1. Mowing the Verge
Hugh Page did it until some opposed it. I remember Mary Flynn opposed mowing the verge — a swathe along the roadway. Mary saw the verge as home to the wildflowers she loved. Definitely a sin to mow.
Anyone still opposed to mowing the verge, think again. We live in different times. High grass is home to ticks. “Both the number and the potential danger of ticks is increasing in the United States. The growing tick population is generally booming, particularly in the Northeast. Several reasons contribute to this increase including Global warming.” So let’s keep mowing the verge beside roadways so walkers can step off the pavement in safety.
2. Emergency Management Planning
Taking the lead at a recent Select Board meeting, Lee Selectman Bob Jones questioned Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) about countywide emergency management planning. There seems not to be one. Apparently, municipalities should work on them individually.
However, the trucks on their way to the PCB Dump in Lee will all go through Stockbridge. Do we have an emergency management plan?” In addition, Stockbridge has Tanglewood, Naumkeag, Berkshire Botanical Garden, and Norman Rockwell Museum — these are all mass-gathering locations. Generally large venues have emergency management plans, do we? For further information, read The Berkshire Edge, July 3, 2025: “Sounding the Alarm: Lack of Regional Planning.”
Protecting its citizens and public safety are the two most important jobs of government.
3. Jim Scalise, on behalf of Echo Valley LLC, has submitted a request to subdivide the 35-acre parcel on Interlaken Cross Road with no approval required.
His Form A “Application for endorsement of plan believed to not require approval” divides the property into two lots — 3 acres and 32 acres. A typical subdivision is by righ, however is subject to approvals for the road, the position and the length of the road, required frontage, number of lots allowed, setbacks from property lines and wetlands, and replacement of trees cut down. For a subdivision of ten or more lots, an impact statement is also required. We should watch the progression. For example, will Scalise return with a request for a re-subdivision of the remaining 32 acres? Once? More than once? Is there something that could be called serial subdivision? Or is this one and done?
4. Just a reminder:
Repairs to our Civil War monument and the Cat and Dog Fountain cost over $300,000. It was recommended that we do not plant close to these monuments. Plantings require watering, and water, near the monument bases, causes deterioration. The Civil War monument is faced in sandstone making it even more vulnerable. Please consider removing the plantings and relocating them to an area farther from the monument. An historical note: originally there was an unplanted area close to the monument, enclosed by a handsome wrought iron fence. There were no plantings inside the fenced area.
It also cost the Town an additional $800,000 to repair the Children’s Chime Tower; a total of over $1.1 million for our beloved monuments. Let’s protect our investment whether it is from flowers or carpenter ants.
