Lanesborough Select Board Decreases Bailey Road Speed Limit

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Traveling 40 mph down a section of Bailey Road is no longer permitted.

The Select Board on Monday voted to change the "questionable" 40 mph zone to a 35 mph speed limit.

Police Chief Robert Derksen came to the panel with the request, as there are currently three speed limits on the road.

It was hard to tell where the 35 mph and 40 mph speed zones were, he said, and there's a section that's 25 mph.

"From Route 7, there's a 25 mph zone and it also depends on what direction you're traveling so if you're traveling, I guess westbound towards Brody Mountain Road, it's 25, 35, and 40. At about Noppet Road is when it changes to 40," he explained.

"Now, the thing I did notice is traveling it from Brodie Mountain towards Route 7, it's not marked until that first sign, and if you're eastbound, right around where it changes from 40. If you're westbound, it's 35 so it's two different speed limits depending on the direction you're traveling."

The Police Department placed radar in the area hoping to gather data but the file was corrupted and unable to be used, Derksen said.

Select Board member Timothy Sorrell was ready to make a recommendation without the data, motioning to change the 40 zones to 35.

Pittsfield City Council Weighs in on 'Crisis' in Public Schools

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
08:59PM / Monday, December 23, 2024

A half-dozen people addressed the City Council from the floor of Monday's meeting, including Valerie Anderson, right.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After expressing anger and outrage and making numerous calls for accountability and transparency, the 11 members of the City Council on Monday voted to support the School Committee in seeking an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct by staff members at Pittsfield High School that have come to light in recent weeks.

 

At the close of a month that has seen three PHS administrators put on administrative leave, including one who was arrested on drug trafficking charges, the revelation that the district is facing a civil lawsuit over inappropriate conduct by a former teacher and that a staff member who left earlier in the year is also under investigation at his current workplace, the majority of the council felt compelled to speak up about the situation.

 

"While the City Council does not have jurisdiction over the schools … we have a duty to raise our voices and amplify your concerns and ensure this crisis is met with the urgency it demands," Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey said.

 

About two dozen community members attended the special meeting of the council, which had a single agenda item.

 

Four of the councilors precipitated the meeting with a motion that the council join the School Committee in its search for an investigation and that the council, "be included in the delivery of any disclosures, interim reports or findings submitted to the city."

 

Last week, the School Committee decided to launch that investigation. On Monday, City Council President Peter White said the School Committee has a meeting scheduled for Dec. 30 to authorize its chair to enter negotiations with the Springfield law firm of Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas to conduct that probe.

 

Ward 7 Councilor Rhonda Serre, the principal author of the motion of support, was one of several members who noted that the investigation process will take time, and she, like Kavey, acknowledged that the council has no power over the public schools beyond its approval of the annual district budget.