Introduction

About Stockbridge Updates

The launch of Stockbridge Updates was a pleasantly surprising success. The measures of success were positive comments and close to 100 requests to receive future issues. You thanked me, but I would like to thank you.

Hopefully both measures indicate that the goal of Stockbridge Updates to present facts about a wide range of local issues is the right one.

One commenter asked that Stockbridge Updates go beyond reporting what is happening in town and express what should (or should not) be happening. That is outside Stockbridge Updates‘ mandate: Stockbridge Updates will (factually) update Stockbridge. However, we encourage readers to offer opinion pieces. Just email your opinion pieces to me. Include your name and brief identifier.

There was criticism. One Stockbridge Bowl Association (SBA) member objected to Professor Coote’s survey results and called the Stockbridge Updates editorial “fiction”. Another member felt the editorial was unfair and unkind to SBA President Richard Seltzer.

However, three days later, on August 9, Seltzer wrote to “SBA Board members: Our elusive enemy, Eurasian Water Milfoil, has evaded capture and destruction by disappearing this summer… If the amount of milfoil found this week were typical of every year, no one would be spending time and money seeking to eradicate milfoil in our lake.”

It is welcome that all are now dealing with the same facts, can ask the right questions, and based on the best answers, work in concert to protect and preserve our lake.

Carole Owens, Editor

by Carole Owens, Editor

News

Town News: August 15, 2020

Upcoming Select Board Meeting

The Select Board will meet this Thursday at 9 am on August 20. Agenda items include: the new Town website (Tom Sharpe of Mungy Design Studios); lake plant survey results (Professor Tom Coote); proposed repairs to the Soldiers’ Monument (Amanda Trienens and the Historical Commission’s Peter Williams). You can join the Zoom meeting by visiting the Town website at www.stockbridge-ma.gov and visiting the agenda page.

Last Week’s Select Board Meeting

The agenda for the meeting held on August 13, 2020 included:

Mosquito Control Program

The Mosquito Program generated much discussion. Chris Horton, program supervisor, described the county-wide program which seeks to control the “nuisance” mosquito while making a case for the benefits of the program from a public health perspective.

There was strong opinion against the effort. Arguments included, “It is a nuisance control convenience at the expense of the environment.”

It was suggested that the pesticide used also negatively impacts other insects such as butterflies, caterpillars, and dragonflies, and could impact the recovering bat population.

Members of the Board of Health expressed their skepticism about the value of the program from the point of view of public health. Mosquito-borne illnesses are currently at a very low incidence level. Incidences in towns that do not use the program, such as Lee and Lenox, are no different than incidences in Stockbridge. Moreover, Health Department members argued, only a small fraction (around 3%-5%) of the Town’s wetlands are actually treated by the service.

Select Board and Board of Health members observed that the program needs more accountability and monitoring, better reporting, and tighter coordination with the Town Highway Department and the Board of Health. That combined oversight would be the basis on which the efficacy of the program could be evaluated.

Code Red

Selectman Roxanne McCaffrey reviewed the Town’s Code Red system at the last Select Board meeting. All residents are encouraged to sign up. Signing up is easy! Just visit www.stockbridge-ma.gov to enter your information.

Once you are signed up, watch for incoming calls from “ECN” (mobile devices), 855-969-4636 (general announcements) or 866-419-5000 (emergencies) on your caller ID to make sure you don’t miss critical messages from the Town.

Austen Riggs

The Select Board thanked Eric Plakun and his team at Austen Riggs for their generous donation of $16,000 to the Town’s PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) program. Given the current economic environment, it was impressive to see one of our non-profits stepping up and meeting the moment. The PILOT Committee is headed by Tom Stokes.

Lake Stewardship: The Commission

The Stockbridge Bowl Stewardship Commission (SBSC) was established by the Stockbridge Select Board. Michael Nathan is the chair. Other SBSC members include Charles Kenny, Board of Health, Tom Schuler and Mike Buffoni, Sewer and Water, Jamie Minacci, Conservation Commission, Gary Johnston, Stockbridge Sportsman Club, Gary Kleinerman, Stockbridge Harbormaster, Roxanne McCaffrey, Select Board, and Jim Wilusz, Tri-Town Health.

Its mandate is “to conserve and protect Lake Mahkeenac and its watershed, to enhance the water quality, fishery, wildlife habitat and aesthetics of Lake Mahkeenac as a public recreational facility for today and for future generations while respecting the interests of property owners and the public, providing permanent stewardship to the lake ecosystem.”

Its first order of business is to “move forward with the generation of a comprehensive Lake Management Plan.”

You can contact the commission at sbsc@stockbridge-ma.gov. Meetings are the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 7:30 a.m.

Around Town

Waldorf Graduation

by Patrick White

Insight

About Native Perennial Gardens

I am hooked on native perennial gardens ever since reading an important article by Mark Richardson in Native Plant News, Summer 2017. It was called, Kill Your Lawn, and opened with a provocative sentence.

It’s killing us. Here’s why…

Richardson explained that even our grass is not native to America. “They are kept on life support with supplemental irrigation, fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. Americans apply 30,000 tons of pesticides each year to keep grass green, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”

It is all pollution.

The alternative is beautiful and healthy. Lose the lawn and plant native plants that are perennial and need less maintenance and fewer chemicals.

A Stockbridge native, Tom Farley founded Farley Land Design 41 years ago.

by Tom Farley

Opinion

Time to Update the Lights

As a resident of Stockbridge for many years, I have noticed as I drive through Main, Elm, and South Streets that our street lights are quite old and they are barely noticeable because most are hidden in the trees. I think it is time to update the look and style.

I have e-mailed our chairman of the select board and suggested this idea. I recommended the styles you see in Lee, Great Barrington, and Lenox.

If you drive down Church Street, those street lights are nice. I think it is time for a change.

by Judy Abdalla

Perspective

Budget Update

With all of the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, it’s important that we all pay close attention to the status of the Town budget. Here is a summary of where the Town stands.

The Town works on a July 1 – June 30 fiscal year. As part of its COVID response this past spring, the previous Select Board led by Terry Flynn voted to delay the date that property taxes were due from May 1 to June 1.

As of June 30th, the end of our fiscal year, the Town had collected 95.32% of its real estate taxes. The prior year, we collected approximately 98% by the end of the fiscal year, though taxes were due a month earlier, which may explain the discrepancy. Since July 1, we have collected about 98% of the FY2020 taxes due, bringing us in line with collections from the prior year. We have also collected nearly 99% of the personal property taxes levied.

A significant bright spot is local receipts, which include everything from motor vehicle excise taxes, water and sewer fees, PILOT receipts and rentals. Our actual revenues from local receipts were approximately 34% above budget, including motor vehicles excise tax (+6%), solid waste fees (+129%), rentals (+38%) and investment income (a whopping 490% above budget). All in all, total local receipts, including water and sewer, were well over $550,000 or 134% above budget.

Looking to the current fiscal year, we’ll need to continue to keep an eye on the meals and rooms local option taxes, which together totaled nearly $420,000. We expect a sharp decline in these revenues in FY2021, but even a 75% decline would result in just a 3% hit to our overall revenues. Another area of concern: how will the pandemic impact the School District budget? The Finance Committee and the Select Board recommended, and the Town Meeting approved, a COVID transfer into the Stabilization Fund for exactly this purpose.

These success stories are a direct result of the strong management of the Town under the previous Select Board, the efforts of Mark Webber, the interim Town Administrator, and the hard work of Ray Ellsworth (Town Accountant) and Karen Williams (Town Treasurer and Town Collector). The strong numbers are also the result of the excellent efforts by our Town Assessor, Michael Blay, and the Board of Assessors, who do the hard work to ensure that we accurately set tax rates to reflect what the top line needs to be to support the Town’s budget. Of course the Town’s Finance Committee, a volunteer board led by Jay Bikofsky, works all year long to submit our budget to the Town. I am incredibly grateful for all the hard work of these talented individuals.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at pwhite@stockbridge-ma.gov or just give me a call at 413-441-5231.

Patrick White serves on the Select Board and Conservation Commission.

by Patrick White