Downtown Debuts Solar-Powered Compactor

NORTH ADAMS - Main Street visitors may have noticed the solar-powered trash compactor that suddenly appeared downtown this week but most probably don't know where it came from or how it works.

Donated by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the compactor - a simple black machine about the size of a mailbox - is a product of Needham-based BigBelly Solar, who specializes in manufacturing the world's only solar-powered cordless compaction system.

Emily Dahl, a public information officer at MTC, said the state agency offered more than a dozen free compactors to municipalities throughout the state who expressed an interest in trying them out.

"They can be used to familiarize the public with how renewable energy, especially solar, can be used," said Dahl.

The compactor, the only one donated to a community in Berkshire County through this pilot program, holds up to five times the volume of ordinary trash receptacles and up to 150 gallons of trash, according to information provided by BigBelly. A solar panel on the compactor’s top powers the machine 100 percent, even without direct sunlight.

There are hundreds of compactors throughout the country, on campuses, in parks and at beaches, on city streets and at Fenway Park. With over 40 distributors nationwide, BigBelly can help significantly cut down on greenhouse gas emissions because fewer trips need to be made to dispose of the waste inside.

The Bigbelly reduces waste collection frequency, lowers costs and can pay for itself in as little as 1.5 years.

North Adams Takes Possession of Historic Church Street Houses

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:30PM / Tuesday, April 22, 2025

The porch collapsed on 116 Church several years ago. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The state Land Court in February finalized the city's tax taking of four properties including the brick Church Street mansions.

 

The prestigious pair of Queen Anne mansions had been owned by Franklin E. Perras Jr., who died in 2017 at age 79. 

 

The properties had been in court for four years as attempts were made repeatedly to find Perras' heirs, including a son, Christopher. According to court filings, Christopher reportedly died in 2013 but his place of death is unknown, as is the location (or existence) of two grandchildren listed in Perras' obituary. 

 

Mayor Jennifer Macksey said the next steps will be to develop requests for proposals for the properties to sell them off. 

 

She credited Governor's Councillor Tara Jacobs for bringing the lingering tax takings to the Land Court's attention. Jacobs said she'd asked about the status of the properties and a few days later they were signed off. 

 

It wasn't just the four North Adams properties — the cases for three Perras holdings in Lanesborough that also had been in the court for years were closed, including Keeler Island. Another property on Holmes Road in Hinsdale is still in the court.  

 

The buildings at 116, 124 and 130 Church St., and a vacant lot on Arnold Place had been in tax title since 2017 when the city placed $12,000 in liens.