Dalton Select Board to Hold Q&A Session on DCTV

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
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DALTON, Mass. — Time and again residents have asked for more transparency from town government and now, thanks to a new series on Dalton Community Television, they will have just that. 
 
At a recent Select Board meeting, Chair Robert Bishop pitched that the town hold question-and-answer sessions to be filmed by the public broadcasting channel. 
 
The item, at the time not on the agenda so could not be discussed, was approved last Monday. 
 
"A lot of times on social media or wherever, even by word of mouth, things don't always come out the way they should do, and people get confused," Bishop said. 
 
"I would welcome any kind of questions pertaining to Select Board matters that we can answer." 
 
To comply with open meeting law, each episode will include no more than two members, and discussions will be limited to answering questions — no deliberation will occur. 
 
The show will begin airing once the town has received enough questions to fill a 30-minute segment. After that, it will continue bi-weekly on a schedule to be announced.
 
Email questions to Executive Assistant Lori Venezia or Bishop with the subject line "Select Board Q&A. 
 
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Pittsfield Council Says 'Yes' to Soccer at Crane Park

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

The pitch will have the logos of the city and the US. and Massachusetts soccer associations. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is gladly accepting a "mini-pitch" from the U.S. Soccer Foundation to bring games back to Crane Park. 

Fueling excitement around the World Cup, U.S. Soccer has been working with the Massachusetts Youth Soccer League to make these facilities available to 20 communities — one of which will be at the park at the intersection of Benedict Road and Springside Avenue. 

The City Council accepted the gift on Tuesday during its regular meeting. 

A mini pitch is a compact, modular field typically used for soccer, and it can also accommodate inline skates. It has a galvanized steel border with built-in goals and a rubber plastic surface that is clicked together; installed on the existing inline hockey court. 

Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham said he has gone door to door speaking with nearby residents, and they are "really excited" about the upgrade. He also sees it as a great addition. 

"They say that nobody really uses the court a ton now, and they are excited to see kids back on there playing," he said. 

Decades ago, the Crane Park facility was a wading pool. It closed in 1980, and before the turn of the century, it was filled in and marked for hockey. 

Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath explained that the wooden border around the rink is showing its age, has been vandalized and tagged, and the facility is seeing a "real decline" in use. 

"This would seem to be an appropriate spot for us to remove the board system that's in place and install the mini pitch system through this grant," he said. 

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