Pittsfield Seeks Public Input for CDBG Annual Action Plan

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City of Pittsfield, through its Department of Community Development, is preparing to draft its Program Year 2026 Annual Action Plan, which will help to determine how the city allocates its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for the next program year, beginning July 1, 2026. 
 
CDBG funds are provided annually to the City of Pittsfield through an entitlement grant from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under Title 1 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended.
 
The Annual Action Plan is designed to help local jurisdictions assess their affordable housing and community development needs and market conditions and to make data-driven, place-based investment decisions. The consolidated planning process serves as the framework for a community-wide dialogue to identify housing and community development priorities that align and focus funding from the CDBG formula block grant program.
 
To engage the entire community in this critical conversation, the city is holding a public hearing on Wednesday, March 3, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. in the Auditorium at the Berkshire Athenaeum, located at 1 Wendell Avenue, to gather input on the city's highest priority needs that can be addressed with CDBG funds.
 
For individuals who live or work in Pittsfield and may not be able to attend the public input session or submit comments, an online survey is available now through March 20, 2026. It can be accessed at https://tinyurl.com/hekabrz6. The information provided will assist in the development of the 2026 Annual Action Plan. This survey should take about ten to fifteen minutes to complete.
 
Under Federal guidelines, at least 70 percent of CDBG funds must be used to benefit low-and moderate-income individuals and families. Each funded activity must meet one of three national objectives:  1) benefits low-and moderate-income individuals, 2) aids in the prevention or elimination of conditions of blight, or 3) addresses an urgent need that poses a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community, which occurred within the last 18
months, and for which other funding is not available.
 
For questions related to the Annual Action Plan or the survey, or to request accommodations at the public hearing contact Nate Joyner, in the Pittsfield Department of Community Development by email at njoyner@pittsfieldma.gov or by phone at (413) 499-9358.

Tags: CDBG,   

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MassDOT Schedules Hearing on Passenger Rail to Albany

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — As part of the East-West Rail proposal, the state wants to see how service could expand to Albany. 

Next week, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will hold a virtual meeting for a Service Development Plan to explore a passenger rail between Boston and Albany, N.Y. 

The Zoom event will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. 

MassDOT says this is a critical step toward advancing East-West Rail, which would connect Pittsfield and western communities to Springfield, Worcester, and Boston, and beyond. The project has been in progress for several years and was recommended in the 2018 Massachusetts State Rail Plan. 

The SDP will study how passenger rail service on the Boston and Albany Corridor would operate and how to get there. It takes about two years, and the next step is preliminary engineering and environmental review. 

In the SDP process, MassDOT will conduct stakeholder outreach, propose appropriate service levels, identify necessary infrastructure improvements, and establish a governance structure for service. 

Planned station stops include South Station and Back Bay in Boston, Framingham, Worcester, Palmer (proposed station), Springfield, and Albany-Rensselaer, according to the MassDOT website. 

Massachusetts completed the East-West Passenger Rail Study Final Report in early 2021, and in December 2023, the Boston & Albany Corridor was accepted into the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor ID Program; MassDOT was awarded $500,000 for an SDP. 

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