Editorial

A Stockbridge Model

On August 12, 2021, in Moab, Utah, police stopped a sleeper van that was speeding and driving erratically. The occupants were Brian Laundrie, driver, and Gabrielle Petito, passenger. Petito was visibly upset. Laundrie was calm, cooperative, even deferential. Police separated the couple for the night, and in the morning the couple reconnected and continued their travels.

On September 21, 2021, Petito’s body was discovered; it was ruled a homicide. Laundrie is missing.

The stop on August 12, recorded by the officer’s bodycam, lasted one hour and fifteen minutes. Did anything happen in those 75 minutes that should have alerted the police to the potential for the tragic outcome? Unfortunately, nothing did.

The lead policeman compared Petito to his wife. Did that mean he was predisposed to Laundrie? The policeman told Laundrie “You are not in trouble”, even though he was driving. He asked Petito to sit in the back of the patrol car. Did that mean he was prejudiced? Not necessarily. Those things do mean he was neither trained nor prepared for what he was being asked to do. Police are not trained to deal with a domestic disturbance, psychotic break or other forms of mental illness and distress. We must stop asking police to answer these calls alone. A trained therapist should accompany the police to diagnose the type and extent of distress before anyone decides what should happen next. At times a life is at stake.

Our community has many mental health professionals. Some would be willing to be on call for the police. A team could respond to “a domestic” and other mental health-based calls.

This isn’t about blaming the police; it is about our community stepping up and providing what the police need to do the best job possible in these situations. The therapist and the policeman need one another — each doing what he/she does best. Our local health department, Board of Health, and police department should join together and plan to provide the best, most effective services.

Petito is dead at twenty-two. To a mental health professional there were clues in the hour-long interview not evident to the police. Could this tragic continuum of events have been stopped on August 12? We will never know, but we do know Stockbridge could be a model for effective intervention — police working with a mental health professional to diagnose and intercede for the best outcome. It happened there; let’s work to prevent it from happening here.

by Carole Owens, Managing Editor

News

About COVID-19

1. Coaching Weekend and Harvest Festival cancelled in an abundance of caution.
2. A Message from Charles Kenny MD, (Chair, Stockbridge Board of Health, and Chair, Tri-Town Health Department.

Public health officials, nurses, and doctors study infectious disease throughout their careers. We don masks, shields, gowns, gloves; we hand-wash, use antibiotics and vaccines, and employ any other intervention we think might help to protect other people. Since we have been doing this all our lives, we know the ill effects of having let down our guard against germs that do not show up for weeks or months after the mistake; then someone develops a serious infection or dies. We understand that it is easy for those who do not know germs as well as we do to underestimate their danger.

I believe that most people who object to wearing a mask would not hesitate to stop their cars at a pedestrian crosswalk. After all, it would be obvious that you could hurt or even kill the person. Furthermore, it would be on the front page, not only who had died, but that someone, you, had killed them. However, if you go to a store or party and none of your friends wear masks, it is very likely that, if some of them get sick, they will recover without long-lasting effects. You can all joke about it at the next party. Meanwhile, some of your temporarily sick friends will have given it to other people. These people may also be fine after they recover. But someone, several persons down the line, weeks later, gets sick, very sick, and dies. Neither you, nor your friends, nor anyone else ever knows that one of your friends passed the germ that eventually killed someone, so it is easy to imagine it did not happen.

Over 300 people have died in the Berkshires from Covid-19. In the same period of time, about 10 people died in motor vehicle accidents. Many more would have died if some people had decided it was not worth the bother, or an infringement on their personal freedom, to stop at a crosswalk to save another. It’s very easy to put on a mask to protect others. It isn’t a guarantee, but it most assuredly helps.

News

Events

Berkshire Botanical Garden

October 2:
Goldenrod and Asters Field Study
Botanical Cyanotype Workshop
Peony Propagation
History and Preservation of the American Elm in NE

October 5:
Information sessions — Great gardens of Charleston and Scotland

October 9:
Protecting Trees and Forests from Asiatic Bittersweet

October 10:
Gallery Talk: Portraits of American Trees

October 13:
A Berkshire Harvest in watercolor
Botanical Names for the Fearful

October 16:
Cultivating Mushrooms at Home
Right Tree – Right Place

News

Notes from the Select Board (SB), September 16, Hybrid Meeting

Present:

• Roxanne McCaffrey, Chair
• Patrick White
• Chuck Cardillo

Also present: Michael Canales, Town Administrator; Fire Chief Vincent Garofoli, Police Chief Darrell Fennelly; Hugh Page, Highway Superintendent

1. Fire Department update.
   1. Uptick in calls as a function of increased population — more population here more months of the year.
   2. Water-related incidents, e.g. the harvester overturning and other “vehicle extractions from the water”.
   3. Calls related to “over-odorization” of gas/Berkshire Gas Company.
   4. Reminder: as season changes, remember to clean chimneys, check furnace filters and batteries in smoke detectors.
2. Police Department update.
   1. RAD classes for women will be in the Town Offices gym (no date given..
   2. Harvest Festival and Coaching Weekend cancelled.
   3. A full-time position is open and there are three candidates.
   4. Displeasure in changes and requirements for Reserve Officers — Chief thinks it will kill the Reserve Officer Program.
   5. Participated in Representative Smitty Pignatelli’s 911 Tribute (a parade).
3. Laura Dubester, Chair, Green Committee update.
   1. Stockbridge is positioned to save 13% on energy bills due to Committee’s efforts.
   2. Committee raised $225,000 in grants.
   3. Proposed changes to streetlights may save Town as much as $40,000/annually.
   4. Thanked Green Committee members: Chief Fennelly, Pat Flinn, Mike Canales, Buck Smith, Miles Moffett and Mike Buffoni.
4. Hugh Page, Highway Superintendent, update.
   1. Road paving will commence — 9 roads identified for paving this spring to which Page added Lower Church Street, Larrywaug Crossroad, and Shamrock Street. Total 12.
   2. Larrywaug Bridge to open in November 2021.
   3. Hoping to do Town beach parking lot this fall (after leaf drop).
   4. Harvester (known as Green Monster) in water and operational.
5. Michael Canales mentioned a Smithsonian Museum grant for which “Stockbridge is ideal”. He will apply. If grant money is awarded, it will produce programing and an exhibition called “The Main Street Museum”. White replied that Smithsonian Magazine is writing a feature piece on old growth forests that will prominently feature Ice Glen.

Meeting adjourned.

Editor’s Note: Special thank you to the Stockbridge Select Board. It was a pleasant surprise to see the SB Chair institute “updates” as part of the SB meeting. This echoing of our local, very local, newspaper is flattering but more than that it helps all residents identify where to find the news of Stockbridge. Thanks for the plug. 2. RAD stands for Rape Aggression Defense. White suggested to Stockbridge Police that this program be reinstituted—last conducted in 2014.

News

Notes from the Select Board, September 23, Hybrid Meeting

Present:

• Roxanne McCaffrey, Chair
• Patrick White
• Chuck Cardillo

Also present: Michael Canales, Town Administrator; Mathieu Boudreau, Chair, Agriculture and Forestry Commission; Lisa Bozzuto, Shelby Marshall, Erik Rasmussen (via Zoom); members of the public named when they speak

1. Along with Lenox, New Marlborough and Pittsfield, Stockbridge was awarded a $295,190 Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) grant for assessing road/stream crossings and evaluating culverts. McCaffrey thanked White for applying.
2. Two members of the Stockbridge community died at age 97 years: Don Dino and Phoebe Eisenberg.
3. Minutes of September 2, 9, and 16 meetings approved.
4. One-day Alcohol Licenses approved for Berkshire Botanical Garden for 10/9 rehearsal dinner, 10/17 wedding, 10/30 rehearsal dinner and 11/5 rehearsal dinner.
5. Appointment of Peter Strauss to the (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) PILOT Committee approved.
6. Ice Glen Tree Treatment Update.
   1. Meeting turned over to Patrick White: program and funding to save trees in Ice Glen approved at Town Meeting, May 2021; in June the ash trees were. A challenge arose with the number, size, and forest density of the hemlocks. The amount of pesticide needed to treat the hemlocks via spray exceeds the amount of pesticide allowed by the EPA. As an alternative, the Select Board invited a team recommending “Dendrow” — an organic “wash”.
   2. Jon Jacobs, Kyle Byrne, Bobbi Paley, Stephen Reiss, and Dustin Cook explained the alternative treatment as non-toxic, environmentally friendly, but not as long lasting (reapplication possibly necessary annually vs pesticide reapplication every 3-4 years).
   3. Erik Rasmussen asked if Dendrow had been tested.
   4. Tested in Catskill Forest on 100-200 trees.
   5. Final determination turned over to Agriculture and Forestry Commission (their next meeting is October 4).
   6. Seemed to be strong suggestion to test a few trees with “wash” this October and treat in Spring. There was concern about the urgency of treating the hemlocks.
7. Laura Dubester, Chair, Green Committe.
   1. Introduced consultant – George Woodbury.
   2. George described goals of streetlight project: cost savings and uniformity of streetlights.
   3. Currently Stockbridge pays $48,560 annually: $33,892 for the fixtures (leased from National Grid) and $14,688 for “energy”. If Stockbridge buys its own lights and switches to LED bulbs the Town would save about $40,000 annually but Town would have to absorb cost of equipment purchases.
   4. SB voted to “go for it”.
8. Tom Farley, an abutter, was present to discuss license renewal for Berkshire Theater Group. No details were discussed. However, it seemed clear that there were problems with outdoor performances instituted during COVID-19. Canales mentioned other complaints related to noise and traffic at other nonprofits including Naumkeag and Berkshire Botanical Garden. All these nonprofits are in residential neighborhoods, as is Tanglewood. The conversation was a bit cryptic, but solutions seemed to be: rewriting license renewal applications and making requirements clear and specific; following up that terms of agreements met, and determining the law with respect to uniformity of requirements. Must all nonprofits in residential areas have the same limitations and advantages? For example, if Tanglewood can have outdoor performances must all nonprofits be allowed to? If one can have an 11 pm closing time must all be allowed to.
9. Hugh Page, Highway Superintendent, update: salt shed, gate, and layout should be addressed.

Meeting adjourned.

News

Notes from the Stockbridge Bowl Stewardship Commission, September 17, Hybrid Meeting

Present:

• Jamie Minacci, Chair
• John Loiodice, Vice Chair
• Roxanne McCaffrey
• Michael Buffoni, Water Department

Present via Zoom:

• Charles Kenny
• Michael Nathan
• Tony Campetti, Sewer Department

1. Minutes from 9/3/21, approved.
2. Weed harvesting update: second harvester in water and cleared allowed areas prior to Josh Billings RunAground. McCaffrey said, “that’s it for the season”. Green harvester will be moved to the causeway.
3. Insurance claim for capsized harvester satisfied. McCaffrey thinks Town was paid $20,000. Still no determination as to cause.
4. Harbor Master update: No response from Doug Cameron — will reach out again. (No reason mentioned). Reps from Pittsfield will come to Stockbridge Bowl on September 31 at 10:30 to see how we “boat wash” (to wash away Zebra Mussels and other contaminants).
5. Buffoni reported that water sampling is continuing.
6. Kenny reported water resource consultant GZA complained they were not paid; however, that may be due to a duplicate bill. Canales is checking into it.
7. Loiodice reported on continuing efforts to find alternatives for Lake Drive septic failures.
8. Buffoni’s testing determined that phosphate and nitrate levels are not up — they do rise when there is seepage into lake from septic systems. Loiodice said that is “a good sign”.
9. Campetti would like comparative data between off-season and peak season test results. Buffoni said he has requested that. Also, with respect to maintaining beaches, Campetti thinks Stockbridge does a good job, and that all local beaches (Lee, Lenox, Stockbridge) have had a “challenging season due to excessive rains”.

Meeting adjourned.

Editor’s Notes: It was mentioned at previous meetings that optimally, harvesting would continue into October for a clearer lake over winter. Can it?

News

Notes from the Board of Assessors, September 7, Hybrid meeting

Present:

• Gary Pitney, Chair
• Doug Goudey
• Michael Blay, Town Assessor

Present via Zoom:

• Tom Stokes
• Gary Pitney

1. Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) certified the LA3 and LA15 classifications of real and personal property tax classifications. Expected to certify LA4 and LA 14 very soon. (LA-3, LA-15 LA-4, LA-13 & LA-15 are property classification codes based on property use..
2. The 504s (MA Class Code 504 is “business personal property owned by regulated public utility companies”) are completed.
3. Next step is a Tax Classification Public Hearing. Results will then be submitted to Select Board for setting tax rate.
4. Changes in Stockbridge in both new growth and increased valuation of property are significant according to Blay. This will affect taxes. Blay wants to take time posting the new tax rate both because of changes and also because of new staff at Town Hall.
5. The Appellate Tax Board hearing for 37 Interlaken (DeSisto School) set for September 28. At issue is the property owner’s desire to defer taxes and the Town’s refusal. The Tax Board will decide. Blay hopes it is not postponed.
6. The Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) Program had its first meeting post COVID-19. Stokes reported that he, Jay Bikofsky, Gary Pitney, and Roxanne McCaffrey, Select Board Representative, met. Peter Strauss was present and nominated to serve (SB approved). Stokes would like a woman to join as well. PILOT will prepare a report on process for approval and then proceed to contact the nonprofits.
7. Motion made to add $100,000 to the Overlay account. Motion passed unanimously.

Meeting adjourned.

News

Notes from the Planning Board (PB), September 7, Hybrid Meeting

Present:

• Bill Vogt, Chair
• Marie Rafferty, Vice Chair
• Gary Pitney
• Wayne Slosek
• Nancy Socha
• Present via Zoom:
• Kate Fetcher
• Carl Sprague

1. Chair announced all suggestion made about NHRPZ Draft 6 were given to the consultant. After an hour and 45-minute conversation, the consultant prepared Draft 7.
2. In the previous issue, SU suggested that this review process has gone on too long at too high a cost without uniform support even from the majority of PB members. SU asked the Chair to call for a vote to drop consideration of NHRPZ if the majority of PB members did not support it.
3. Seemingly in answer, the Chair said. “With further [review we could] come to some meeting of the minds. make progress, produce something, and eventually vote. We’re not going to vote tonight and we’re not going to do it at the next meeting.” With that he called for continuation of the review of Draft 7.
4. He also called for a survey of the Town to determine if townspeople support NHRPZ.
5. The consultant, Jeff Lacy, was present and apparently did not agree with changes made to NHRPZ and said he would not condone or support things like “density neutral” when he knew they “were a disaster”. He would only support “density negative”. Density negative refers to: calculating the number of units permissible if the property remained R4 and allowing fewer units under NHRPZ versus the same number.
6. White said, “I don’t know if this proposal (NHRPZ) meets our needs.” He thought the needs in Stockbridge were more for senior housing and what is called workforce housing. He did not see the need for more resort-style development or expensive housing. Lacy said that incentives could be built in to encourage that sort of development.
7. Again, Lacy mentioned that Stockbridge PB removed many of the aspects of NHRPZ originally suggested by him.

Meeting adjourned.

Perspective

The Brothers Wilcox

Telephones in Stockbridge, a very short history

When our family home was on Park Street our phone number was 266 and when you picked up the phone you heard ‘number please.’ Research for this article was limited to having a conversation with my brother Michael. He remembered the phone numbers and we both had similar stories about phone service in Stockbridge. I asked the operator to connect me with the library as my mother had said she was stopping by the historical room to visit with my grandmother Grace Wilcox. The operator said my mother has left the library and she saw her crossing the street headed to Coakley’s store. My grandmother often said she would rather walk to town from Yale Hill to talk to someone than use the phone. When we moved to East Main Street our phone number changed to 246-J and it was a party line shared with the Nelson family. One ring for us and two rings for the Nelson’s. Mrs. Nelson did love to talk, so from time to time we had to pick up the phone and ask her if we could use the phone. If an emergency arose in town the operator would hit a switch in the phone office, which would turn on a blue light that was on a light pole in front of Braman’s Dry Goods Store (44 Main) and when the officer happened to drive by and would see the blue light and he would swing over to Elm Street to find out what emergency needed attention. Technology reached East Main Street from the new telephone building on Pine Street about 1960 and our new number was 3557. Townspeople were quite upset some years later when informed they would have to add 298 and dial all seven numbers. Townspeople expressed concern about the delay in reaching the police cruiser. In 1963 radio phone was installed at a cost to the caller of thirty cents per call. More than one officer commented, with pleasure, on the reduction in calls to the radio phone. By 1964 Chief Obanhein’s annual town report he expressed displeasure with the radio phone’s high cost, poor maintenance by the phone company and that the residents were reluctant to spend 30 cents for a call.

Michael Wilcox chimes in

Nicely done, Rick. I might add a couple of notes — 30 cents doesn’t sound like much, but I remember that when we lived on South Lee Road (circa 1960), your mother would send me to the store down the street in South Lee (which also housed the Post Office) and tell me to bring back a loaf of bread and a quart of milk. She told me I could spend the change on penny candy — she then gave me a quarter.

Also, when dial telephones came into being, they really did have dials — the push-button model came later. If you wanted to call other towns, though, you had to dial “0” for Operator, and then ask for the Long-Distance Operator.

Did you ever go upstairs to see the telephone switchboard? It took up most of a large room and had a huge panel with lots of lights and places to plug in the cords that would connect one incoming phone call with the number they requested. The Operator was current on all town gossip since there was no limit to the number of calls she could listen in on. And the operators were always women.

Before the Days of Dial Phones

By Michael Forbes Wilcox

I think dial phones came to Stockbridge in 1960. When they did, every number in town belonged to a single exchange, so in order to dial a number within Stockbridge, it was only necessary to dial the last four digits. Our number on South Lee Road was 3557. That replaced our old number of 246-J. The “J” indicated it was a party line, and we would answer only if we heard the correct number of rings.

Prior to dial phones, an operator directed the calls. As a small child, I lived on Park Street, where our number was 266. One day, when I came home from school, my mother was not around. I’m not sure that had ever happened before, and I didn’t quite know what to do. In those days, she worked at the church, and I decided to call there to see if she was there. I had not used the phone very much, but I did know that if you picked up the receiver, the voice of the operator would say, “Number, please” and you could tell her who you wanted to call. I didn’t know the number of the church, but I figured she would.

So I picked up the phone, and instead of what I expected, I heard “Operator” — I was dumbstruck, not knowing how to respond. What did she mean? Being flustered, I just hung up the receiver. I thought about it for a minute and decided to try again. It had probably been a mistake, and if I tried again, I would get the expected “Number, please.”

I picked up the phone again, and again I heard “Operator.” Now I was totally at a loss, so I just stood there with my mouth open, not knowing what to say.

“Hello, can I help you?” I heard coming from the phone. Oh, yes, that was something I understood. “I want to call my mother at the church,” I said.

“Your mother is no longer at the church. She is visiting your grandmother at the library, and she will be home soon.”

“Okay, thank you.”

That is my earliest memory of being flummoxed by the disembodied voices that flow out of telephones.

by Rick Wilcox

The Last Word

Reader to Reader

Dear Carole,

The 2020 US Census data is now available and shows the fallacy of the arguments of those who want more development to encourage more residents to live in Stockbridge. First, contrary to their predictions and assertions, Stockbridge is one of the minority of towns in Berkshire County that actually gained population, both percentage-wise and absolutely. A common attribute is shared by all the towns that grew as much as or more than Stockbridge: they all held off big developers and fought successfully to maintain their small-town character. All the towns that yielded to big developers lost full-time residents or lagged behind Stockbridge. Lesson to be learned: if you want your small town to be attractive to new full-time residents, don’t let it be ruined by big developments!

Charles Kenny MD

Dear Charlie,

Very interesting analysis of census data. Thank you for this.

Carole

Dear Carole,

I love that the work of the Commission can get out to the public in ways it couldn’t before.

Congratulations on making this happen, and most especially, on the one-year anniversary!

Cheers,

Karen

Dear Karen,

Thank you for all you and Shelby do for Stockbridge. (Karen Marshall is Chair of the Cemetery Commission)

Carole

Dear Carole,

Enjoying these updates. Thank you for the time and effort.

Martha Sauer

Dear Martha,

Aren’t you nice, thank you

Carole

To Carole Owens:

I read your great article regarding the Town and compliance, enforcement. You are correct, many Town officials will not enforce the law. Or make residents compliant. They choose to keep tolerating the behavior into acceptance, which is beyond my understanding. These laws are here for a reason. Some residents choose to feel that these ordinances or bylaws do not apply to them. Or, that the bylaws are stupid and petty. If anyone attempts to ask certain individuals to be compliant, we then get attacked verbally and harassed.

Thank you. James Lawson

Dear James,

Thank you for your thoughts.

Carole Owens

Video by James Steven