Lanesborough's Town Administrator Resigns After 13 Years

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Boudreau has worked as the Town Administrator since 1998 and is now looking to do something else.
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — After 13 years Town Administrator Paul Boudreau is calling it quits.

Boudreau accepted a job in the private sector but will stick around to help out part-time until the town replaces him. Boudreau said on Tuesday that he had been looking for a change for a while and started the job search earnestly about six months ago.

"It's time for a change of scenery," Boudreau said. "I feel good about my time here and I've accomplished quite a bit."

Boudreau took the job in 1998 right after bids for renovating the Elementary School came in too high and voters did not approve the extra amount. Town officials switched tactics and began looking at building a new school and put Boudreau in command.

"I shepherded that project to completion... That was probably the biggest thing," Boudreau said when asked what he though his biggest accomplishment has been. "And the Mall Road, that took more than a decade to make that happen."

In his 13 years Boudreau said his position has become much more complicated because of state and federal regulations but the town hasn't changed.The town still has the mixed personality of dense and almost urban living in some parts and country in others as it was when Boudreau first moved here in 1980.


"The town itself really hasn't changed much since I've been here. We're still sort of a suburb of Pittsfield," Boudreau, who grew up in Pittsfield, said.

Boudreau was a former Berkshire Regional Planning Commission employee who later went on to become the executive director of the Northwestern Connecticut Council of Governors before taking the town administrator position.

He is only the town's third administrator and the first one to stick around for a while. Now the Board of Selectmen are wondering if this is the time to re-think the town's government structure.

On Tuesday, the Selectmen voted to work with a consultant to examine the structure. The board talked about a possible switch to a town manager but how "strong" of one still needs to be determined.

While the Selectmen were given Boudreau's formal resignation letter Tuesday, they've known he was leaving prior to that and have begun considering their options.

Tags: departure,   town administrator,   

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Lanesborough Zoning Board Welcomes New Member

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. – The Zoning Board of Appeals has some new faces.

Last week, the Zoning Board met to restructure its board.

William Matthiesen was elected Chair. He is stepping in following the resignation of Mark Seigars after a heated ZBA meeting in February.

Gwen Miller was welcomed onto the board after being elected from the select board the day before. Chair Deborah Maynard had said she previously worked with Miller on the Planning Board.

"She is a very, very smart woman who is up to date on all the laws and everything else that goes around," Maynard said.

Miller said she wanted to volunteer for the town, but she is no stranger to working with the town. She moved to Lanesborough in 2017 to raise her kids and was recently serving as Chair of the Planning Board.

She has also served on the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission's regional issues committee for the town. 

According to her LinkedIn, she has much experience with town planning, recently working with the town of Lenox as their land use director and town planner.

She said she hopes to bring a nice attitude to the board. 

"Just an even keel, a polite demeanor and some objectivity."

 
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