Editorial

A Pictorial Editorial: Losing Stockbridge

If you plan on cutting more than 10,000 square feet (approximately 1/4 acre), you must first get a permit from the Conservation Commission to be in compliance with the Stockbridge Stormwater Bylaw.

To protect wildlife habitat, to control storm water runoff, to protect resource areas, and maintain the beauty and unique character of Stockbridge, we have state and local laws. Please, know the laws and obey them. They protect us all and they protect the future of Stockbridge.

by Carole Owens, Executive Editor

News

Notes from the Planning Board (PB), January 2, 2024, Hybrid

In December, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved variances on the former Town Hall property for nonconformities. The variances facilitated sale by the Congregational Church to the Berkshire Waldorf High School (BWHS). 

The last hurdle was the PB issuing a special permit for parking. It was granted. The parties plan to close on the sale after the twenty-day appeal period.

BWHS will then renovate Old Town Hall and it will become a school just 16 years after the old school became the new Town Offices. 

News

Notes from Conservation Commission (ConCom), January 9, 2024, Hybrid

Consultant David Cameron made clear that he cannot comment on any application until he read the application and conducted a site visit.

Clear cutting at 11 Wheatleigh Drive may be in violation of the storm water runoff bylaw. Furthermore, there is chain link fencing and chain link fencing is not allowed in Stockbridge unless properly screened from the neighbors and from the road. It is also required that there is space between the ground and fence so that “small mammals” can get through. Furthermore, if the fence goes to the water’s edge, that is a further violation of the bylaws. Con Com will conduct a site visit on January 15, 2024, and will proceed from there.

News

Notes from the Affordable Housing Trust (AHT), January 12, 2024, Hybrid

Neighbors of the 34-acre property on Glendale Middle Road offered to the Town as a gift by Hans and Kate Morris attended the meeting. Chair Ranne Warner rearranged the order of the agenda to hear them first. They were long-time residents of Glendale Middle and Castle Roads who had questions, concerns, and suggestions to offer. 

The Chair, members of AHT, and Michael Canales, Town Administrator, explained: offer of the land was made and accepted conditional upon due diligence, that is, the Town will hire experts to evaluate the land and determine if it is buildable. They evaluate many factors including road access and wetlands. The Town must accept or decline by May1, 2024.

If the land is not buildable, the Town could accept the gift and designate the 34 acres open space. If buildable, in the second step, expert consultants would consider the optimal number and siting of the houses. Acceptance of the gift as open space or building lot is subject to approval at Town Meeting in May.

The neighbors were concerned about access, traffic, number of houses to be built, water and sewer capacity, disturbing/destruction of wildlife habitat, and more. The answer to each comment or question was to wait for the due diligence report in April. 

The second agenda item was a suggestion by Patrick White that AHT apply to Community Preservation Committee (CPC) for money to remove impediments preventing housing repairs. White suggested $50,000 from CPC with a $25,000 AHT match for a fund of $75,000. 

Through Berkshire County Action Coalition, funds are available to assist in housing repairs, however, even if the residents qualify, the work cannot be done if there are impediments such as asbestos. (See Editor’s note for explanation of the program)

White second suggestion was to ask CPC to put an amount in its Undesignated Category for use in developing the Glendale Middle Road property if it is buildable.

Upon hearing that CPC will have over one million dollars this year as opposed to the usual $300,000, the suggestion changed to AHT asking CPC for an amount between $100,000 and $400,000 be given to AHT not designated for anything specific but available for anything that may come up.

Carole Owens joined the conversation at that point and said CPC had not operated that way in the past. CPC has given a specific amount to cover the cost of a specific program, need, or request. CPC monitors and determines the money was used for the purpose proposed. 

Mark Mills suggested AHT was asking CPC to change. 

White reminded the committee that CPC does not award money but suggests awards to the Town Meeting for their approval.

Editor’s note: 1. Since 1979, BCAC has weatherized over 7,000 homes in Berkshire County with the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). This program, paid for with a combination of Federal and Utility Company funding, is designed to save customers heating dollars by increasing the energy efficiency of their homes and apartments. BCAC provides a complete technical analysis of the property and a prioritized scope of work. Qualified contractors are then given a work order to perform the permanent weatherization work to high standards. Eligible work includes insulation for attics, walls, floors, and heating system pipes or ducts. Also eligible are weather-stripping, air sealing, and minor repairs related to saving energy. In some cases, heating systems are repaired or replaced through BCAC’s heating service program. All work is typically performed without cost to the homeowner or tenant.

The program is available to most people who are eligible for the Federal Fuel Assistance program. All qualified Fuel Assistance applicants are automatically referred for an energy assessment after their application has been approved. Priority is given to households with elderly or handicapped individuals and with children aged 6 or less and “high energy users”.

Electricity savings programs are also available to qualified households. Measures may include installing higher efficiency light bulbs and replacing energy glutton refrigerators or freezers.

2. Impediment Remediation Fund

Low-income homeowners qualify for opportunities to improve their homes in areas of weatherization, energy efficiency, and heating systems repairs and replacement.

The town is working with Bailey Boyd, a specialist in CDBG, and has applied for the FY2025 CDBG round with Great Barrington. 

In the meanwhile, according to BCAC, Stockbridge has at least 35 income-eligible applicants. However there cannot be impediments such as: 

• knob and tube wiring
• vermiculite
• storage/hoarding issues that need to be cleaned out to access the property
• asbestos removal around heating equipment
• replacement of leaking oil tanks
• mold remediation

Out of ARPA funds, $35,000 was allocated in 2023.It is expened and White suggested AHT with CPC allocate more

3. Department of Housing and Community Development Pursuant to Chapter 121D of the Massachusetts General Laws states, a local housing trust allows municipalities (and the Trust itself) to collect funds for affordable housing and to segregate them out of the general municipal budget into a trust fund and use the funds for local initiatives to create and preserve affordable housing. 

AHT is subject to laws and best practices, but funds moved from CPC to AHT are then “distinct funds…to support the preservation and production of affordable housing and increase opportunities for families and individuals to access decent, affordable homes.” 

If CPC chooses to leave the same $100,000 – $400,000 in the CPC Undesignated category, then the money, subject to approval by Town Meeting, is available for historic preservation, or open space, or housing as needed. Funds awarded to AHT “segregate them out of the general municipal budget into a trust fund.”

Remembrance

A Son Remembers His Father

Nabih Nejaime, 88, of Stockbridge, passed away peacefully Monday January 8th at Wingate Residence in Pittsfield.

Born April 29th, 1935, in view of the Cedars in Maasser-el-Chouf, Lebanon to the late Najeeb and Adele Nejaime, Nabih was educated in hospitality and the culinary arts and worked in the finest Beirut hotels.

In the summer of 1955 Nabih met Marilyn when she visited the American University in Beirut. They married September 25th and moved to the U.S. on a trial basis that lasted 68 years.

Spring of 1964 saw Nabih and Marilyn move their young family to Stockbridge for the first of many bold ventures, establishing Nejaime’s Stockbridge Shop as a full-service family grocery store and twenty-two-year Main Street fixture, employing anyone willing to don an apron and work.

Instinct, determination, fearlessness, and a singular ability to instantly forge relationships with everyone he met inspired and drove Nabih’s entrepreneurial spirit.

Christmastime 1970, Nabih went to the Stockbridge Wine Cellar on Elm Street to get beverages and left with a handshake deal to purchase the business, which later grew to three liquors stores still operating today under second and third generations. 

In 1972 he bought the former Ford dealership building in Lee and opened a 10,000-square-foot grocery store. It closed in 1976, he remade it into a mini-mall and sold it by the mid-80s. Never deterred by inherent business risks, Nabih relished the next project.

In the early 80s Nabih began hand-baking an Armenian style flatbread known as Lavasch. Customers loved it so much he couldn’t make it fast enough. Soon he was operating a large-scale commercial bakery in the Stockbridge Industrial Park, producing dozens of products including Nejaime’s Lavasch under his distinct recipe, which continues today as Ghiddo’s (Grandfather’s) Lavasch.

Nabih’s embrace of the American dream was evidenced by his tireless work ethic and his willingness to serve the community. He enjoyed his time on the Berkshire Hills Regional School committee, Kiwanis as past President, St. Joseph of Stockbridge and St. Ann of Lenox Fund-raising committees, Stockbridge Republican Town Committee Chairman and Berkshire County Republican Committee Chairman and Republican of the Year.

Nabih also was a life-long member and past president of the Maasser Annual Reunion Association (M.A.R.A.), our 90-year association celebrating the proud family history of our ancestral village in Lebanon.

In 2009 Nabih was the first to be honored with the Founders of America Award by the Southern Berkshire Literacy Network, recognizing his example as an immigrant building the character and texture of our community and our country.

Nabih will be remembered as kind, gentle, always approachable, certainly opinionated and a forwarded thinking traditionalist. The long and sometimes illustrious list of family, friends and new acquaintances who gathered at the home they made on Park Street for meals and fellowship is testament to his love of people and although mostly they got to hear his often-lengthy stories, their stories of how he impacted their lives are truly gratifying to all whom he left behind.

The relationships Nabih and Marilyn established and cherished are of immeasurable inspiration to all who knew him. Always in jacket and tie, Nabih enjoyed every aspect of his business activities.

Nabih lived a life full of love for family, faith and country. He is survived by his loving devoted wife of 68 years, Marilyn Nejaime, along with their 4 children, 11 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. He counted them as his greatest joy and blessing. 

The family wishes to sincerely thank the Wingate Residence staff and community for the loving care provided to Nabih and Marilyn. For more information, contact the Finnerty-Stevens Funeral Home.

by Joe Nejaime

Remembrance

Remembering

I met Nabih in the aisle of the Main Street Market in the late 1970s. He was as his son Joey describes. He was in a suit and tie, immediately warm and familiar. From the first encounter with Nabih, I felt – we all did – that I had just met a friend. 

He was a great cook and a good man. His word was gold, his handshake firm, and if he made a mistake, he also made it right.

There are little memories — the best ones — that warm the heart or cause a smile. I remember he made Lavasch for me and brought it to one of my holiday parties. Not store-bought, he made it. He said, as he handed it to me, it was, perhaps, the last time he would make Lavasch. I was honored. It was delicious but also very special. I will miss him. 

by Carole Owens

Happenings

Events

Stockbridge Senior Center

Shine Counseling Center — Learn about programs available to help. Call Polly at our Senior Center or Winnie Veretto at 528-1556.

Senior Tax Work Off positions, call Michael Canales at 298-4170 — x 100

Yoga — in our gym Monday and Thursdays 4pm — 5pm and Wednesdays 10am

Walking — Tuesday and Thursdays, 10am — 11am

Pancake Breakfast — January 26 – 9am — 10am

The joint is jumping! There are all these programs and more!! Stop in and find out. 

Berkshire Botanical Garden

Berkshire Botanical Garden Presents ‘Musings in Nature,’ from Feb. 9-25, in its Leonhardt Galleries at 5 West Stockbridge Rd. In this juried show presented by the Guild of Berkshire Artists, 20 member artists will each present about three works that interpret their concept of what nature means to them. The Berkshires, where many members live and work, serve as the Guild’s muse. That includes Berkshire Botanical Garden itself, which hosts the Guild’s plein air group. The Guild’s work covers a wide range of visual media, including painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics, textiles, wood, glass, and mixed media. The opening reception for “Musings on Nature” is Feb. 9, from 5 to 7 p.m. Leonhardt Galleries hours for “Musings on Nature” are Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. — 3 p.m. 

Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 27th annual Winter Lecture

Where: Duffin Theatre, Lenox Memorial Middle and High School, 197 East Street, Lenox, Mass.

When: Saturday, March 2, 2pm to 4 pm.

What: Fergus Garrett, the CEO and head gardener at Great Dixter House and Gardens in East Sussex, England, will speak about Biodiversity at Great Dixter: How a Flower Garden Can Support Some of the UK’s Most Threatened Species.

Great Dixter, the family home of gardener and gardening writer Christopher Lloyd, is one of Great Britain’s most revered house and gardens and a place of pilgrimage for horticulturists from across the world. Famous for merging the natural and the cultivated world, Great Dixter’s long grass, scattered ponds, old walls, and changing flower borders provide a rich environment for all manner of fauna and flora.

Fergus Garrett was born in Brighton to an English father and Turkish mother. He spent his formative years in Istanbul, Turkey. Upon returning to the United Kingdom, he went to school in Brighton and then studied horticulture at Wye College, University of London. He joined Christopher Lloyd as his head gardener in 1993.

Tickets for the Winter Lecture are $40 for members of Berkshire Botanical Garden and $55 for non-members. They are available online at BerkshireBotanical.org or by calling 413-320-4794.

Established in 1997, the Winter Lecture Series was initiated by the Berkshire Botanical Garden to bring inspiring and noted speakers to the region to talk about horticulture, landscape design and history, plants and plant exploration, and home gardening. Past speakers have included such luminaries as Tom Coward, Marco Polo Stufano, Dan Hinkley, Edwina von Gal, Penelope Hobhouse, Bill Cullina, Debs Goodenough, Dr. Michael Dirr, Ken Druse, Anna Pavord, Thomas Woltz, and Margaret Roach. Proceeds from ticket sales support the Garden’s education programs.

Perspective

In Whom We Trust 

Last fall, I read through a housing survey sponsored by a new group of town officials called the Affordable Housing Trust Committee. As I read a prologue which suggested to me how I should answer, I wondered about things, beyond what looked like a biased survey.

Sadly, I may be living in poverty. There was a mass migration of young people from Stockbridge who began to move away to find sustaining work after GE and the mills began to shut down 50 years ago. A handful of us have returned. I live in my parents’ house, where I once lived as a statistically valuable young person. Now I am old, low income. I do not want a new house. I plan on leaving this one feet-first.

There are low-income people in town. Maybe they live as I do, on family property purchased decades ago. Many old family names are still here. Others might live in Pine Woods or Heaton Court. I am not sure how needy we are, beyond a desire to win the lottery. As a town, we have exceeded state requirements for low-income housing for years.

Therefore, changing zoning and building multi-family homes make me wonder. Does anyone here still remember why we developed our current zoning? And workforce housing normally results from people working. The chicken still precedes the egg. My generation left town because the local jobs were all locked up and the principal employers were leaving for good. Are there new living wage jobs to drive new housing needs? Is this the government’s job? 

The Housatonic River, PCB tragedy is a major public health hazard for all. We have been kept in the dark for years, and now it is coming home to roost. 

I noticed that some Committee members talked right over abutters who attended a project meeting. There are a whole bunch of residents here who know very little about this, and no, it’s not entirely their own fault. It’s everybody’s. We need our neighbors to wake us up when issues arise. When we vote, we don’t surrender our voices until the next election. We expect to be represented and included.

Members of AHT were not elected by us. They are appointed. They will be spending millions of tax dollars. This doesn’t mean they can’t do a good job, but it does mean they need to be transparent, and connect with their neighbors.

by Bruce Blair

Perspective

Shared Services — A Dialogue Between Carole Owens and Michael Canales with a Word from an Abutter

By Carole Owens and By Michael Canales and By David Adler

Carole Owens: Shared Services — Which Can We Share?

The Twenty-first century may be the era of sharing — services that is. Everything is getting more expensive, and the worker pool is shrinking. It seems prudent to share and share alike. Services such as Firemen, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), and Tri-Town Health are perfect services to share. 

If a house is on fire, no Chief would wake up the Select Board members and ask, “should I get out the fire truck?” No EMT calls an elected official to ask about using the defibrillator. Equally, no health department official is going to call the elected officials before closing a beach due to a cyanobacteria bloom or a restaurant due to rats or filth. Their responses are at the sole discretion of those professionals.

The question is: can all services be shared as easily? 

What of Town Administrator (TA) and Building Inspector (BI)? Can they be shared as easily if at all? Their decisions are not individual. They deal with decisions that fit into a government structure. While zoning bylaws and Mass General Laws are uniform throughout the Commonwealth, some decisions require discretion, and interpretation.

Conflict of interest: not conflict between two or more towns the TA or BI might represent, but conflict within the Town. Unlike the fireman and the doctor, a TA or BI do not make the decisions alone. The Fire Chief dispatches the trucks without hesitation, the BI may need to be in consultation. Elected officials get involved in the process and have the responsibility as well as these officials. It is not in the interest of the Town if they disagree or make different and conflicting decisions. Moreover, while many bylaws come from the Commonwealth and are uniform, others are local and differ from locality to locality. The TA and BI need a perfect understanding of local laws as well as local politics. A TA and BI should be unconflicted, thoroughly knowledgeable, and not stretched too thin by taking on the responsibility in two or more towns.

Finally, decisions made by TA and BI have a fair share of interpretation. For example, bylaws and Zoning laws are definitive except when they are subject to interpretation and every lawyer interprets. 

Michael Canales: Stay the Course

I would agree with some of what you stated if we were hiring a single building inspector to cover two or three towns but that is not the setup that was proposed and agreed upon. 

The setup proposed is that there would be three building inspectors. One dedicated to Great Barrington, one split between Lee and Lenox and the final position split between Stockbridge and to act as a floater for building permits in other towns. The building commissioner will oversee the inspectors and will take on the larger and more complicated projects within the communities. This setup will prevent stretching too thin.

Owens wrote, “For example, bylaws and Zoning laws are definitive except when they are subject to interpretation and every lawyer interprets.” The building department does not have much if any discretion, those areas fall to the planning board and selectboard if within those bylaws these items are subject to their authority. Elected officials do not get involved in the process that fall to the building inspectors and the elected officials only become involved if they have the responsibility to make that decision. A building inspector or commissioner has very little room for interpretation. 

Overall the setup we have is most similar to TriTown Health, which was setup as a department not a single individual just like what we have with the building department. The following statement “Equally, no doctor is going to call the elected officials before closing a beach due to a cyanobacteria bloom” would be the equivalent of a building inspector doing an emergency condemnation of a building. Trying to equate either a cyanobacteria bloom or fire/ems, which by definition are emergency services, is not proper especially in regards to the typical duties of building inspectors or TriTown Health. A lot of the work done by TriTown Health is permitting and inspections which is covered by state statues and local bylaws, similar to the building department. 

I would also point out that building inspectors often are employed by more than one community with no governing agreements, including our previous inspector who was employed by many communities therefore could have been conflicted.

A Word from an Abutter

Thank you to David Adler for this explanation of his appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals. The ZBA meeting will be on January 30 — in person and via Zoom. Interested Stockbridge residents are welcome and may wish to attend.

The Adlers reside at 7 Lee Road in Stockbridge and are direct abutters to 9 Lee Road, the Superior Propane Gas (formerly Osterman’s). The Adlers are appealing a letter from the Stockbridge Zoning Enforcement Officer (Stockbridge Building Inspector) because…

• The letter was not wholly responsive to the substantive and material violations of the Stockbridge Zoning Bylaws perpetrated at the Property that were referenced in our letter to the BI, November 9, 2023. 
• The 1973 special permit granted by the Stockbridge Select Board permitted Berkshire Gas to place one 30,000-gallon propane tank on the Property, which was connected to the Tennessee natural gas pipeline, with the possibility of installing two additional propane tanks on the property at a later date. The stored propane would be blended with the natural gas coming through the pipeline and the basic purpose of the installation was so that it would be a standby for the natural gas in the pipeline and would only be used on an average of perhaps 24 days per year. Berkshire Gas was limited to the described use until the issuance of the 1981 special permit, effectively modifying and expanding this use. 
• The 1981 special permit was granted to Berkshire Gas Company on June 16, 1981, permitting two additional 30,000-gallon propane tanks to be added to existing use at the Property. The tanks would be used for “Storage and Production of Supplementary Gas Supply”. All three propane storage tanks were filled with both natural gas that flowed from the Tennessee gas line (today known as Kinder Morgan) and propane that was only supplementing the natural gas. There was no further expansion or alteration of use granted by the 1981 special other than the addition of 2 30,000 propane storage tanks. 
• The above-described uses of the Property, memorialized by the 1973 and 1981 special permits, represent the limit of uses permitted by Berkshire Gas on the Property, unless those uses are permitted by-right under the Stockbridge Zoning Bylaws or unless they are granted another special permit modifying the permitted uses.

Accordingly, the Adlers are requesting a hearing by the Stockbridge Zoning Board of Appeals so the ZBA can make a definitive and final determination restricting Berkshire Gas’s use of the Property in accordance with the law and in accordance with the 1973 and 1981 special permits. 

In essence, the Adlers believe that the permits issued by the Stockbridge Selectboard in 1973 and 1981 are still in effect today and that Berkshire Gas has substantially altered the use of the property, as permitted. Berkshire Gas is now leasing the property to Superior Plus Propane as a daily use (24 hours/day) propane depot operation which is not in accordance with the previous permits that were granted to Berkshire Gas. The intent of the original special permits, in a residential neighborhood, were to allow Berkshire Gas to tap off of the Tennessee natural gas pipeline, for supplemental use only, which it no longer does. Therefore, the propane depot should reside in a more appropriately zoned area.

Closing Thoughts from Carole Owens

During the SB meeting on November 9, 2023, there was testimony that there have been violations for fifty years from 1973 — 2003. The Fire Chief Vini Garofoli observed that hundreds of unpermitted tanks were stored on the property, and Stockbridge Fireman James MacDonald called the situation “dangerous.”

Selectman White moved not to approve any permit because he wanted to see the corrections made not just promised before granting permits. After some discussion, the vote was unanimous NOT to approve any of the three permits requested. 

If the ZBA supports the decision of the BI, is the ZBA decision in opposition to the SB? If the Adlers then sue, how does the Town decide what to do? It is a case in point: not all services can be shared easily.

Your Health

COVID Incidence Up By a Factor of 20 in Berkshire County

The state tracks COVID in a community via wastewater surveillances testing in municipal water systems across Massachusetts. The only system tracked in the Berkshires is Pittsfield’s. While Pittsfield isn’t Stockbridge, it provides good insight into what is going on locally, and the numbers are not good.

The chart below shows how COVID is up by a factor of around 20 since last summer.

We have a community that skews significantly older than other areas of the state. Our median age is 62, while the state’s is 39.

Show caution. Take care of yourselves. If you feel a cold coming on, test yourself and help keep yourself—and the community—healthy and safe.

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/wastewater-surveillance-reporting

by Patrick White

The Last Word

Reader to Reader

To the Editor:

There are now over 130 people who have signed the December open letter and requested updates on how to show up against book banning in the Berkshires — thank you! We are heading into a very busy and important week — please read on for actions you can take to help our students be free to read and learn.

• Attend Town Meetings
• If the Selectboard has a full agenda that does not include the book ban issue, it can be brought up during the Citizen Speak section of the meeting.
• Attend in person or via Zoom.
• If you choose to speak at the meeting, please feel free to use talking points/questions below. Another great jumping off point for comments and questions is the recent editorial in the Eagle, as well as the ACLU/GLAD letter
• Q: What is the Selectboard’s position on the GBPD’s power to override School Committee processes for curricular review, with or without a warrant?

The Selectboard should make clear through its statements, policies, and actions that book banning and identity-based attacks implemented through book bans will not be tolerated. 

• Q: What steps is the Selectboard taking to instruct staff and inform the public that law enforcement should not have been involved and that it will not happen again? 
• Q: What steps will the Selectboard take to ensure that police investigations are not used as a means of targeting and harassing members of legally protected groups?

The community deserves transparency about the decisions that were made in this situation. 

• Q: Will the Selectboard conduct a full and transparent review or hearing about this incident open to public comment? 

Spread the word about Berkshires Against Book Banning, and for more information go to www.berkshiresagainstbookbanning.com/contact.

Carole,

How about an update on the status of the Cat and Dog fountain and the stone watering trough…… the fountain seems to be an unknown entity. The trough is new news but would be interesting to know what’s up with that project. Thanks, The Updates is good stuff.

Jonathan Gray

Dear Jonathan,

We agree! So in the September 2023 issue, SU reported: All parts of the Cat and Dog fountain are repaired except for the cat and dog. They will be fully restored soon. Patrick White asked if there was a plan for restoration of the grounds surrounding the fountain. He pointed out that that is the entrance to Town and an important feature of Main Street. He hoped Tom Farley and other local landscape designers would be asked to make suggestions as well as townsfolk. White also thanked Kate Fletcher, Bob Jones, Carl Sprague for their years of work. Town Administrator reported that the Horse trough would be finished this spring.

In the December 2023 issue, SU reported: Trough and Cat and Dog Fountain, fixtures on Main Street, will be repaired and returned by spring. Paving will resume in spring and the new crosswalks will be repainted in spring.

Thank you for reading SU and for being in touch. 

Carole

To the Editor:

Article XXVII of the Town Bylaws, approved at a town meeting, established the Stockbridge Bowl Stewardship Commission. It described its membership and responsibilities, “The Stockbridge Bowl Stewardship Commission shall act as an advisory group to the Stockbridge Board of Selectmen to preserve and protect the Stockbridge Bowl (Lake Mahkeenac), its watershed and ecosystem by utilizing unified, scientific information collected by the SBSC.”

I hope that the select board and town administrator will prioritize the importance of the town’s responsibility for the stewardship of the lake and reorganize the commission so that it can continue its important work. We’re already about 30 years behind. 

Anita Schwerner