Pittsfield

The recovery process for the town has gone very well this past year, according to Select Board member George Deblon and Town Clerk and Treasurer Patricia Haskins. Aside from a very few outstanding items, the town infrastructure has been repaired.

Twenty of the 42 town highways had significant damage; all are fixed.

Of the eight homes in Pittsfield destroyed, two are rebuilding — one home on the same site, the other on a higher site on the same property. Two homeowners did not qualify for buyouts — one house is abandoned and the other family is renting elsewhere. The remaining four homes are awaiting a decision from FEMA; two families have purchased houses in other towns and two are renting temporarily. Several of the homes are visible from Route 107, a heart-breaking reminder of the storm to those driving through town.

Pittsfield has received about $790,000 in FEMA funds and has budgeted $50,000 to come from taxes for Irene debt payment.

The town will be celebrating Aug. 26 to commemorate their community’s strength.

“We are celebrating the way the town came together and looked out for one another during the aftermath of Irene, when we were an isolated community,” Haskins says.