DALTON, Mass. — The saga over Berkshire Concrete's special permit persists as the Planning Board last week voted to continue the hearing for the fourth time. 

 

Some movement had been made as the board agreed to close the public hearing and enter into  deliberations, which means no further comments or submissions can be made by the audience or the applicant. 

 

"I know everybody wants to get this done. I do too, believe me, but I think it's best if we review the information we have and the new information we have and make better decisions," said Chair Zack McCain III. 

 

During the prior three meetings, the board asked Petricca Industries, the parent company of Berkshire Concrete, to provide updated, accurate, and clear plans. 

 

Board members said they did not receive the documentations until Tuesday; the hearing was on Wednesday.

 

Petricca Industries' attorney Dennis Egan Jr. of Cohen Kinne Valicenti & Cook LLP, said that assertion was misleading because the town electronically received the updated documents the prior week and the physical copies were delivered on Tuesday. Town Hall is closed on Friday and there was a snowstorm on Monday. 

 

The board reviewed the updated documents, in addition to the overlay of the 1994 special permit onto the drawing submitted in October, which the board requested Berkshire Concrete create but didn't so a board member did it instead. 

 

The documents mapped out parcel boundaries, areas permitted and previously mined, identified reclamation areas, tree-planting zones, and the buffer lines. 

 

Berkshire Concrete's updated map shows a 200-foot setback from the pond and a 150-foot property setback, which they breached during the excavation on the unauthorized dig site. 

 

Egan argued that Berkshire Concrete is subject to a 100-foot setback, as specified by the 1992 town regulations, rather than the 150-foot setback shown in the updated documents.

 

The 150-foot setback was presented as a possible concession going forward, he said.

 

The updated plans maintain Berkshire Concrete's request to continue excavation on the unauthorized dig site on parcel 105-16, part of which has since been partially mitigated, and continues the work up towards Renee Dr., on parcels 101-25 and 105-12.

 

Some of the proposed excavation sites have already been mined and remediated, prompting questions about whether Berkshire Concrete's prior agreements prohibit them from returning to these sites after remediation.

 

Egan explained that the 1994 plan restricted the number of open faces and mandated permanent vegetative cover for stabilization, but it did not impose an outright ban on future extraction. The intent was to control the number of open faces, not to prohibit all future operations.