Editorial

Firsts

The Boston Symphony Orchestra was formed by Henry Lee Higginson, and its first concert, under the direction of Sir George Henschel, was in 1881. When was the first BSO concert in Stockbridge?

When the orchestra was just three years old, in his last year as conductor, Henschel took his show on the road. In 1884, the BSO played in Providence, Worcester, Newport, and on Wednesday, March 5, 1884, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Henschel conducted. Bernhard Listemann was concertmaster and soloist. The program included Beethoven’s Symphony #5 in C Minor, Opus 67, and Paganini’s Violin Concerto #1 in D Major (the second and third movements only.)

That is about 63 minutes of music according to Brian Bell, BSO historian, and the man who, with Barbara Perkel, former BSO archivist, found this “first”.

“Henschel kept his concerts under two hours, but an hour is too short.” Bell said. “There must be a missing piece.”

That was not the only missing piece. There is an entire missing venue. Where in Stockbridge did this concert take place? In 1884, The Casino, the Berkshire Theater Festival today, was not built. The Jonathan Edwards Room, attached to the Congregational Church today, was not built. Old Town Hall was smaller and the newer larger Proctor Hall, was only proposed.

The school had an auditorium that seated 55. The Goodrich Block on Main Street had a meeting room that accommodated 35. There was the open second floor of the library. However, in 1884, the BSO had 72 musicians. Impossible for any of these to seat the orchestra, never-mind the audience.

In 1884, moving that number of musicians and their instruments from place to place was complicated by “the most severe weather of the season”. According to a local newspaper, the storm paralyzed Berkshire County six days before the concert, February 28. It was followed the next day by a Nor’easter that drifted the snow, choked the roads, and buried the landscape. Just three days before the concert, an ice storm glazed every surface.

How about the church itself? It seats 300, and yet, newspapers reported no forthcoming concert, no ticket sales, and no review. Did the storm cancel the concert?

In record time, the papers said, Berkshire workers cleared the roads and tracks — the east-west train service was never interrupted. So, it would seem the orchestra arrived, and the concert took place, but where?

Time to note that Higginson had a brother, George, who had a Berkshire Cottage with a music room. A private concert would explain no public announcement, So, where was George’s Cottage? Next door to where Tanglewood is today.

by Carole Owens , Managing Editor

News

SU FYI

1. Tuesday Sept. 6 Primary Election

Early voting began Saturday, August 27 from 9am to 5pm in the Town Clerk’s office and continues today, September 1 and and tomorrow, September 2.

2. In Memoriam — Hilda Banks Shapiro

I loved Hilda Banks Shapiro. I will miss her. I will miss her red high-top sneakers and her voracious appetite. I will miss her soaring talent at the piano. I will miss that she made community wherever she went. You know how? Folks can be too selfish, too self-concerned to weave others together or so generous that they do it automatically. Hilda was the latter; she left laughter and good cheer in her wake.

When I was president of Thursday Morning Club, Hilda asked to be my chaplain — the woman who opens the meetings with inspirational words. Hilda died at 95 and this was just a couple of years ago, so some had doubts. True I got her back-up, but I believed in her. At one meeting she read a poem by Kent M. Keith. Everyone should read it, so here it is from Hilda to all of us with love.

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you have anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your conscience;
It was never between you and them anyway.

There is a wish: May your memory be a blessing — Hilda’s memory is indeed a blessing. Rest in peace old friend.

3. Tanglewood changes position

From Patrick White, Chair, Board of Selectmen, “Just received this text from the Josh Billings RunAground Triathlon Director, Patty Spector: A quick note to say that Tanglewood has agreed to allow all participants to use the Lions Gate lot from 6am – 4pm for the Josh! I can’t thank you all enough for all your support and help. I am overwhelmed by the support of the community…Patty”

4. Stockbridge Library wants to know

We are engaging in our 5-year strategic planning process. One of the most important parts of the process is receiving feedback from the community about the ways we can most beneficially serve the town. Click below to respond to the survey. Thank you.

Survey in English

Encuesta en Español

5. Stockbridge Senior Center Grand Re-opening

Meet Town Administrator Michael Canales and hear about our Council on Aging programs and services. Lunch provided by Mazzeo’s Ristorante. Music accompaniment by Stockbridge resident Jack Gremli. Transportation options available – Free Event

Wednesday, September 21st, 11am – 2pm, 50 Main Street, Stockbridge

RSVP by September 12th, 2022, to 413-298-4170 x 250 or tzanetti@stockbridge-ma.gov

6. Berkshire Natural Resources Council

Beginner Urban Birding Walk, Springside Park, Pittsfield

Saturday, September 3, 8:30 am – 10:30 am

Get to know and appreciate your neighborhood birds on this walk in downtown Pittsfield’s beautiful Springside Park.

Guided Hike on the High Road Yokun Ridge

Saturday, Sunday 11, 9:00 am – 1:30 pm

Join us for an out-and-back hike from Bousquet Mountain to Mahanna Cobble and Yokun Seat as part of the 2022 Housatonic Heritage hikes.

News

Notes from the Board of Assessors, August 15, Hybrid meeting

Present:

• Gary Pitney, Chair
• Doug Goudey
• Tom Stokes
• Michael Blay, Town Assessor
• Tammy Toupence, Secretary

1. Update on Fiscal ’23 Certification of Valuations
   1. Residential valuations are complete
   2. Commercial valuations to be finished very soon
   3. When complete, Blay will meet with Commonwealth for approval of valuations
   4. New valuations will be posted on Town website and available with a phone call to Assessor — public disclosure of valuations required by law
   5. Valuations based on sales
   6. Under Residential Tax Exemption (RTE) do valuations change? No
2. Personal Property Tax (PPT) – 700 forms sent out, only 350 returned
   1. By law Stockbridge must collect PPT data and the response must satisfy the Commonwealth. Will 50% satisfy? What to do?
   2. Can impose a fine if not returned
   3. Could start process earlier so there is time to send forms out more than once
   4. Should Stockbridge estimate by taking percentage of building value?
   5. What if 600 of 700 forms returned instead of 350, would valuation change?
   6. Blay hoped to find solution as the 50% return is constant year to year and may not be acceptable to state
   7. Chair preferred to try starting earlier, mailing form more than once, and trying to get a 75% return before instituting a fine
3. Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum request for Tax exempt (501c3) status
   1. Goudey suggested 11 questions to be asked when any entity requests
   2. Questions sent to Town Counsel
4. Via Zoom, Sandra Baron complimented Town Assessor Blay and suggested second homeowners watch CTSB replay of meeting for explanation of PPT and its importance
5. Chair moved that Board go into executive session — public meeting adjourned

Editor’s Notes: 1. Certification of valuations: All cities and towns in the State of Massachusetts assess the value of property using a Mass Appraisal system. This system is a broad approach to predicting the value of properties that did not sell using the information collected about the properties that did sell. 2. By law in Massachusetts, assessments are 100% of full and fair market value 3. Massachusetts requires only second homeowners to list and evaluate personal property (all tangible items that are movable) for the purpose of taxing. Tax to pay is calculated by multiplying the assessed value of the property by the personal property tax rate of the city or town. Personal property is assessed separately from the real estate where it is located.

News

Notes from the Planning Board (PB), August 16, Hybrid meeting

Present:

• Kate Fletcher, Chair
• Gary Pitney
• Lis Wheeler
• Marie Raftery
• Wayne Slosek, Clerk
• Carl Sprague
• Jennifer Carmichael, Secretary

1. Minutes of July 19 meeting accepted as written
2. Public Hearing, as Clerk, Slosek read public announcement – Special Permit request for 36 Lake Drive
   1. Chair read rules of public meeting—comments limited to subject matter before them, all comments made through Chair, one at a time, and no crosstalk
   2. Shannon Boomsma from White Engineering presented request: Convert a single-family home into 4-seasons home, improve septic system, add external 80 square foot utility building, redirect water away, remove trees, and do replanting
   3. Is in Lake and Pond Overlay District (LPOD)
   4. Questions is there a net increase in lot coverage? Yes What will total coverage be? 9.9% Was septic approved by Tri-Town Health? Yes Plantings must survive for 3 years. Yes
   5. Is the proposed 2-3-foot-high wall, 40 feet long part of proposed 9.9% lot coverage? If not, then coverage is outside permitted 10% and is closer to 13%
   6. Slosek concerned about displacement of soil as new septic dug
   7. Raftery — dock comes in in winter? Yes Sprague — time frame to do work? This fall
   8. No comment from pubic — public hearing closed
   9. Chair said they must stay inside 10% limit on lot coverage
   10. Permit approved
3. Stone Ridge “sketch plan review”
   1. In a review, PB listens and can ask or informally comment but cannot give any assurances in advance of receiving formal application
   2. Request forthcoming to move driveway but would be on neighbor’s property and in an area with endangered species
   3. Slosek must have an easement if on neighboring property — get easement first before request
   4. Would need permission from NHESP (Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program) to go into area with endangered species
   5. Is there an alternative to avoid both neighbors’ property and endangered species?
   6. Sprague- proposed driveway is 900 feet long — over the 500 feet allowed
4. Report on turning LPOD permitting over to Conservation Commission (ConCom) rather than staying with planning Board (PB)
   1. Chair outlined legal steps as suggested by Town Counsel
   2. PB proposes to SB to amend the bylaw and transfer LPOD to ConCom
   3. SB holds public hearing
   4. SB places on Warrant for Town Meeting
   5. ConCom votes to accept if passes
   6. Town votes

Meeting adjourned

News

Notes from the Stockbridge Bowl Stewardship Commission, August 19, Hybrid meeting

Present:

• Roxanne McCaffrey, Chair
• Patrick White
• Michael Nathan
• Sally Underwood-Miller
• John Loiodice

1. Chair shared screen to continue review of Lake Management Plan.
   1. Underwood-Miller said Town has contract with Fleetwood (former Department of Environmental protection – DEP – employees now in business as consultants) and ask them to review submission “with DEP eye”
   2. Patrick said to conserve funds, ask them to review when SBSC has a final draft
   3. Via Zoom, Anita Schwerner asked if same version as last meeting as no new document posted. McCaffrey said “this is amended version”
   4. To stakeholders list, add Berkshire County Sportsmen League and take out Stockbridge Boat Club (it is same as Mahkeenac Boat Club already listed)
   5. Water quality goals — add cyanobacteria
   6. Use common terms like phosphorus, Eurasian Milfoil so people know what it meant rather than using technical terms
2. Nathan said in the documents about The Lake Management Plan, Town of Stockbridge should be listed first (not Stockbridge Bowl Association) as it is a Town project.
3. White said one goal should be reducing nutrient loading from septic systems and every other way we can.
4. White said reducing nutrient loading in the lake should be one goal
   1. Replace septic systems with sewer or repair septic systems
   2. Both dredging and harvesting reduces nutrients. Underwood-Miller agreed
   3. Can something be done with Tennessee Pipeline so that diversion pipe works? That would reduce silt in the channel. Can it be lowered? Cost? Who pays? Possibly get rid of silt if can be utilized.
   4. New sand and salt spreader will reduce run off into lake of road salt. Page redesigned Town Beach parking lot to reduce run off into lake. Other problem being addressed was culverts
5. Nathan should finish draft and give to GZA (consultants) in good time and also to Fleetwood Consulting who can give advice about quick and easy DEP approval.
6. Continue with hand pulling and harvesting

Meeting adjourned

News

Notes from ConCom, August 23, Hybrid meeting

Present:

• Ron Brouker, Chair
• Sally Underwood-Miller
• Joe DeGiorgis
• Jamie Minacci
• Tom LaBelle
• Lisa Bozzuto
• Chuck Kohrer
• William Loutrel
• Consultant from Fleetwood, David Cameron

1. Minutes of July 26 accepted as corrected; minutes of August 9 accepted as written.
2. Gould Meadows
   1. A vote by the SB to use Gould Meadows for parking for the Josh Billings RunAground was approved but should not have been because Meadow is under a conservation restriction.
   2. Purchased with some private donations and a substantial grant from the Commonwealth. Therefore, Massachusetts imposed severe restrictions on land use
   3. Only ConCom can entertain proposal for uses other than those allowed under conservation restriction and then those have to be approved by MA Sec. of Environmental Affairs
   4. Minacci explained it was a crisis — Tanglewood gave short notice that they were pulling out of providing parking and finish live activities for the Josh — placing Town in untenable position.
   5. In future — cannot allow non-approved activities like parking
3. Chair explained Gary Johnston mows the meadow for no charge in exchange for hay. Now the Town has the equipment to take over the task
4. Public Hearing — 16 Beachwood — Underwood-Miller asked consultant David Cameron from Fleetwood what to do. This has been on the ConCom agenda a very long time. Contractor for the owners, Gregg Wellenkamp, ignores ConCom — never appears. Required to follow up with a replanting plan after clear-cutting trees. What action is available to ConCom to encourage compliance? Cameron asked if ConCom gave clear instructions in writing. Yes. Cameron will respond — said there were a number of things ConCom could do.
5. Underwood-Miller working with Jeff Lynch on behalf of Annie Selke to get a Certificate of Compliance (COC). Issue is property lines. After property was divided — half is in Lenox and half in Stockbridge. Be sure to attach COC to proper piece of land.
6. 38 Lake Drive — special permit
   1. Changes to plan in line with ConCom suggestions
   2. Hearing closed — permit approved
7. 8 Meadow Lane — permit for an inground pool — lawn — 80 feet from wetland
   1. approved
8. 12 Larrywaug Crossroad — no one present — continued
   1. “Peer Review” by Fleetwood
   2. 12 acres — “determine resource area”
   3. Cost $2800.
9. Kate Fletcher, Chair PB, asked question about 36 Lake Drive (next door to 38) They came before PB and included in their plans was a wall 2-3′ high and 40′ Long. She asked about how to address walls
   1. Cameron said there are many considerations: impeding runoff, impeding wildlife access to water, blocking access to habitat, destroying habitat
   2. Bozzuto said the ConCom Performance Standards (still at Town’s Counsel) includes standards for walls
   3. DeGiorgis said there are also aesthetic considerations
   4. Cameron proposed general guidelines for all new walls that may enable ConCom to deny permits for walls
10. Jay Rhind submitted a form as general contractor for 8 Hawthorne. Underwood-Miller said although required, first time ConCom ever received one
11. Underwood-Miller asked if Fleetwood could review Lake Management Plan. Brouker was concerned about costs and will ask Canales
12. Hope that Town Counsel hurries up with Performance Standards
13. Bozzuto asked about a tree protection bylaw — to be discussed
14. LaBelle said ConCom has rights it rarely uses and passed out list. One was the right to take property by eminent domain or purchase property. Someone asked if there was money for that. Underwood-Miller said Mary Flynn gave $5000 in her will to ConCom and the total right now is about $28,000
15. Suggestion made that ConCom advertise that they would like donations to that fund.
16. Underwood-Miller said from 1974 — 1997 all the requests for permits fit in a single file drawer. After 1997, a file drawer per year is hardly enough

Meeting adjourned

Editor’s notes: 1. Peer Reviewer can: Review applications & make reports/opinions * Go to meetings and present findings * Draft Conditions * On-site monitoring * Resource area survey & delineation * Analysis of Resource Area Values * Hydrogeologic & Drainage Analysis * Impacts on conservation lands & environmental or land use law 2. A Resource Area is land (not the water) subject to protection under the Wetlands Protection Act because it borders water or wetlands

News

Notes from the Finance Committee, August 24, Hybrid meeting

Present:

• Jay Bikofsky, Chair
• Steve Shatz
• Jim Balfanz
• Bill Vogt
• Ed Lane, alternate
• Diane Reuss
• Pam Boudreau
• Jorja Marsden

1. Chair made clear that as a committee, Finance has no policy-making role and is merely advisory to the SB
2. Minutes from May 5 and May 9 approved as written
3. Yearend transfer of Reserve Funds to cover any shortfalls.
   1. Highway Department machinery and Equipment
   2. Computer Technician
   3. Retirement Fund
   4. Cost of postings (for meetings and employment)
   5. Total $87,000
   6. Finance Committee voted to recommend transfers to SB
4. Residential Tax Exemption (RTE)
   1. Bullet points prepared by Chair and Shatz in opposition to RTE
   2. RTE passed in 1979 and adopted in only 16 of 351 MA towns
   3. No empirical data to suggest it worked
   4. Can reduce assessment by as much as 35%
   5. There are other programs e.g. “Old Age” exemption and Tax Deferment
5. Committee members expressed opinions that RTE was divisive, did not share the costs of the down evenly, was not needs-based, and there were other needs-based programs for which the old and poor could apply.
6. One member mentioned that folks did not want to say they were old and poor and would rather figure out some way to pay the tax
7. Chair opened comments to public and restated that the Committee does not make policy and is only advisory to SB
   1. Balfanz mentioned that voting on RTE is part of a mandatory Tax Classification Hearing and occurs every year. Taxes have to meet failing infrastructure and rising educational costs for fewer and fewer children. He wanted stats: how many residents in distress? What are their ages? Actual number of seniors? Why not have means tests?
   2. Lane asked if RTE is revenue neutral
   3. Marsden listed examples of State Aid and said folks don’t know about those and therefore don’t apply
   4. Anita Schwerner: appreciates Hybrid meetings; questioned Shatz and other members meeting privately to write opposing bullet points and not making the document public before the meeting — does that violate Open Meeting Law?
      
      Schwerner supports RTE because it helps young who want to live in Stockbridge and raise a family. She suggested we vote for RTE this year — evaluate result and based on that vote for or against RTE next year after getting the empirical data Shatz wants because, as Balfanz said, it is mandatory to vote on RTE annually
   5. Howard Zern shared information from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) and was opposed to “handing people relief”
   6. Bruce Auerbach was opposed to RTE but appeared to support voluntary aid to poor
   7. Gene Fidell thanked the Finance Committee and appreciated Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms” hanging on wall behind them

Meeting adjourned

Editor’s questions: 1. There were eight members present but there are only 7 members of the Finance Committee – could the Chair clarify? 2. If there is no empirical data, on what basis does the Finance Committee oppose RTE?

Editor’s notes:

1. From the 2020 census, stats for Stockbridge are:
   1. median age 58.4, 25% higher than other towns in Berkshire; 1.5 times higher than state
   2. 56% female
   3. 90% white
   4. Income per capita $41,355; median income $62,292 (about 75% of amount in state)
   5. 13.1% live below poverty line — 1.4 times the rate in Berkshire County; 1.3 times the rate in state
2. Zern’s figures ($114,000 median income and 2% percent below poverty level and the real stats $62,000 median income and 13.5% below poverty level) actually makes the case for RTE. That is because the FFIEC figures are estimated based upon mortgages. See # 3
3. Only 16 of 351 towns adopted RTE perhaps because RTE only works with a unique population make up. In Stockbridge the pop. Is 60% second homeowners that makes RTE potentially workable. Because of the unique pop divide, for primary homeowners, there is no relationship between the assessment of the home and the income of the homeowner — exactly the condition RTE was meant to address.
   1. RTE is renewed annually — empirical data that it works is the annual renewal in the Towns that adopted it
   2. Tax rate is the same for everyone, but if the assessment is reduced, taxes are reduced
   3. Tax deferment puts off an obligation usually to the children or inheritors; RTE eradicates the obligation

News

Notes from the Select Board (SB) meeting, August 25, Hybrid meeting

Present:

• Patrick White, Chair
• Chuck Cardillo
• Jamie Minacci
• Michael Canales, Town Administrator
• Attendees named when speak

1. Public comments moved to end of meeting and agenda approached “last to first” so SB will consider new Highway Department position first and William C. Rennie can go home to his dinner.
2. Rennie recommended by Hugh Page, Highway Superintendent and Canales. Approved by SB
3. 36 Lake Drive, owners present and request for Special Permit presented by Shannon Boomsma of White Engineering.
   1. Two additions — a new entrance and four-seasons addition on piers, and a new utility building
   2. Pre-existing nonconforming — no more nonconforming (9.9% coverage)
   3. Also better control of run-off and a new floating dock
   4. Approved
4. Jack Grimli appointed to Council on Aging
5. Red Lion corner
   1. Changes in intersection
   2. Changes in crosswalks from Red Lion corner to Town Offices — crosswalk at building with Minkler Insurance and Lost Lamb Bakery removed and crosswalk at Town Offices raised
   3. Public comment — confusion about (what SU will call The Egg — the oblong painted on the pavement)
   4. Anne Rabinowitz and Patty Caya thought it was too long
   5. Consultant and Cardillo both explained the length was the point — many don’t seem to understand how to use it. Keep the Egg always on your left — never cut across it. That causes traffic in intersection to slow and literally stay out of one another’s way as cars navigate the intersection, turning left, right, or going straight
   6. A man (name — John Wise?) was concerned about emergency vehicles getting through intersection. Both consultant and Cardillo explained that was addressed and there is room for cars to pull over and allow emergency vehicles to get by.
   7. Minacci asked if crosswalk by Congregational Church should be added?
   8. Manny opposed removing the center crosswalk (by Minkler’s) Canales said Jay Walking is not against the law — Jay Walking is against the law and a ticket can be issued to the Jaywalker (See Mass General Law Part 1 — Title XIV — Chapter 89)
   9. White said the least used crosswalk is one by Town Offices — remove that and have extra parking spaces? Keep one mid-block?
   10. Cardillo said, and SB concurred, present current plan and then add or remove as this plan is tested. Current plan will be presented at Special Town Meeting to be scheduled (and perhaps at another public discussion before that)
6. Reserve Fund transfer approved ($87,000)
7. One-day liquor licenses approved for Chesterwood, Zucchini’s, and the Pan Mass Bike Challenge
8. Park Street ump station bidding conclude — low bid was $847,000 — leaving a $70,000 contingency fund — SB approved
9. Soldier’s Monument — work to begin this fall
10. Seven-member Board for Affordable Housing Trust Fund approved as follows: Jan Ackerman, Lis Wheeler, Ranne Warner, Selina Lamb, Don Eaton, Jay Bikofsky, and Jamie Minacci, Trustees
11. Public comment
    1. Shirley Miller spoke in favor of RTE
    2. Joe Newberg spoke against RTE
12. White announced Tanglewood rethought their position on the Josh and will allow parking

Meeting adjourned

Perspective

From the Desk of Superintendent Peter Dillon Berkshire Hills Regional School District (BHRSD)

School starts for students on Monday August 29th, 2022. We’re very excited to welcome students back.

Teachers and staff have been working throughout the summer on planning curriculum and professional development. Our efforts are focused on 4 major areas: 1) social emotional learning — how we develop skills and attitudes to be successful which is particularly important as we move past the pandemic, 2) developing a portrait of the graduate in and across each school which includes what we want students to know and do, 3) fairness and inclusion — opening up access to everyone, and 4) proficiency-based assessment.

The School Committee continues to work on the high school project, the possibility or merging our high school with Southern Berkshire and is about to start next year’s budget process. We are also actively seeking volunteers for our building and outreach committees as well as a write in candidate for our School Committee. If you are interested, feel free to contact me.

As always, feel free to reach out to me with any questions: Peter.Dillon@bhrsd.org

Next issue, I’ll share some updates on newly hired faculty and staff and some new grants we received.

Perspective

The Vibe

Eagles’ singer Glenn Frey was not gonna make it. He was tired, singing rough, and the key change in “Already Gone” was seconds away. Sure enough, he bailed and sang an octave lower, leaving Randy Meisner to soar on his own. It was Stockbridge, 1974 at the Music Inn, for a few years the premier venue for the best live rock acts in the Berkshires. I was a 22-year- old songwriter/guitarist, still learning, and this was grad school.

Music Inn in the 70s was the Band, Springsteen, Emmylou, John Prine, the Allmans, Dylan, Seeger, Marshall Tucker, Arlo, on and on, the post- Woodstock golden era of pop/folk/rock. It was still the Stockbridge of Alice’s Restaurant and Sweet Baby James. The Vibe, we called it.

The Inn was general outdoor seating on a grassy slope. You could see, hear. No tv screens, expensive tickets, posh picnics. Cannabis, years ahead of its time, it turns out, was not a big deal, or problem. It was a little rowdy sometimes, memories vary, incidents occurred. After an Outlaws show, there was topless swimming at the state boat launch one sun-drenched evening, but no more crowded than the kayak fleets and lawless swimmers there today.

Situated next to Tanglewood, Music Inn was a mash up that did not sit well with other musical tastes, or local authorities. There were complaints. Hippies! We knew it could not last. But the music held us together, making instant friends and shared memories like no other cultural force in the Boomer generation. And then it was gone as the 70s ended, done in by its own youthful exuberance in a town already growing older.

But the Vibe still lives in South County. The Lion’s Den, a haven for Berkshire-based performers, is returning, I hope, to its former glory! Perhaps featuring classic local Berkshire performers like Max Creek founder David Reed, Wanda Houston, Bobby Sweet, and others.

At Robbie Burns Pub in Egremont long ago, the wonderful band Shenandoah, of Arlo fame, played the Band’s “Stage Fright” to open a set one night. Now the Pub is The Barn, and you can see some of Shenandoah’s line-up playing there or at Firefly in Lenox as the BTUs/ Hot Sauce.

Music Inn is gone, but the Vibe lives on in our own local musicians, still playing after all these years. Go see ’em — we’re not getting any younger!

by Bruce Blair

Perspective

Indian Burying Ground

In 1809 the Mohicans signed a land agreement with Dr. Oliver Partridge for the Indian Burying Ground’s safekeeping. Perhaps the best way to understand the relationship between Dr. Partridge and the Mohican Community is to share the language of the deed. I have placed in bold below portions of the deed to show the depth of trust between the Mohicans and Oliver Partridge. Given how many times the Mohicans were lied to or had promises broken, or were dispossessed of their land, for them to write the words “trust and confidence” in the deed, was truly a sign of the goodness of Dr. Partridge. There is some evidence to suggest he gave the Burying Ground to the Town of Stockbridge. If so, he failed to record the deed at the Registry of Deeds. As the town hopes to transfer ownership back to the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, hopefully more information will be uncovered. Failing that, the town in its wisdom has found other avenues for the return of the burying grounds.

Know all men by these presents that we, Joseph Shauqueatheat, Hendrick Aupaumut, Solomon Q. Hendrick, Joseph Quinney, and John Metoxen, Sachems and Counsellors of the Muhhuonnut tribe of Indians who formerly were proprietors of the Town of Stockbridge…

…In consideration of ten dollars in certain services rendered our tribe by and the trust and confidence we place in our friend Oliver Partridge of Stockbridge aforesaid we do for ourselves and for our whole tribe hereafter relinquish to him our right to a certain piece of land lying in Stockbridge there called the Indian Burying Ground lying west of the Town Square there so called and is fully described on their Town records reference thereto to be had which ground never has before by any of us or our forefathers been sold or any ways relinquished; we hereby acknowledge the receipt of the services aforesaid and do by these presents quit claim, release and transfer to him the said Oliver Partridge our right and title to the aforesaid premises for the following uses and purposes, viz: That he may fence the same that he may in every way prevent the soil from being removed that the bones of our Ancestors may there lie undisturbed that he may plant trees round and over the same which trees are ever to be considered as the property of said Oliver his heirs or assigns and improve the same in any way except tilling or breaking up the sod or turf; we do hereby impower him as fully in his own right to sue for and recover as if held the premises by deed of warrantee for any strip waste or damage committed in any ways on the said premises; and we do hereby fully impower him to assign and transfer to others in trust and for the purposes and uses aforesaid the same right, and title to the said premises…

by Rick Wilcox

Opinion

In Support of the Proposed Residential Tax Exemption

The proposed residential tax exemption is not perfect. Towns have limited options under the State law to provide targeted tax relief. One flaw is that the exemption will benefit some property owners that don’t need assistance along with those that do. But this is not a reason to reject the proposal. Many very low-income owners live in the homes they grew up in and inherited. The value of the home has likely increased significantly since it was originally built or purchased by a previous generation, but that value increase is unconnected to the ability of the current owner to pay taxes. Programs to provide relief for owners in this situation are common because the alternative is long time owners being forced to sell their homes, or farm and forest owners being forced to sell to developers.

Many communities tax farms, open land and forested areas at their current use value, rather than at their potential development value. All owners of such property benefit regardless of income. The same is true for tax exemptions for seniors, which are often not restricted to those with lower incomes. At the federal level, the mortgage interest deduction allows interest on a mortgage of $750,000 — hardly targeting lower income owners. The benefit to those in need offsets the collateral benefit to those that are not.

The most frequent objection I hear from my second home owning friends is not so much to the proposed exemption itself, but to the fact that non-residents are not permitted to vote at town meeting or in local elections. Shifting the tax burden toward second homeowners, (even at the minimum 10% the State law permits, as Patrick White has proposed), seems to many to be adding the insult of higher taxes to the injury of not being permitted to vote.

Although I am a primary resident, I understand the feeling of “taxation without representation” that many second homeowners express. However, I urge everyone to keep the two issues separate. The issue of whether non-resident property owners should be able to vote is not related in any way to whether a residential tax exemption is worthwhile except for the emotional connection. When the exemption is considered on its own merits, I believe it passes the test of being the best currently available approach to address a problem that exists today.

Part Two: The Data will be in the next issue of SU

by Jonathan Gottlieb

Opinion

I Wish I were Josh Billings

Josh Billings was a good ole boy with a folksy way of talking. His creator, Henry Wheeler Shaw, had no such verbal eccentricity but learned early that giving advice goes down better if the language is not too highfalutin. I have some advice to give, so I will try to be folksy.

I never saw a better example of the importance of “roll-out” than the introduction of the Residential Tax Exemption (RTE). Those opposed grabbed the Mic and laid out one-liners, and now everything everyone is talking about is either irrelevant or erroneous.

Let’s agree no one likes taxes; some get angry when taxes go up. Let’s agree we all want stuff — sewer, deiced roads, and let’s agree we have to pay for what we want. Want to argue fairness? Should we shift the millions for sewer around the lake, dredging and harvesting to lake dwellers only cuz the folks downstreet don’t benefit? Talking about fairness is fatuous — what we need is a conversation about problem solving.

Let’s agree we are a community. Let’s agree the behaviors of folks living in the same community impact each other. Take taxes: folks downstreet, Oldtimers who owned their houses decades, who didn’t add on to or update see their taxes go up. How come? Cuz others who want to move to Stockbridge have bidding wars, tear down and build bigger and better. Pretty soon a high-priced house is not an anomaly in Stockbridge, it is commonplace. Therefore, all assessments go up on everyone — even the old-timer with the thirty-year-old kitchen. Soon there is no relationship between the assessment of a home and the income of the primary homeowner. Now if RTE lowers the primary householders’ assessment, it is plum silly to argue that’s unfair.

Stockbridge received $1.5 million less than Lee in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds because the Feds only count primary homeowners and Stockbridge is 60% second homeowners. Yet that same division in population can work for us with RTE. (Lee has almost the same population as Stockbridge’s summer population, but Lee is 92% primary homeowners.)

Wanna talk divisiveness? Every state in the Union imposes cost/benefits and grants the most benefits to the full-time residents and the most costs to part-timer residents. But, if you own more than one house, you can weigh the cost/benefits and pick your primary residence. No need to be yelling or name calling — it’s your choice.

We live together and if we are wise — here comes the advice — we will pull together and never be fooled by vapid sloganeering. How would Josh Billings say it? “Common sense is seeing things as they are and then doing what ought to be done.”

by Carole Owens

Analysis

Occupancy/Meals Tax Receipts: Recovering from COVID-19

and the Effects of the Increase from 4% to 6%

At the May 2021 Town Meeting, the Town approved a warrant article to raise the local occupancy tax from 4% to 6%. It went into effect in October 2021. This was an option made available to the Town by the Commonwealth starting in 2009.

As you can see from the chart below, receipts are at a clip to reach an all-time high, due to a combination of factors: the recovery from COVID-19; the increase in the rate from 4% to 6%; and the additional revenue the Town receives due to strong short-term rentals.

With the average assessment of $600,000, this saves the property taxpayer an average of approximately $120 each per year that would otherwise have to be raised using residential property taxes.

Notes

FY: Fiscal Year (July 1 – June 30)

Q: Quarter

Occupancy: Occupancy tax collected. The town gets 6% of every room, including short-term rental rooms; however, the increase from 4% only went into effect on October 1, 2021.

Meals: Meals tax collected. The town gets 0.75% of every meal sold.

The last two columns compare what we received at 4% vs. what we would have received had we raised the rate earlier.

by Patrick White

The Last Word

Reader to Reader

Carole,

Thanks for this. I really enjoy your newsletter.

Question for you — has anyone also discussed Personal Property Taxes (PPT) in the context of the RTE?

I believe the PPT [Personal Property Tax] is an additional tax only paid by nonresident homeowners which is already in effect. I feel like those amounts should be included in your table as well to reflect the additional tax burden of non-residents.

Again, really love the newsletter and appreciate you pulling it together.

Alex Margolies

Alex,

Thank you for your kind words about SU. Yes indeed, PPT is another example of state-mandated tax from which primary homeowners are exempt. Second homeowners, commercial, industrial, and other property owners are required to pay PPT. Stockbridge has no control over it and must, by law, collect it. (See Notes from Board of Assessors)

With respect to RTE, your other house may be in a state where there is no real estate tax or no state income tax. Also check, under RTE, your taxes may go up an insignificant amount. Weigh the cost/benefits and select your primary residence.

Carole

Hi Carole,

I hope you are enjoying this beautifully sunny day!

I’m writing with two purposes.

One is to compliment you on Stockbridge Updates. It’s a fantastic way to find out what’s going on in and around town. I’m grateful for it.

Second, here at the Library, we are engaging in our 5-year strategic planning process. One of the most important parts of the process is receiving feedback from the community about the ways we can most beneficially serve the town. I wonder if it would be possible to post a link to our survey in your next newsletter?

I have attached an image with QR codes that link to the survey, and separate links for a click-through, in case you are amenable to this idea.

Survey in English

Encuesta en Español

Thanks for considering!

Warmly, Wendy
Wendy Pearson is Director of Stockbridge Library

Hi Wendy,

Thank you for your kind words. SU is always delighted to link to Town or nonprofit surveys. We have included the library survey links in two places in this issue.

Carole

To Stockbridge Updates

Thoughts on the last selectboard meeting:

The selectman was rude and aggressive towards the chairman, “nothing personal”.

The chairman lost his cool and didn’t get it back.

The selectwoman was upset.

The finance chair barged his way in.

Two zoom callers were uncivil.

The second homeowners feel victimized.

Oy vey!

Anne Rabinowitz

Dear Dr. Owens,

I applaud your effort on keeping us Stockbridge residents up on what’s happening in our town, but this last post, on the Aug. 11 Select Board meeting, left me intrigued but uninformed.

Did I miss the actual minutes? Did you post them somewhere I can read them? Apologies if they were clickable, but if there is a link, it isn’t working with my iPhone.

I was an editor for the AP for 32 years but wouldn’t have made it to my second month had I written something like “I Never Would Have Believed It” without backing it up by naming names (attribution), providing concrete examples, direct quotes, and/or an actual transcript.

Otherwise, I’ve been happy to receive your emails.

Best, Barbara Woike

Dear Ms. Woike,

How nice of you to write. Your credentials are impressive and thank you for the applause. If you ever want to do a bit of proofreading, let me know.

What you were reading was an editorial about a meeting not the minutes of a meeting. Please go to www.CTSBTV.org to view the entire meeting. No one acted particularly well at the SB meeting. Outing them by name, characterizing their behavior, or casting aspersions is not what SU ever does. It was just one meeting, and if I know Stockbridge, everyone will act better next time.

Again, thanks for your comments.

Carole