NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Tuesday's City Council meeting was an evening for presentations and a proclamation for American Heart Month in February.

 

Mayor Jennifer Macksey's declaration was focused on Congenital Heart Defect Awareness, being marked this week. 

 

"I am dedicating this proclamation to my little friend Natalie," she said, pointing to the young daughter of her executive assistant Lindsay Randall. "This proclamation is in honor of Nat and her struggle, but her strength to persevere."

 

The mayor's proclamation noted that congenital heart defects are present at birth, often requiring specialized and ongoing medical care throughout a person's life. 

 

They are the most common type of birth defect, affecting individuals and families across the nation and in North Adams. The American Heart Association says one in a hundred babies born yearly in the United States has a heart defect. Research and medical breakthroughs mean more children are living into adulthood; the association estimates 2 million adults have a congenital heart condition.

 

"The heart is a powerful symbol of life, strength and resilience, and for individuals living with this disease, it represents extraordinary courage and perseverance," the mayor read. "It's a time to honor those living with this disease and to recognize the dedication of their families, health care professionals, researchers and the individual themselves."

 

Macksey presented Natalie with a bear and her parents, Lindsay and AJ Randall, with the framed proclamation. 

 

The City Council also heard about the work of C4 Innovations, a for-profit organization that provides social and wellness support programs. 

 

Councilor Marie McCarron requested time for Joshua Vallieres, a youth wellness coach, to speak about the programs used at Drury High School. 

 

"Through this partnership, Josh provides non-clinical support to students, helping them navigate challenges such as mental health concerns, substance abuse and housing instability," she said. "The issues he addresses are closely tied to youth, well-being, public health and community safety." 

 

Vallieres, former city clerk, said he is one of nine youth wellness coaches scattered around the state. His two high schools are Drury and Turners Falls High School in Montague.

 

"My job is to provide nonclinical behavioral health support through a variety of curriculums," he said, including mentoring, harm and risk factor reduction, restorative practices and addressing substance abuse and mental health. "There's a wheel of all the different things that a youth wellness coach is supposed to embody and represent."

 

The program is grant funded through the state Department of Public Health and Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, and in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital. The coaches are implementing school-based screenings and brief interventions to reduce youth substance abuse as part of a research study through Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, based in Washington, D.C.

 

Twenty schools have a coach, including Drury, and 20 do not, to determine the efficacy of the coach model. The coaches are between the ages of 19 and 30 to build shared connections with the teenagers. 

 

"We offer a powerful combination of youth peer mentor and just being a trusted adult in the school, at a young age is really beneficial to students," Vallieres said. "And as far as lived experience goes, you know, we're able to identify navigating behavioral health and well-being concerns."

 

He said he could attest to how being embedded in the school offers an opportunity for the coaches to learn about its resources, culture and needs, and be able to adapt their approach. 

 

C4 coaches also take on SBIRT, the Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment survey mandated in all schools and referring to the use of substances like drugs and alcohol. It's used as an intervention tool. Vallieres said this has been a responsibility of nurses, adjustment counselor and other staff who can now free up their clinical capacity for higher risk students. 

 

Project Amp is a mentoring program to "meet students where they're at" and more targeted in terms of levels or risk, said Vallieres, and considered Tier Two in terms of brief interventions whereas SBIRT is Tier One in that it is general in evaluating predispositions. 

 

Students participating in Project Amp "felt less stressed and less anxious," he said,  and "they developed stronger coping skills and felt more confident in their ability to handle challenges."

 

"I don't regularly utilize Tier Three in the sense that, like I'm directly intervening with intensive and individualized support systems," he said. "The point of my position, the youth wellness coach, in Drury High School, is to reduce the burden of clinical staff by absorbing those nonclinical needs and supporting the referrals."

 

In other business, the council also heard from the Community Development Office on its responsibilities and challenges, and the mayor announced that Chief Procurement Officer Thomas Peterson, hired in September, had acquired his Massachusetts Certified Public Purchasing Official designation. 

 

"So congratulations to Tom for getting that designation, and I'm pleased to share he's completed his first bid," she said.

 

• The city received seven bids for Chapter 90 roadwork this spring on Ashton, Davidson, Rickard, Church, Barth, Montgomery Bliss and South. The contract was awarded to LB Corp. of Lee for $470,000.

 

Councilor Keith Bona asked about the administration's plans to send warning letters property owners who have not shoveled their sidewalks. 

 

"I look at like Eagle and West Main and East Main and Church and Ashland, which, you know, those are the ones that I feel like probably get heavy travel, and there clearly are sidewalks that haven't been touched," he said. 

 

The mayor said the Police Department has been "actively ticketing" and that some fines have been issued. 

 

"We've been starting with the warning system, and have found with the follow-ups that we've been successful. There are some areas that we are still struggling with," she said. 

 

But the mayor acknowledged that the city has been having trouble keeping up with its own properties because of the amount of snow. She was asked about having an "angel" program for volunteers to shovel walks.

 

"We really want to roll out the angel program that's similar to Pittsfield, but we're going back and forth with the insurance company on some liability things," Macksey said, noting some employees have been helping elderly residents on their own time. "I think we're building a little bit of a community around it, but it's hard."

 

• She also asked residents to consider adopting a hydrant as a public safety service to alleviate the Fire Department's efforts in keeping the hundreds of hydrants clear.