Great Barrington Town Meeting on May 6

GREAT BARRINGTON – As the May 6 town meeting closes in, debate over pay for the board of selectmen is still front and center as other issues also gain attention.

At the recent mini-town meeting, Selectwoman Alana Chernila, who is not running for reelection this year, gave an impassioned speech in favor of Article 2 that would continue the stipends in the next fiscal year.

“My opinion is that if you take away the compensation, you are going to see a far more narrow section of the community serve,” she said. “That is not good for the town.”

Several members of the selectboard also felt the decision to cut the pay for members was punitive as a reaction to several of their decisions.

“It was my understanding that this was the former town manager’s recommendation, not from any department head,” said Chairman Sean Stanton.

Finance Committee Member Andy Moro explained he did not see the decision as punitive, instead he saw it as a good fiscal move, and he had tried to get this funding removed in the past with different boards.

Other issues

The town meeting will take place at 6 p.m. on May 6 at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Castle Street. The residents will vote on the 33 articles, including five citizen-petitioned articles, on the town warrant.

Overall, voters will be choosing between the $10.24 million operating budget proposed by the finance committee and the higher $10.31 million budget proposed by the selectmen.

At last year’s meeting, a replacement fire truck was turned down, but this year a new truck will appear on the ballot. Article 6 includes a request of $1.1 million to purchase a replacement tower ladder truck.

“The truck is essential for the fire protection to the town,” said Fire Chief Charles Burger.

The vote will require a two-thirds vote and will be done by special ballot, according to Town Meeting Moderator Edward McCormick.

Article 16 would create a Community Preservation Committee [CPC] in the town. The CPC would then meet each year to suggest projects to town meeting that fall into one of three categories: open space, historic preservation and affordable housing.

Several Berkshire County towns have created CPCs, including Becket, Lenox, Stockbridge and Williamstown.

Voters will also see a warrant that calls for a property maintenance bylaw. This bylaw, which is Article 18, would require property owners to keep their yards and exterior walls at a set minimum level of acceptableness.

This would include that walls be free of cracks and holes and they be periodically painted or stained.

Article 23 would ban the use of plastic bags in town. Stores continuing to use such bags would be subject to fines of up to $200 per day.

Posted by Kameron Z. Spaulding on May 2, 2013. 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