Lanesborough Officials Clarify Relationship with Firemen's Association

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Town officials had plenty of questions for the Lanesborough Volunteer Firemen's Association Inc. as they prepare a budget for fiscal 2027. 

Fire Chief Jeff Dechaine gave his budget overview to joint meeting of the Select Board and Finance Committee earlier in the month. 

But the panels had questions that the chief could not answer regarding the lease on the station and if the nonprofit association could help in buying a new fire truck.

On Monday, the association's President Glen Storey, Treasurer PJ Pannesco, and member Daniel Bolognia provided some explanations.

"There is a distinction between the Fire Department and the Firemens Association, because I think there may be a lot of people, probably even in this room, and certainly watching on TV that aren't aware of," said Pannesco. "You go by the department and you see the sign that says Lanesborough Fire Department, but we've got two separate entities," 

Since many questions revolved around the lease at the last meeting, Town Administrator Gina Dario gave an overview of the relationship between them regarding the fire station.

The town has rented the building from the association for $1 annually, and paid insurance for the equipment inside since 2010. The association pays for any building repairs and has insurance to cover in case someone gets hurt on the property.

Pannesco made an analogy that they have a "marriage" with the town.

"We have a marriage between the town of Lanesborough and the Firemens Association, because to provide fire service, you need really three things — you need firefighters, people to do the work, you need a fire station, a place to keep all of your equipment, and you need the equipment," he said. "Neither one of the two entities, whether it's the town or the association, can provide all three, because as the association, we provide the manpower, and that's free, and we provide the building to the town to house their $4 million worth of equipment, or somewhere in that neighborhood.

"The town then provides the equipment for us to use to answer emergency calls. The town couldn't do it by itself, and the association certainly couldn't do it by itself, but together, for decades now, it's worked quite well."

Finance Committee member Kristen Tool asked about signatures for the lease since there has not been a signature with the association or the town on the lease and she would like to avoid liabilities.

Pannesco said they will plan to do that.

It was asked by one of the members about their fundraising efforts and how that works with the town.

Pannesco said he went back through 22 years on what they have donated to the town. He said they have donated mannequins for CPR training, ropes, stretchers, classes, radios, extrication cutters, rescue jacks, and rescue units for the woods, and many more. All of these purchases for the town equated to more than $86,000.

He also mentioned the costs over the last 22 years for the building was more than $150,000.

"We are a home, just like everybody else has a home that's our home, and we're responsible, just like every homeowner is to maintain the building, whether it's a roof, whether it's plumbing, electrical upgrades, flooring, windows, doors, all those kinds of things and we do it as we can, raise money to get those projects done," he said. "And we have some long, long-term issues coming."

He said the station needs new roof, has a 50-year-old septic system that may need replacement soon, and parking lot needs. The volunteers use funds raised from drives and events to help cover the costs.

When asked about a new station, their answer was that it cost less to repair the current one because they had a lot of members and volunteers do the work. Building new was estimated to be $16 million.

"Thats a lot of pancake breakfasts," Pannesco said. 

Tool also asked if they would consider doing a fundraising event for the new fire truck, or taking on an obligation for a grant.

They talked about the Dalton Firemen's Association buying that town a new truck since it was mentioned by the chief they needed a new one.

"I think people saw that in the newspaper and thought, 'What a great idea.' And it is a great idea. The difference, of course, ladies and gentlemen, is that the Dalton Firemen's Association does not own the Dalton fire house, right? And that's the big difference," Pannesco said. "They can use their money for things like that, because they don't have to worry about maintaining a fire station."

They also spoke about their can drive, Cans for Life, which raises funds for rescue equipment. People can drop off their plastic and glass bottles and cans by the little shed behind the firehouse.

Community Meeting Addresses Prejudice in Pittsfield Schools

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:49PM / Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Johanna Lenski, a special education surrogate parent and advocate, says there's a 'deeply troubling' professional culture at Herberg that lets discriminatory actions and language slip by.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Around 60 community members gathered at Conte Community School on Monday night to discuss issues with prejudice in the district. 

The event was hosted by the Pittsfield Public Schools in partnership with the Berkshire NAACP and the Westside Legends. It began with breaking bread in the school's cafeteria, and caregivers then expressed fears about children's safety due to bullying, a lack of support for children who need it the most, and teachers using discriminatory and racist language. 

"One thing I've learned is that as we try to improve, things look really bad because we're being open about ways that we're trying to improve, and I think it's really important that we acknowledge that," interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips said, reflecting on her work in several other districts before coming to PPS last summer.  

"It is very easy to stay at the surface and try to look really good, and it may look like others are better than us, when they're really just doing a better job of just kind of maintaining the status quo and sweeping things under the carpet."

Brett Random, the executive director of Berkshire County Head Start, wrote on her personal Facebook page that her daughter reported her math teacher, "used extremely offensive language including both a racial slur (n-word) and a homophobic slur (f-word) and then reportedly tried to push other students to repeat those words later in the day when students were questioning her on her behavior."

The school department confirmed that an eighth-grade teacher at the middle school was placed on leave.  

The Berkshire Eagle, which first reported on the incident, identified the teacher as Rebecca Nitsche, and the teacher told the paper over the phone, "All I can tell you is it's not how it appears." Nitsche told the paper she repeated the words a student used while reporting the incident to another teacher because officials needed to know it happened. 

Johanna Lenski, speaking as a special education surrogate parent and parent advocate, on Monday said there is a "deeply troubling" professional culture at Herberg that has allowed discriminatory, racist, non-inclusive, and ableist treatment of students.

She said a Black transgender student was called a "piss poor, punk, puke of a kid," and repeatedly and intentionally misgendered by one of the school's teachers, and then wrongfully accused of physically assaulting that teacher, which resulted in a 10-day suspension. 

Another Herberg student with disabilities said the same staff member disclosed to an entire classroom that they lived in a group home and were in state Department of Children and Families' custody. When the teacher was asked to come to an individualized education program meeting for that student, Lenski said he "spent approximately 20 minutes attacking this child's character and portraying her as a problem, rather than a student in need of services and protection and support."