Selectmen retreat in Lenox

LENOX – The Lenox Board of Selectmen took a close look at the town, and itself, at a recent selectmen’s retreat.

The retreat was divided into four primary sections: “A vision for Lenox;” “Our current environment;” “Identifying our top priorities;” and “The mechanics,” as well as a brief wrap-up.

Overall, the meeting was a harmonious one, with widespread agreement on many topics, although some differences were expressed.

The vision for Lenox section focused on the selectmen discussing what they would like Lenox to be and looking over last year’s vision statement.

The selectmen generally agreed on the importance of tourism for the well being of the town.

“Everything revolves around people….coming to town,” said Board of Selectmen Chairman Kenneth L. Fowler, who also expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the chamber of commerce in promoting Lenox.

“I don’t think the board of selectmen should be doing marketing,” said Chairman Fowler, who advocated for the establishment of a cultural coordinator position for the town.

This proposal was agreed to by Selectman W. David Roche, who nevertheless said that the title should be that of events coordinator instead.

“That [tourism] can’t be our main focus, in my opinion,” said Selectman Edward P. Lane, who said that the selectmen should focus on infrastructure, and making the town run smoothly.

“Our identity as a town in The Berkshires is important,” said Selectman Channing Gibson, who advocated for defining Lenox more as a part of The Berkshires, while still maintaining its own unique identity.

“A big thing that we’re missing here is serving our locals,” said Selectman John J. McNinch. “There are so many locals that won’t shop in Lenox.”

“(There’s) that perception that we tend to be exclusive and snobbish,” said Chairman Fowler, who also talked about the internal perception that Lenox residents didn’t have stores they could shop at, something Chairman Fowler didn’t believe was correct.

“Someone whose making the median income in town would have a tough time having a meal [downtown],” said Selectman Roche, who took the opposite tack.

He did, however, praise the quality of the board of selectmen this year.

“I think that we have the strongest select board that we’ve had in years,” said Selectman Roche.

Signage, the lack of a new policy, and the inconsistent enforcement of the current one was another major topic of discussion.

“We (the town) have a lot more pluses than we have negatives,” said Selectman Lane.

“We haven’t been disappointed on any front,” said Selectman Gibson, who moved with his family to Lenox only a few years ago.

When he asked whether the complaints about Lenox’s permitting process were valid, he got two different responses.

Chairman Fowler said that Lenox Building Inspector William “Bill” Thornton was accommodating to applicants, but often came down hard on those who did work without approval.

Selectman McNinch, however, said that the quality at the building inspectors office had slipped.

“The building department has changed,” said Selectman McNinch. “They’re very inconsistent in what they do.”

In the identifying our top priorities section, the selectmen agreed to make finances, water/sewer improvements, the rest of the river clean up project, making sure boards report back and coordinate with the board of selectmen, and marketing/economic development as the five areas they wanted to focus on in the coming months. The board chose not to list these areas in order of priority.

The mechanics section, focused on how the board and the town manager could function better.

Topics covered included how best to handle public comments, and how town hall could be better organized. Having the board be a little more formal was also brought up as was approving the consent agenda as a whole.

Much to Chairman Fowler’s surprise, the town manager and his fellow board members said that he needed to speak up louder at meetings, as he often spoke too softly.

The selectmen also agreed to hold meetings to discuss each of the five topics the board highlighted as priorities in the coming months, in order to make sure that they were addressed.

The board scheduled the first of these meetings for Wednesday, Oct. 10, to be held with the Lenox Finance Committee.

Posted by Bera B. Dunau on October 4, 2012. Filed under Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry