Dalton Board Uncertain on How to Budget for Clean Air Efforts
DALTON, Mass. — As concerns about Berkshire Concrete's operations persist, Select Board members agree funding is needed, but are uncertain on how it should be allocated.
During its meeting on Monday, Select Board member Antonio "Tony" Pagliarulo requested that the town include in the budget funds for technical air-monitoring and potentially legal costs for the Clean Air Committee budget.
In June, the board approved the establishment of a Clean Air Ad Hoc Committee, charged with reviewing the special permit and ensuring compliance.
The committee consists of one Select Board member, a Board of Health representative, a Planning Board member, a Conservation Commissioner, and two citizen members: one from the Dalton Clean Air Coalition and another at-large citizen.
For over a year, residents attended numerous meetings urging action to stop sand from leaving parcel No. 105-16, owned by Berkshire Concrete, a subsidiary of Petricca Industries.
Since then, the Zoning Board ordered the company to fully remediate the unauthorized dig site on parcel No. 105-16, the Board of Health fined it $5,000, and the Planning Board denied its special permit.
Board members seemed to agree that budgeting funds for clean air monitoring be set aside in the Clean Air Committee budget but not how legal fees should be budgeted.
There is a lot of unknown surrounding the situation, so it is uncertain how much should be allocated, Town Manager Eric Anderson said, recommending the request be made to the Finance Committee.
The town needs funds of about $20,000 to cover the cost of air monitoring for the upcoming year, Pagliarulo said.
It is unclear if Berkshire Concrete has paid the fine or appealed the decision, but they had 14 days of receiving the notice, issued on March 2, to request a public hearing.
If an appeal has not been requested and the fine was not paid, future violations may result in fines of up to $10,000 per infraction. We reached out to the Board of Health to confirm if the fine had been paid but have not heard back by the time of publication.
It is unknown if the town will have to take Berkshire Concrete to court over the fine or if Berkshire Concrete plans to appeal the Planning Board's decision, he said.
In January, the Clean Air Committee was awarded a grant for five PurpleAir monitors and Berkshire Regional Planning Commission also provided the town with five additional monitors, giving flexibility to move the monitors.
Placement locations mentioned include Town Hall, Wahconah Regional High School, Craneville Elementary School, the Senior Center, and the housing across from Pinegrove Park.
During last year's annual town meeting, voters authorized $45,000 from free cash to fund professional and technical work, including the possibility of a lawyer and an engineering company, to ensure the compliance of Berkshire Concrete Corporation's special permit and town orders.
For transparency, some board members recommended that the funds for legal fees and technical air monitoring services be allocated in the Clean Air Committee budget; others argued that the legal fees be placed in the legal line-item of the budget.
Another option is having a warrant article requesting a sum of money using free cash like the town did last year, Anderson said.
Tags: air quality, board of health, dust, debris,
