Caretaker Farm Rewarded for Sunshine Use

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WILLIAMSTOWN - Caretaker Farm has been selected to receive nearly $65,000 in rebates and funding through the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's Renewable Energy Trust and state agriculture programs for solar-power installations. The local community-supported agriculture farm grows produce to support 250 families and the Berkshire Food Project each year. Though the Renewable Energy Trust, Caretaker Farm will receive a $34,650 rebate for the installation of a 9.90-kilowatt photovoltaic system, representing roughly one-third of total project cost. The state Department of Agricultural Resources will be providing an additional $30,000 though its Agricultural Environmental Enhancement Program. Farm owners Don Zasada and Bridget Spann are financing the remaining project costs. Once complete, the 9.90kW PV system will generate approximately 90 percent of the farm's electricity needs. "We all have a responsibility to find ways of incorporating renewable, sustainable practices," said state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield. "I applaud Caretaker Farm for stepping up to find their role in fighting climate change. This is a huge step for sustainable agriculture." Farm co-owner Bridget Spann said, "At Caretaker Farm, we utilize sustainable agriculture practices on the land. Now we are delighted to take this next step of relying on clean renewable energy for the farm's electricity. As we learn more about the rapid and alarming changed in our climate, we are encouraged that with the support of this grant money, we will be able to address global warming by reducing our farm's carbon footprint." State Rep. Daniel E. Bosley, D-North Adams, said, "When we passed the electricity restructuring act in 1997, the renewable energy trust fund was, in my mind, one of the most important aspects of the bill. Small scale renewable energy projects are good for communities on so many levels: they save small businesses money, they create jobs, and perhaps most importantly, they are environmentally friendly. "The project at Caretaker Farm reinforces the importance of what was set up in 1997. I congratulate Don Zasada [owner of Caretaker Farm] and his team on a job well done and look forward to similar projects in the future." The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, as administrator of the Renewable Energy Trust Fund, supports projects that embrace clean energy technology and sustainable practices though a variety of programs including the Small Renewables Initiative. Through 2010, SRI disburses approximately $3.6 million in rebates each year for photovoltaic panels, wind turbines and microhydroelectric systems (up to 10 kilowatts) located at residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and public facilities. Rebate awards may be used to facilitate the installation of solar panels, wind and small hydro renewable energy projects. How-to-guides are available online for prospective applicants interested in renewable energy rebates through the Renewable Energy Trust Fund at www.mtpc.org/renewableenergy. Applicants and project sites must be customers of a Massachusetts investor-owned electric distribution utility.
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Town Meeting Floor Fight Brewing on Williamstown Elementary School Budget

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — In January, the Williamstown Select Board decided to move town meeting back to the Williamstown Elementary School gymnasium.
 
On Wednesday, it became clear that the elementary school budget could be one of the biggest issues before the meeting.
 
Residents concerned that WES is underfunded and "slipping" said Wednesday that they will seek to amend the Mount Greylock Regional School District budget on the floor of town meeting to increase the district's assessment to the town.
 
"We are going to go to town meeting and propose, actually, an addendum to increase the budget and hopefully pass that to support not just a level service but to actually include some school improvement," Jenna Hasenkampf said Wednesday at a meeting of the town's Finance Committee.
 
"We also think we are long overdue to invest in your schools. We've shown, as a town, that we can spend that money when it comes to services like the Fire Department that we view as essential. We think our public schools are just as essential, if not more.
 
"I think that more students pass through those halls than we see a fire per year here."
 
Hasenkampf, a member of the School Council at WES, spoke from the floor at the Fin Comm meeting on the night the panel was reviewing the budget requests from both the Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School District (McCann Tech) and the Mount Greylock district, which operates elementary schools in Lanesborough and Williamstown and the Mount Greylock Regional School, a middle-high school serving Grades 7 through 12.
 
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