Housing Secretary Ed Augustus, left, does a walkthrough in December of Zion Lutheran's 1960s wing, which will be turned into nine affordable housing units.
Downtown Pittsfield Inc.'s President Chuck Leach cuts the ribbon on the group's new North Street offices in September.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren made several stops in the Berkshires to talk about national politics and health care, and meet with local entrepreneurs.
U.S. Sen. Edward Markey was in Pittsfield in October to cheer its economic development.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city started off 2024 with a new administration, had a visit from the vice president midway and ended the year with Pittsfield High School embroiled in scandal.
Two days into the new year, Mayor Peter Marchetti was sworn in along with the City Council, School Committee, and City Clerk. Over the next four years, the new mayor pledged to fight for current generations while building a city for new generations.
"There are many people working hard for Pittsfield, and I will continue to work hard for our city and our community. It is time to come together as one and work to expand upon the foundation that was built before us," he said.
"Communication and collaboration will be the key. Together we will tackle our problems and work towards one Pittsfield because I know our city is filled with hope for a prosperous future. Today I begin a journey, and I will be a mayor for this generation and implement new ideas that will help future generations."
Marchetti, the city's first openly gay mayor, was joined by Gov. Maura Healey, the state's first openly lesbian governor. The new government included Brittany Bandani in Ward 2 councilor and Matthew Wrinn as Ward 3 and Rhonda Serre in Ward 7.
Tickets sold out almost immediately ranging from $100 to thousands of dollars. The last national political fundraiser in Pittsfield was with Michelle Obama for her husband's second presidential run in 2012 against former Gov. Mitt Romney, now a U.S. senator for Utah.
On July 27, crowds gathered downtown hoping to catch a peek of Harris. iBerkshires was not granted access to the fundraiser but spoke to community members outside, many of them clad in red, white, and blue and holding signs.
About a week after the historic visit, iBerkshires.com was one of the first to break a national news story about the visit – though it wasn't a positive one.
After searching for answers, Powers said she received a call from a Secret Service representative in Boston who took responsibility for the incident even though he could not confirm that his agents were involved.
A STAFF SCANDAL AT PHS
The year concluded with an arrest, slue of accusations, and multiple administrative leaves on staff members at Pittsfield High School.
Community members are calling for answers after PHS Dean Lavante Wiggins was arrested and charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office for allegedly conspiring to traffic large quantities of cocaine and two other staff members were put on administrative leave because they are being investigated by the Department of Children and Families.
Additionally, in a civil lawsuit, a PHS student has accused retired English teacher Robert Barsanti of making inappropriate comments to her and to classmates and Pittsfield Public Schools for failing to act. Barsanti apparently retired at the end of the last school year based on a post on the Pittsfield Public Schools' Facebook page.
During the following School Committee meeting, community members expressed outrage towards the district, even calling this an "abomination at all levels of the Pittsfield Public Schools." Superintendent Joseph Curtis recommended that the School Committee engage the services of an independent third party for an investigation.
He cautioned that it would come with cuts to employment and city services, but the administration would work to create a proposal that is "between level funded and a level service funded." Marchetti said a level-funded budget could mean the closure of a fire station on either a permanent or rotating basis and the layoff of 11 police officers and more than 100 school personnel.
After years of deliberation, the city saw a new trash system in 2024 that uses 48-gallon toters for trash and recycling. In June, the City Council approved a five-year contract with Casella Waste Systems for automated collection.
Call it a victory for Marchetti, who was able to push through in six months a new waste pickup model that had eluded his predecessors.
The city was spending about $5.2 million on trash per year and the new contract trims the budget by about $600,000 to $4.6 million.
Pittsfield's nearly 17,400 households produce about 1,800 pounds of trash per household annually, collectively generating close to 20 tons as a community. The new system aims to reduce each household's waste to 1,370 pounds annually.
A toter system went into effect after years of trash talks.
Marchetti began outreach about automated pickup in the spring, explaining that whether it is this year or three years from now, automation will be a thing unless the city wants to discontinue trash services and have all residents hire private haulers. Additionally, if the city continues to allow trash costs to skyrocket, he said taxes will increase.
There was mixed feedback from residents, some saying the toter trash proposal will be more aesthetically pleasing while others are concerned that their street doesn't have the space for automated collection.
"I get it, this is changing the way that we've all done things, especially you and I. This is the way we've done things our whole entire life," Marchetti said during a September episode of One Pittsfield, his biweekly show on Pittsfield Community Television.
"In fact, when I was a kid, the garbage man picked up your garbage at the back steps and put the pails back, right? So we don't have that anymore for obvious reasons and I think it's time to find new, innovative ways that have already been created for us to find the cash savings."
Early in the year, concrete covering the parcel described as a "scar" was cracked and crushed to make way for development. The 16-acre site at the corner of Woodlawn Avenue and Tyler Street Extension previously housed a General Electric factory and is the largest and most prominent section of the William Stanley Business Park, its overhaul costing about $10 million.
Big news came in August when Mill Town Captial announced its intent to purchase 4.7 acres of Site 9 for a building upwards of 20,000 square feet and put a mixed-use building on 100 Woodlawn Ave. across the street.
GE's Buildings 12 and 14 were also demolished, clearing the view of the mountainscape in the distance. Work was paused in July due to elevated levels of PCBs in a single air sample. Authorities said the measurements were "conservative" and not a threat to public health.
The sample was taken between July 11 and July 12 and was received by the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority from an off-site laboratory on July 25. It was quickly forwarded to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the same day and work stopped.
The approximately $16 million project offers tenants a variety of services from partner organizations such as the Brien Center and ServiceNet. It also includes a 6,500-square-foot housing resource center in the church's basement, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, with bathrooms, showers, laundry, offices for service providers to meet with clients, and more.
Early in the year, ServiceNet opened a new 40-bed shelter at 21 Pearl St. called "The Pearl." The facility includes three dorms with bunk beds and en suite bathrooms, two recreation rooms, handicapped restrooms, and a laundry room.
It now hosts a warming shelter for people to come in and have a drink or snack during frigid temperatures.
In July, a Pittsfield housing project was awarded more than $4 million through the state's Housing Development Incentive Program. Marchetti and Community Development Director Justine Dodds traveled to Lowell for the announcement of $27 million in HDIP awards — $4,099,686 going to Allegrone Construction Co.'s redevelopment of the historic Wright Building and Jim's House of Shoes property.
In July, it recommended moving from the schematic design to the design development phase for a $28.4 million rebuild of the grandstand and parking lot. Through value engineering, S3 Design was able to shave almost $2 million off the original $30 million price tag — half of the savings goal.
With $18 million committed between grant funding and capital borrowing, the committee must work to fill the $10 million gap.
In August, the Parks Commission supported a move toward the project's development and design phase.
Several parks and recreation projects, notably the Springside Pond restoration and the city's new pickleball facility, also came to fruition.
In June, city leaders christened the new pickleball courts on the northeast corner of Springside Park near the Doyle Softball Complex on Benedict Road. The pickleball proposal rose from the grave last year after its funding was scrapped in 2019, this time covered by more than $500,000 from the city's nearly $41 million American Rescue Plan Act funds.
In November, a ribbon was cut on the Springside Pond's new boardwalk. Over the last year, a quarter-century of planning culminated as crews removed sediment, repaired the dam, and increased accessibility on the historic site.
It was funded by more than $600,000 in American Rescue Plan Act monies allocated in 2022.
That same month, local and state officials beckoned the first wave of pedestrians on thenew leg of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail with a ribbon cutting. The trail is more than 14 miles long and connects Lime Street in Adams to Merrill Road.
Pittsfield's connectionbegan in 2022 when a completed 1.5-mile section connected Crane Avenue to the Lanesborough town line. Construction on this latest leg began one year ago and includes a new 11-space parking lot accompanied by a pedestrian hybrid beacon signal at the entrance.
Towards the end of the year, the city was offered the shuttered Berkshire Carousel at 50 Center St. and it became a hot topic. While it opened to enthusiastic fans in 2016, it has not operated since 2018 after leadership and funding fell apart.
The property owned by James Shulman is assessed at $267,000. A 2025 operational model and budget put forward by the donors costs about $61,000 annually and brings in the same amount of money, with a $25,000 income from rides alone if they cost one dollar.
Reactions were mixed, as some worried it would become a financial burden or would not be successful in its present location. Earlier this month, the council recommended that Marchetti create a committee to explore the proposal, citing the need for more public input.
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