Berkshire Green Drinks: Twenty Years of Protecting the Environment for Wildlife

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Join Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) for their final Green Drinks presentation of 2023, where BEAT staff will talk about the organization's work of this past year and explore what comes next as the new year approaches. 
 
The virtual gathering will take place by Zoom on Wednesday, Dec. 13, from 6:00 to 7:15 PM. 
 
According to a press release:
 
Be part of the discussion and hear about BEAT's new Breathe Easy Berkshires program that is monitoring air quality in Pittsfield; the organization's continued work in improving aquatic and terrestrial wildlife connectivity and how volunteers can help; its efforts to eliminate plastic bags from local grocery stores, plus other Berkshire Zero Waste Initiative projects; the first phase of completed renovations at its Environmental Leadership & Education Center and what they have planned for this community space; and its fight to prevent the construction of the Enbridge Project Maple pipeline and the expansion of private jet services in Massachusetts.
 
Pre-registration is required to attend this free event. Register at: https://tinyurl.com/Dec2023-Berks-Green-Drinks
 
Berkshire Environmental Action Team was established in 2003 when a vernal pool at Berkshire Community College (BCC) was being threatened by the development of soccer fields on the campus. Over the past two decades, BEAT has taken on many fights and projects — often leading them and creating a path for environmental change and progress. BEAT’s mission has remained the same: To protect the environment for wildlife in support of the natural world that sustains us all. However, the organization's vision and goals have continuously expanded and evolved. 
 
Berkshire Green Drinks (formerly Pittsfield Green Drinks) is an informal gathering that takes place once a month. A guest speaker talks for about 30 minutes beginning at 6 PM, and the presentation is followed by a discussion and Q&A. These nights are free and open to everyone with any environmental interest. The drinks aren't green but the conversations are. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join and bring along questions!
 
Berkshire Green Drinks is sponsored and organized by the Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT).

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Pittsfield Community Development OKs Airport Project, Cannabis Amendment

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Community Development Board has supported plans for a new hangar at the airport and a change to the cannabis ordinance.

Lyon Aviation, located in the Pittsfield Municipal Airport, plans to remove an existing "T" style hangar and replace it with a new, 22,000-square-foot hangar.  The existing one is said to be small and in poor condition while the new build will accommodate a variety of plane sizes including a larger passenger jet.

"There's no traffic impacts, there's no utilities to speak of," Robert Fournier of SK Design Group explained.

"I'll say that we did review this at length with the airport commission in the city council and this is the way we were instructed to proceed was filing this site plan review and special permit application."

The application states that the need for additional hangar space is "well documented" by Lyon, Airport Manager Daniel Shearer, and the airport's 2020 master plan. The plan predicts that 15 additional hangar spaces will be needed by 2039 and this project can accommodate up to 10 smaller planes or a single large aircraft.

Lyon Aviation was founded in 1982 as a fix-based operator that provided fuel, maintenance, hangar services, charter, and flight instruction.

This is not the only project at the Tamarack Road airport, as the City Council recently approved a $300,000 borrowing for the construction of a new taxi lane. This will cover the costs of an engineering phase and will be reduced by federal and state grant monies that have been awarded to the airport.

The local share required is $15,000, with 95 percent covered by the Federal Aviation Administration and the state Department of Transportation's Aeronautics division.

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