Dalton Town Hall Lift Out of Order

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
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DALTON, Mass. — Town Hall is down a lift because of safety concerns with the current one in the police station, the Americans with Disabilities Act Committee announced during its meeting on Monday night. 
 
The Town Hall has two chairlifts, one in the police station and one in the public library.
 
The Town Planner, Health Agent, Building Inspector offices are inaccessible to those who need a chairlift because the library chairlift does not have access to them. If assistance is needed call Town Hall for accommodations. 
 
Garaventa Lift is in the process of locating parts but due to the age it has been difficult to do so. 
 
The town has a service contract with Garaventa Lift for twice-a-year maintenance or repair. The replacement of the old lift does not fall under the maintenance contract. 
 
Barry Architect provided blueprints of Town Hall that shows a possible location for an elevator as requested by the building inspector for future possible use.  
 
The prospect of adding an elevator was included in one of the Town Hall renovation designs but was removed when the Select Board voted to minimize the project's scope to reduce spending.
 
These prints were provided to Hill-Engineers Architects Planners Inc. to come up with options on how to replace the lift. 
 
"We are going to pay these folks to give us a couple of different options because our lift from 1996 is currently a deathtrap," ADA coordinator Alyssa Maschino said. 
 
Any replacement would need to go out for bid, which triggers several procurement steps. 
 
The public library lift works but is restricted to the library's hours and it lacks an automatic door system on the inside door.
 
Committee members mentioned a possible solution could be investing in an alert system that would inform staff when a wheelchair user needs assistance gaining access to the building. The system would be similar to a Ring camera, former building grounds superintendent and ADA advisor Patrick Pettit said. 
 
The committee has been exploring its options on how to replace the stair lift in Town Hall since early summer. 
 
During its meeting in September, the committee said the chair lift project was delayed because Garaventa Lift informed the town that the new weight limit went from 400 pounds to to 650 pounds. 
 
With the new weight limit requirement, the town needs to determine if the current railings can hold 650 pounds, Maschino said during the previous meeting. 
 
At the time of the meeting Garaventa had not provided an update on this yet, however, the company informed Pettit a while back the rails would likely need to be replaced because a different style is needed for the new lift.  
 
It was also noted that the town should invest in ADA pull chains for the Town Hall restrooms. 

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Youngsters Promote National Diabetes Awareness Month in Hinsdale

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff

The water bottles decorated with stickers promoting Diabetes Awareness Month and bracelets that the youngsters acquired for two school personnel with diabetes.
HINSDALE, Mass. — According to the American Diabetes Association, two Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every minute.
 
At Kittredge Elementary School, two youngsters are fighting back.
 
Fourth-grader Nelson Pelkey and his cousin, fifth-grader Emily Ham, each have Type 1 diabetes, a condition formerly known as juvenile diabetes.
 
On Friday, they marked the beginning of National Diabetes Awareness Month by distributing water bottles with stickers calling attention to diabetes to every child in the school.
 
Nelson's dad Jesse said this week that standing up to diabetes is nothing new for his son, who was diagnosed in the summer of 2021.
 
"The very first day he was diagnosed at age 6, he wouldn't let us do a finger stick on him," Jesse said. "The doctor showed how and he did it himself.
 
"He's taken the helm of it. He has the Dexcom and the pump and all of that. He knows when to do what he needs to do or how to program the machines. Emily is the same way."
 
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