PITTSFIELD, Mass. — One of Park Square's trees wasn't able to weather the summer storms.
A large limb from a 32-foot sugar maple in the park fell next to the fountain area over the weekend. Caution tape and traffic barrels now surround the aftermath.
If it cannot be saved, it will likely be replaced.
This tree was assessed two years ago as part of the Park Square Tree Planting Project and deemed to be in "fair to good" condition. Park, Open Space, and Natural Resource Program Manager James McGrath explained that it was showing deadwood and areas on top were experiencing dieback but planners hoped to clean it up to "serve our needs into the future" due to its significance in the park.
The tree was determined to have "low vigor," he reported, and could have had some internal rot not seen in the review.
As recommended by the 2022 plan, pruning was scheduled for the fall along with multiple other trees in the park. With such a significant portion now gone, McGrath's instinct is to remove the tree and replace it with a similar sugar maple.
He said the city will likely look to plant five trees this fall and fully implement the plan. The project removes four trees and plants seven, including the city's permanent Christmas tree that was unveiled last year.
Thirteen trees were assessed for health, risk, and safe useful lifespan. The maple tree's DBH, or diameter measured at 4.5 feet above the ground, is 32.5 inches and it was identified as having "large deadwood" as a defect.
The project was allocated $8,000 in Community Preservation Funds last year and was estimated to cost $8,350.
"Park Square is a tough spot for a tree to thrive," the 2023 CPA application reads.
"Between compacted soils, emissions from all the traffic, and past practices where many of the trees were not regularly pruned, the city recognized that something needed to be done to save the ones we could and think about what the future tree canopy could (or should) look like."
McGrath said the trees to be planted may or may not be the ones specified in the plan as they are determining which recommended trees are the right ones.
"Whatever trees we plant, though, we'll want them to be a species that grows a significant and large canopy," he said. "There is also a preference for native varieties."
As part of the plan, the Berkshire County Historical Society honored the Berkshires' first known environmentalist, Lucretia Williams, by planting an elm tree at the park last year.
It was not far from the spot where Williams had saved the Pittsfield elm tree from the axe 233 years before.
Last holiday season, the city's permanent Christmas tree was lit for the holidays for the first time. The young tree is expected to grow up to 50 feet in time and stands next to the spot where the maple limb fell.
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BRTA Focuses on a New Run Schedule
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority is still working on maintaining its run schedules after dropping the route realignment proposal.
Last Thursday's meeting was Administrator Kathleen Lambert's first official meeting taking over the reins; retiring director Robert Malnati stayed during a transition period that ended last month.
Lambert is trying to create a schedule that will lessen cancellations. There was a two-hour meeting the week before with the drivers union to negotiate run bids and Lambert is working with the new operating company Keolis, which is taking over from Transdev.
The board spoke about anonymous emails from drivers, which Lambert said she has not seen. iBerkshires was not able to see those letters, but has received some.
"They were lengthy emails from someone describing themselves as concerning BRTA employee, and there was a signed letter from a whole group of employees basically stating their concerns. So, you know, to me, it was a set of whistleblowers, and that, what my understanding is that this really triggers a need for some type of process to review the merits of these whistleblowers, not going to call them accusations, but basically expressions of concern," said member Stephen Bannon.
A letter iBerkshires received spoke of unhappy drivers who were considering quitting because of decisions being made without "input from frontline staff," frustration and falling morale, and the removal of the former general manager shortly after Lambert came in.
Lambert said it's difficult to navigate a new change. She also noted many drivers don't want to do Saturday runs and it has been hard negotiating with drivers on the new runs.
"I would like you all to keep in mind that the process of change is super difficult. Transdev has been here for 20 years, and some of these drivers have never known any other operating company, the way some of the operations have been handled has been archaic," she said. "So getting folks up to speed on how a modern transit system works is going to be painful for them. So I don't want to say that I'm unsympathetic, because I am sympathetic, but I am trying to coax people along with a system that's going to seem very strange to them."
The board spoke about better communication between them and Lambert, citing cooperation will be best moving forward.
"There's just a lot of stuff in the air right now, and there are a lot of fires to put out to make this a coordinated effort. And if we don't keep our communications open and be straightforward, then you get blindsided about how you know the input that you could get from us about your position, and how you know what's going on in your direction, and we get blindsided. And I think that we have to make sure that this is a collaboration," said member Sherry Youngkin.
"Both sides have responsibilities, because in the long run, this advisory board is going to have to make decisions as to how we brought forward and if we've gone forward in a fair and helpful way. And I think that's hopefully what everybody is looking for also."
Transdev and Keolis held a three-day recruiting event interviewing almost 40 candidates and offering jobs to eight, but only three stayed on to start training. Lambert said it was disappointing but she will keep trying to retain more people.
In her first report to the board, she noted that ridership dipped a little over 10 percent, but still remains higher than last year, adding that was because of cancellations of services because of the lack of drivers.
Like the last meeting, some of the advisory board members were torn over the start of the Link413 service, worried that the start of the service took drivers away and the numbers of riders are low.
Lambert, however, said the ridership has doubled from last month.
"As I've spoken before, we have, generally, a six-month adoption for brand-new service before you can really go in and evaluate, are you being successful based on the grant that my predecessor wrote along with the team for PBTA and RTA, we are ahead of schedule, which is pretty good, so I'm hoping that will continue to improve," she said.
Member Renee Wood said the board never approved the service, adding the only thing she could find in the minutes was a vote to accept the equipment. She said it was supposed to be put on the agenda to discuss.
"The Link413 service has been three years in the making. It's been a grant that was accepted and has been working with our partners, PVTA and FRTA, to put into place. So I don't have the entire history of how that process worked, but it's been three years in the making, and did we not understand that once we accept that grant that we were going to put in new service?" Lambert said.
The board discussed if Title VI, the Civil Rights Act, was followed with an accurate review and accurate amount of time for public comment period on the service changes and if its attorney should review if the grant conditions were properly followed.
Lambert said changes had the 60-day comment period included in the proposed route realignment packet, giving the opportunity for the community to respond to that as well but will look into the legality of the situation with their attorney.
The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority is still working on maintaining its run schedules after dropping the route realignment proposal. click for more
The town election is less than a month away and, unlike recent ones, all open seats are uncontested, with even a vacancy remaining on the Planning Board.
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