Great Barrington household bulky waste drop-off is Saturday, April 17
GREAT BARRINGTON — Town residents who want to dispose of old furniture, windows, doors or other bulky household items can do so Saturday, April 17, from 7 a.m.–3 p.m., at the town transfer and recycling station on Route 7.
No business waste will be accepted, and certain items are prohibited. Items accepted include furniture, mattresses and box springs, rugs and carpeting, windows, doors, cabinetry, and similar items.
Items not permitted include demolition debris, household trash and household hazardous waste, washers, dryers, refrigerators, computers, monitors and televisions, household appliances such as vacuum cleaners and toasters, tires, auto batteries, and yard waste.
A separate household hazardous waste drop-off day for Southern Berkshire residents will take place Saturday, May 15 from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. at the town of Lee’s transfer station on Route 102.
For more information, call the Department of Public Works at (413) 528-0867.
—A.K.
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Mass. Registry of Motor Vehicles extending grace period for inspection stickers
QUINCY — Due to the nationwide system outage of motor vehicle inspection services by its vendor Applus Technologies (Applus) impacting inspection stations and motor vehicle owners, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) is extending a grace period for specific motor vehicle inspection requirements. The requirements are outlined below and include an extension which allows vehicle owners with expired March 2021 and April 2021 inspections stickers to have through May 31, 2021 to obtain inspections.
The RMV is working in close partnership with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, the Massachusetts State Police, and other stakeholders to mitigate the impacts of the outage. The RMV has advised law enforcement that compliance with the safety/emissions inspection requirement has not been possible since March 30, in light of the outage.
Motor vehicles with expired inspection stickers from March 2021 (“3” sticker on windshield) and April 2021 (“4” sticker on windshield) have until May 31, 2021 to obtain an inspection. Newly purchased vehicles registered on or after Tuesday, March 23, 2021 should be granted until April 30, 2021 to obtain an inspection. Newly purchased vehicles must typically be inspected within seven (7) days of registration.
Customers who recently had an inspection rejection and are in the 60-day free retest window will be afforded one extra day for each day Applus’s system remains unavailable, but should plan to facilitate their inspection as soon as possible once the system is restored.
Status of vehicle inspections
Applus Technologies, a vendor that facilitates vehicle inspections in MA and several other states, experienced a cyber-attack in several states on March 30, preventing the RMV’s vehicle inspection stations from conducting inspections statewide. The RMV will hold the vendor accountable for this disruption and is working with Applus to restore services as soon as possible. Applus has indicated that their systems will be operating by Saturday, April 17 in Massachusetts and the Registry will continue working with the vendor to meet this goal.
It has been 15 days since the Registry learned of the cyber-attack, and the outage has had a significant impact to the many business owners who employ staff to deliver vehicle inspection services to the citizens of the Commonwealth.
For additional information and details on these and other RMV service offerings during the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit the Mass RMV website or the Mass RMV COVID-19 website.
—A.K.
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Salisbury Bank’s 2021 community shred, food drive dates announced
LAKEVILLE — Salisbury Bank will host free community shred days that will include food drives, as part of its initiative to help fight identity theft. The events are open to all local residents and businesses.
These events will take place during the months of May through October and will run from 9 a.m.–Noon at the following branch locations throughout the tri-state area:
Saturday, May 22: Dover Plains Branch, 5 Dover Village Plaza, Dover Plains, NY
Saturday, June 19: Lakeville Branch, 5 Bissell Street, Lakeville, CT
Saturday, Aug. 21: Lakeville Branch, 5 Bissell Street, Lakeville, CT
Saturday, Sept. 18: Millerton Branch, 87 Main Street, Millerton, NY
Saturday, Oct. 2: Sheffield Branch, 640 North Main Street, Sheffield, MA
Saturday, Oct. 9: Fishkill Branch, 701 Route 9, Suite 7, Fishkill, NY (Riverside Division location)
Saturday, Oct. 16: Lakeville Branch, 5 Bissell Street, Lakeville, CT
Please consider participating in the food drive by bringing non-perishable food and household items along with your items to shred.
Please note: For the safety of all participants and volunteers, this year’s shred days will be “drive-thru” events and will include the following guidelines:
- Limit 4 bags/boxes per car (paper only, no binders)Participants must wear a face cover/mask
- Stay in your car until you reach the drop-off point
- If you feel unwell, please stay home
- All shredded paper will be recycled. All donations will go to local food pantries
—A.K.
