Letter: Dalton Public Safety Facility

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To the Editor:

I must respond to the article: "Dalton Consultant to Assess Police Station" on 12/11/2025.

I do not know why the town has never pursued the option of renovating Town Hall to accommodate the needs of the Police Department and improve access to town offices.

There was $82,000 in ARP funds that could have already jump-started the process.

The following is my letter that iBerkshires published on 9/29/2025. This viable plan that I presented was tabled without any further discussion or consideration by the Select Board or by the Advisory Committee.


I would like to present a practical suggestion for the new Dalton Police Facility
as follows:

  • Purchase the bank building located on the corner of Main Street and South Carson Avenue. Extend the building toward Main Street. Then build out the interior to accommodate the town offices. The offices would then be accessible to the handicapped.
  • Stage the moving of the town offices to facilitate the renovation of the Town Hall for the new police facility to minimize disruption and inconvenience. I know that Hill Engineering put together a cost estimate to fix the problems in the basement of the Town Hall. I recall it was very reasonable.
  • Add an elevator in the Town Hall to accommodate handicapped individuals.

I believe the above suggestions would cost considerably less than what has been proposed. If planned out properly, it would be a lot less disruptive. It would satisfy the needs for a new police facility.

I believe the next step would be to provide schematic floor plans of all floors of Town Hall and a floor plan of the bank building. Make paper dolls of all equipment and space requirements for offices, cubicles, etc., in order to produce a plan that would satisfy the town's needs.

I believe the town has an obligation to the struggling tax payers to abandon the idea of building a $10 million-plus police station. Renovating the Town Hall is a practical and cost effective way to go.

Bruce Lester
Dalton, Mass. 

 

 

 


Tags: police station,   

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Companion Corner: Fox at Berkshire Humane Society

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There's a sweet and energetic dog at the Berkshire Humane Society waiting for his new family.

iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.

Fox is a 3-year-old Pomeranian who has been at the shelter for about a month.

Canine caregiver and adoption counselor Simone Olivieri told us about Fox. 

"He's a bundle of joy. He would love a family who's home with him a lot, because he's just, he's very social and wants to be with his people a lot. And he would be fun to bring out and about, bring a lot of places, because he's very happy to go anywhere," she said.

When Fox enters the room he is immediately a puffball of energy that goes around and around the room.

He came to the shelter after his former owner could not take care of him anymore. 

"The owner was just not able to care for him anymore. Had he came in with another dog, Wolf, and she already did find her forever home just last week," said Olivieri. "The two of them were left with a friend of the original owner, and the owner did not come back to pick them up, and the friend had too many animals in the house, and too much going on, and she just couldn't continue to look after them, so they did end up coming to us."

Fox can go home with cats and children but is not recommended to go home with other dogs as he gets too excited.

"He would love a home where people are home quite a bit to give him all the attention that he so desires. He loves kids. He absolutely adores children. So he would like a home with kids to play with. He could live with cats. We are saying that he should not live with other dogs. The only reason is that he gets very humpy, and he does not leave the other dogs alone," she said.

With his energy it is recommended he goes to a home that can keep him active whether walks or hikes and even fetch in the yard.

Fox does need to learn more about walking on a leash and has a tendency to mark in the house but he was recently neutered. Olivieri said belly bands will be sent home with whoever adopts him to help prevent marking and managing it.

"He would like an active home. He really does like to go for walks daily. He likes to run around in the yard. He does need a little work on leash walking. He sometimes gets a little tangled still under your feet, and he's learning how to walk on a leash," she said. "So, someone who's got some patience and some time to work on some training with him."

"He also is not fully potty trained, so he does know to go potty outside. However, he will still mark, urinate in the house sometimes, and he might poop here and there in the house."

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