A Pittsfield ordinance on battery energy storage systems was supposed to limit how close the batteries would ever sit near residential areas or park lands. Three property owners with plans
PITTSFIELD â Kind, patient, generous, thoughtful, helpful. All of those words sum up the impact Robert L. A. âBobâ Cote had on Berkshire County, where he probably helped more people than he ever knew.
Cote, who died Dec. 14 at age 87 from a long-term illness, was a well-known local figure in the struggle against addiction and substance abuse. He helped establish the Thomas McGee Substance Abuse Unit at Hillcrest Hospital in Pittsfield, where he served as the clinical director for 18 years, then spent an additional 16 years as a senior clinician at the Brien Center for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
He also created the Addiction Counselor Education Program at Westfield State University (then Westfield State College) and served as the director for 25 years (an extension of that program was later brought to Berkshire Community College). A participant in Alcoholics Anonymous for 46 years, according to his obituary, Coteâs work in addiction services cont