By Bruce Blair
Some time ago, I spoke with a Select Board member who insisted that a Master Plan for Stockbridge was unnecessary. I referred to the “current” Master Plan as the “Dead Sea Scrolls of planning.” “Don’t need one,” was the reply. Really?
Do residents want a select-few to control the agenda on major questions about our future? Is annual voting enough of a say? Of course, resort developers have landowner rights. And maybe incremental building of workforce homes is a plus. But consider the impact of scale, Stockbridge as a crowded resort town. Why do you live here?
Consider a Master Plan (MP), a comprehensive advisory document, not just a boilerplate plan from a regional grant-driven agency. An MP actively gathers all stakeholders and listens to them. A good MP is a living, organic vision. Time consuming, inclusive, an event, not just a chore. Boards are looking at grants and building without one, and that leaves too many of us disconnected.
Staying informed is not always easy. You need to attend every town committee and board meeting by Zoom or in person. Videos of elected and appointed officials’ meetings can take days, weeks to be made available. Meeting minutes are rarely timely and complete. Same old story. You don’t know what you don’t know. Even long-time residents experience this. For some newcomers, I have modified the old saying – you left there to come here, but now plans for here could leave it looking like there. By the time you realize here is now there, it’s too late!
My thoughts on the reality of Stockbridge have not changed. Saving Stockbridge is critical to the regional tourist economy. More houses and resorts won’t lower taxes. (See Lenox, MA). Some of our scenic views may be affected by buildings and lighting from the new projects underway. Seeing this may be the first time you realize what’s happening.
I know the arguments for developing the town. But we meet requirements for affordable housing. Building more without more living wage jobs? Ignoring new affordable housing in neighboring towns as they catch up to us? What impacts do resorts and exclusive home enclaves bring? This and more may bring you to the question….
WHY do people love it here? Ask everyone. Read the list of top-ten reasons to open every town board meeting. There you have it. The Master Plan begins.
Berkshire Hills Regional School District Appraisal
By Jan Wojcik
As the school and town budget season approaches us in these challenging times it is worth a review of the numerical and financial implications that we must surmount.
The current fiscal challenges of Great Barrington have reared their ugly heads once again and there is no easy solution. Some of the challenges have arisen due to lack of investment in the infrastructure of the town, which is a common issue in towns with burdensome school budgets and some due to a decreasing tax base. A large challenge remains the funding of the Berkshire Hills Regional School District (BHRSD). The budget grows each year while the number of residents and students decrease.
Recent Great Barrington Selectboard/Finance Committee combined meetings have revolved around where to cut the budget by eliminating certain services and decreasing support to certain functions that have been supported in the past.
A comparison of the budgets of the Amherst Regional School District (ARSD) where our daughters attended, and BHRSD showed this:
Total School district budget
ARSD 36,891,938.00 BHRSD 37,454,810.00
Allocations to the individual town
ARSD 19,596,989.00 BHRSD 22,396,892.00 (GB)
Number of students (Middle/High)
ARSD 1,182 BHRSD 757
Interesting points:
ARSD has a lower dropout rate, better AP performance, higher SAT scores while spending less per teacher than BHRSD.
The cost of BHRSD is paid by fewer taxpayers. The population of GB is 7,194 and of the BHRSD is 10, 473. The population of Amherst is 40,277 and of the ARSD is 45,124.
I appreciate that school districts are not a true apple to apple comparison but the gist of the argument remains that we are in a bind with the shrinking population and rising costs. Amherst has a larger and wealthier population that also has to worry about their school budget but the cost is spread out among a much larger group of taxpayers. The only solution is to change the sacrosanct BHRSD budget and change the management of BHRSD. The increasing budget of the BHRSD is unsustainable — a non-starter.
Editor’s note: It is possible that the new school approval process will be changed. Evidently there is a choice. Rather than requiring that each town approve the plan for the new school, votes in the three towns – Great Barrington, West Stockbridge and Stockbridge – can be added together and the motion to approve the budget for the new school passes if the positive votes across the three towns added together are greater than the “no” votes. If it is assumed that Great Barrington will vote “no,” this is a possible route to get to “yes.”
Berkshire Botanical Garden Announces Completion of New Solar Project
By Felix Carroll
Berkshire Botanical Garden has taken a significant step toward sustainability with the installation of a state-of-the-art solar panel array. The new system, which includes 102 solar panels on the roof of BBG’s Education Building, will go online in the coming weeks.
“Berkshire Botanical Garden has been a valuable environmental resource in our region since our founding in 1934,” said BBG Executive Director Mike Beck. “As an organization that shares information about sustainability, it is vitally important that our operating systems are as environmentally sound as possible, to set an example for our visitors and the larger community.”
The $121,000 project was paid for through a generous $45,132 matching grant from Tern Foundation’s TernSOLAR Challenge Grant Program. BBG raised $45,132 from individual donations. The remainder of the project costs will be offset through a 30 percent IRS credit.
Tern Foundation’s TernSOLAR challenge grant program is designed to expand renewable energy use in Massachusetts communities, making solar technology more accessible to nonprofit organizations. Grants are offered to dynamic nonprofits whose leaders engage creatively with their communities and also consider future generations and the natural environment in their strategic priorities and sustainability planning. Since 2010 Tern Foundation has funded over 30 solar projects and associated environmental education initiatives.
A utility interconnection agreement with utility provider National Grid will allow any excess electrical production to offset electrical use throughout BBG’s grounds and buildings. Once the panels go online, they will generate power to offset more than 67 percent of BBG’s current electricity use, in a carbon neutral way. BBG will realize about $13,000 in annual savings, at current electricity prices.
Beck said the presence of an on-site photovoltaic array can serve as a powerful tool for educating and inspiring BBG’s 40,000 annual visitors about the benefits of carbon-neutral, renewable energy. The solar panel array’s location is at the hub of much of BBG’s adult and youth educational programming, including the Horticulture Certificate Program, the spring and summer Farm in the Garden youth day camps, the annual Mother’s Day weekend plant sale, the mid-summer Grow Show, the fall Harvest Festival, and December’s Holiday Marketplace.
