Cheshire Mulls Marijuana Consumption Bylaw

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
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CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen is considering a bylaw covering the public consumption of cannabis. 

Police Officer Aaron Goodell brought this to the town administrator after receiving an increase of calls about juveniles in possession of marijuana vapes at Hoosac Valley High School.

Chair Shawn McGrath wondered at last week's meeting if they should consider adding an alcohol bylaw or incorporate both substances into one bylaw. 

The board had an initial draft based on Dalton's bylaws regarding public consumption.

The draft mentioned any public consumption of marijuana was prohibited with a penalty of $300 for each offense and the bylaw may be enforced through any lawful means.

The board members had many questions and suggested that they table the discussion until Goodell could attend a meeting to answer their questions.

In other business, the board was informed that the free cash certifications would bring in $677,991 from the general fund, $204,394 from the Water Enterprise Fund, and $32,071 from the Transfer Station Enterprise Fund.

Town Administrator Jennifer Morse also brought up the state Department of Transportation's Municipal Pavement Program. The state is planning to improve Route 116 in Cheshire and Savoy in fiscal 2028. Morse said the town will not be responsible for the project.


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Adams Police Bringing Dated Policies Up to Standard

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen approved a raft of Police Department policy changes on Wednesday. 
 
Acting Police Chief Timothy Sorrell presented the updates, noting that some hadn't been touched in 20 years. These new policies are in line with the standards of the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission and changes made by the state Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission.
 
"What we did is, instead of reinventing the wheel, I think when I first stood me before you, when I came on as the acting chief, we talked about getting policies from other departments, and there was a town in South County who became accredited, and they were more than willing to share with us their accredited policies," he said. 
 
Detective Michael Wandrei, Officer Travis Cunningham and the chief reviewed the policies and brought them to officers with specialized training in those areas. 
 
"We discussed, how does this fit into Adams? And some of it was just changing that town's name to the Adams name," he said. "So we just had to tweak it to what fit Adams is what we ended up doing ... It doesn't make us accredited, but we're a step closer, maybe when we get all these policies in line."
 
Policies reviewed included use of force; vehicular pursuits; detainee processing; protective custody; police media relations; body-worn cameras; collection and preservation of evidence; and property and evidence control.
 
More than a few of the updates related to new techniques, equipment and methods that have changed in the 15 or 20 years. 
 
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