"We're the backbone of Berkshire County," says Select Board Chairman Tom Szczepaniak, a 12-year resident formerly from Lanesborough who owns Variety Trucking. "When you cross the line, it's a whole new world. People are deep here; they don't get in your business, but if you ask for help, the whole town shows up. Everybody comes together and supports every sport, every kid."
Town Manager Kenneth Walto, a Pittsfield native who has lived in Dalton for 25 years, seconds that emotion, calling it a "very close-knit community where neighbors know each other and care about each other, and help each other out — the old-fashioned way."
The community was first settled in 1755 and was then known as the Ashuelot Equivalent, resulting from the resolution in 1743 of a complex boundary dispute between companies in Hatfield, Mass., and Hinsdale, N.H.
In 1784, the town was officially incorporated and named after state House of Representatives Speaker Tristam Dalton. Its biggest claim to fame has been as the home of Crane & Co., the sole manufacturer of all the paper used for U.S. currency since 1879. As of last December, the company employed 656 people at its Dalton facilities.
Crane an anchor
By 1829, five saw mills, three paper mills and a gristmill were all clustered near the town center.
Some workers commuted to Pittsfield on as many as seven trains a day on the Boston & Albany Railroad tracks, as well as on a trolley line. The town's second railroad depot was used until 1952.
The town's past is well-preserved through a series of historic structures, some built before 1820. An active Historic Commission has been preparing a Historic Preservation Bylaw.
One of the county's most sports-minded communities, Dalton claims several major league baseball VIPs as natives, including relief pitchers Turk Wendell and Jeff Reardon, as well as baseball executive Dan Duquette, who has been operating a sports camp in neighboring Hinsdale during the past several years and is a former Red Sox general manager.
While the quality of life is high and the crime rate remains relatively low, Walto acknowledges some "spillover" from Pittsfield in drug-related crime and even a "surprising" drive-by shooting. On the other hand, he's encouraged by the development of the Cops in Schools program.
With family life dominant, Dalton is home to Craneville Elementary School, Nessacus Regional Middle School and Wahconah Regional High School, all part of the seven-town Central Berkshire Regional School District with a total of 2,100 students. St. Agnes parochial school in Dalton serves about 180 students in pre-school and kindergarten through grade eight.
Walto spends much of his time advancing the town's potential for industrial development, working closely with Pittsfield at the old Beloit facility. He's also fast-tracking a new industrial park on both sides of the railroad near the South Street overpass. Talks are under way with a potential tenant.
Pressure for residential development is limited, Szezepaniak says.
"It's hard; Dalton doesn't want to change too quickly," he says. "We don't mind a little here and there, but a massive project" doesn't go over well because "we didn't want to ruin our mountains; we love our scenic mountains, streams and ponds."
But he considers the sizable Silver Maple Farm development on the site of Burgner Farm as "great" for the town because it enhanced the tax base and brought in considerable revenue to help pay for increasing school-budget assessments "to maintain the quality of education, up to a point. The cost of education is more than the state or the town can afford."
Affordable housing projects
Several smaller-scale residential projects, including Wahconah Brook Estates and Pine Crest, are nearing completion or are under development.
A variety of low-income and affordable housing projects already exist in what Walto calls "a well-rounded community." Nevertheless, elderly residents and young families are finding it increasingly difficult to handle rising costs.
An Open Space Master Plan and a related bylaw are in the works; the bylaw might be ready for a vote at the May annual town meeting. The state's Community Preservation Act also may be on the upcoming town meeting warrant.
Homeowners face an annual tax burden of just more than $3,000, on average, which is in the mid-range statewide. Dalton's municipal budgets have been strained during the past five years by decreased or, at best, level-funded state aid. As a result, the town struggles to meet the increasing cost of health insurance (which has tripled in the past five years) plus cost-of-living pay increases for 50-plus town workers. Town Hall employees are on a four-day, 35-hour work week (the only ones in the county on an austerity schedule), and the library budget has been squeezed with hours shortened.
There's an unusually heavy schedule of projects this year, notably the combined new library and senior center project at the former site of Nessacus Middle School and the old Dalton High School. The project, which includes a small historical museum, is estimated at $12 million. It's expected to come before voters at the annual or a special town meeting. Voters can approve the whole project, or any of the three elements. Library funding must be in place by mid-July, Walto explains, because that's when a state grant designated for the facility expires.
A forthcoming Town Hall renovation is expected to cost $500,000 to $1 million. A state-funded, $6 million South Street reconstruction project gets under way this spring.
The town has been dipping into reserves and free cash to help fund town departments and cover school assessments. The Central Berkshire District is projecting a $1.5 million, 12 percent budget increase this year, resulting from health insurance and salary increases. It's a worrisome jump for member towns, whose voters must approve the spending. The annual cost of educating a child has increased from $8,000 to $11,000 during the past three years, while school enrollment declines as the population ages.
Szezepaniak says the school district will need to look at belt-tightening, even though "we'll take some political heat from parents and teachers."
"You've got to look at the big picture; we pride ourselves on our kids, who are number one in our lives, and to go up against that budget is like saying to your child, 'We can't afford to put you through the schools any more.' It's hard, and then you go to a senior citizens' lunch, and they're worrying about whether to pay for their prescriptions, their heating bills or their taxes."
Walto expects the town will have to dip into its reserves again this year; Dalton has about $200,000 in operating reserves (separate from capital reserves) and about $1.4 million in state-certified "free cash." He cites a preliminary estimate of an $800,000 drain on reserves and free cash this year. The town is near its limit in its ability to raise property taxes, according to the Proposition 2 1/2 formula.
Despite these financial worries, Daltonians are imbued with an upbeat, optimistic community spirit.
Szezepaniak rhapsodizes over the "feeling of coming home" when he returns from vacation.
"Coming up Main Street, you see a few familiar faces, that's what it's all about. We still have that heritage, it's not drifting away, we're hanging on to it."
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