Clarksburg Filling Empty Board Seat; Town Administrator Interviews Set

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CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The town expects to have a new Select Board member in place at the conclusion of the special election on Tuesday, allowing officials to move forward in filling some important positions. 
 
The three-person board has been down to one member since October, part of an exodus of officials that has left the town in limbo.
 
The only name on Tuesday's ballot is Jeffrey Levanos, a veteran member of both the Select Board and School Committee. A Select Board meeting — the first in nearly two months — is scheduled for Wednesday morning at 9:30 at the Community Center. 
 
The agenda includes interviews of three candidates for town administrator: Jeffrey Roucoulet, Christine Dobbert and Carl McKinney. 
 
McKinney is a former member of the Select Board and Finance Committee and was town administrator from 2015 to 2019. He quit in May 2019 over differences with the Select Board on the terms of his contract on wages. 
 
Dobbert is the longtime town administrator of the town of Florida. She has been in that post since 2007 after being office manager of the local law firm. 
 
Roucoulet is director of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program of Pittsfield and Berkshire County. He recently interviewed for town administrator in the town of Lanesborough. 
 
The town has been without a town administrator since the departure of Rebecca Stone, who walked out of a Select Board meeting in August and never returned to her office. The town settled the final year of her contract with her the following month. 
 
The reason for her abrupt exit was months of turmoil in the town's financial offices that boiled over during the Aug. 25 meeting, when then Chairman Ronald Boucher castigated her for failing to manage the problem. 
 
In short order, the administrative assistant, town accountant and town treasurer also left, along with Boucher and Select Board member Allen Arnold. The town is currently depending on interims for accountant and treasurer and has an acting town clerk.

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Dalton Historic District Prep Nearly Complete

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The preliminary work for establishing a second historic district is nearly complete, commissioners said at Wednesday's Historical Commission meeting. 
 
The work was extensive as commissioners navigated the "confusing" technical details and documentation requirements to send to the state Historical Commission for review. 
 
"We've been working diligently on the historic district, and I think we've made a lot of progress," co-Chair Louisa Horth said. 
 
The proposed district starts at Park Avenue, where Main Street Cemetery is, and goes down to Depot Street. It then goes up High and North Streets.
 
The commission has all the pictures needed for this first phase, created all the maps, and organized most of the documentation. 
 
Commissioners hope to be able to send their material to the state within the next week or two. 
 
Once the material is sent, the state Historical Commission will review what was gathered and determine whether the district has a substantial enough historical significance to be considered a district. 
 
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