Pittsfield Seeking Community Input on Hazard Mitigation Plan Update

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee of Pittsfield has developed a comprehensive Hazard Mitigation Plan Update that identifies and prioritizes strategies to mitigate the impacts of natural hazards and climate change on our community.
 
Pittsfield's Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee has developed this plan as a strategy for the  city against existing and future natural hazard threats and the evolving challenges posed by climate change. Implementation of this plan will enhance the resilience to hazards such as flooding, snowstorms, high winds, and extreme temperatures.
 
Public engagement lies at the core of our Hazard Mitigation Plan. It is imperative that this plan reflects the diverse perspectives and priorities of the community members as the city moves to mitigate risks posed by natural hazards and climate change.
 
The draft plan can be viewed on the Pittsfield's Fire Department webpage on the city's website.
 
Comments on the draft plan can be provided using the Google form or via email to tsammons@cityofpittsfield.org by Friday, June 20, 2025.
 
City officials and local stakeholders developed this plan with funding support from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. Federal Emergency Management Agency
 
(FEMA) approval, and City adoption, of the Hazard Mitigation Plan allows the City to pursue pre- and post-disaster hazard mitigation grant opportunities.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Dalton Considers Updating its Municipal Code

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The town is considering updating its original 18-year municipal code to 2026 standards. 
 
During a recent Select Board meeting, General Code New England account manager Zach Dumont outlined the 18- to-24 month process. 
 
General Code New England is a division of the International Code Council, which writes all the statewide building codes across the United States. For the last 18 years, the organization has been the codifier for municipalities. 
 
"We work with communities to build, maintain, and update your local municipal code. That is your collection of bylaws, ordinances, regulations, and any other legislation you've ever adopted," Dumont said. 
 
Once the project is complete, the town would have a fully updated set of books and an improved eCode360 site, he said. 
 
"The way the process would work is we would put together a scope of work, a timeline, a price point, and everything that we would want to touch or do as a part of the code project," Dumont said. 
 
When a municipal code is built, it has a general lifespan of about 15 to 20 years, and although that is a long time, it goes by very quickly, he said. 
 
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