Adams Select Board dismisses dangerous dog complaint, approves Route 8 blight designation

ADAMS -- March 4, 2026, Adams Select Board unanimously dismisses dangerous dog complaint and designates Route 8 corridor as blighted. The board voted 5-0 Wednesday to find that Penny, a catahoula leopard dog owned by Jonathan Moffett of 14 Grand View Terrace, was neither dangerous nor a nuisance under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 140 Section 157, incorporating a reminder of the town's existing leash law into the motion; the second named dog, Mason, had died of epilepsy before the hearing concluded. In separate action, the board unanimously approved a resolution designating the Adams Route 8 target area as blighted and decadent under the state's Community Development Block Grant program, after a Berkshire Regional Planning Commission survey found 32.1 percent of the area's 539 parcels contribute to blight, clearing the 25 percent threshold required for a 10-year CDBG designation. Community Development Director Donna Cesan said the designation will support a 2026 CDBG application for Winter Street improvements. State Representative John Barrett told the board that DOT had agreed to repair a local bridge to a 40-ton capacity and would absorb the cost of replacing a damaged pipe beneath it, following pressure from the board and residents.