They have demonstrated that are not sensitive to the residents of Dalton. IE: Why would
• they even think that the residents would be receptive to building the new police station on the Old Dalton High lot?
• You have two perfectly capable individuals on your committee, Mr. David Martindale and Mr. Craig Wilber that could handle the transformation of the Town Hall to the new police facility. I have worked these two individuals and I know that "can't" is not in their vocabulary.

Thank you for your time and please consider my suggestions.

Bruce Lester
Dalton, Mass.

Pittsfield Nearing the End of $40M ARPA Program

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:32AM / Friday, May 15, 2026

Gina Armstrong, special projects manager, updates the City Council on Tuesday on the last $400,000 in ARPA funds to be spent.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — In five years, the city has dispersed almost all of the $40.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds awarded to help recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Pittsfield has a year-end deadline to spend the last $400,000. Special Project Manager Gina Armstrong said if remaining projects conclude as planned, she will deliver a final report in July. 

"Which is really hard to believe," she said to the City Council on Tuesday. 

"In a way, it feels like we just started planning the use of the funds, and here we are. We're really measuring the impact, which is significant in just a broad scope of investments for the city." 

In 2021, Pittsfield was awarded $40,602,779 to be spent on public health, addressing negative economic impacts, infrastructure, and revenue replacement. Some of that money also went to administrative expenses. 

Funds for public health, $4.7 million, and infrastructure, $5.9 million, have been fully expended. As of March 31, $39,612,438 was spent on 84 projects; 95 percent of them are complete. 

Armstrong said this funding had a significant impact on the availability of affordable housing and support services for people who are at risk of or experiencing homelessness. 

Housing projects saw an $8.6 million ARPA investment, creating 84 affordable units, seven single-family homes that are in progress, and the Housing Resource Center at The First.