The SU71 Committee acknowledged an Open Meeting complaint against Committee member Robert Barton of Lanesborough and suggested he retake training on the law.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Superintendency Union 71 Committee on Wednesday acknowledged an Open Meeting Law complaint against one of its members and decided that member should undergo further training in the provisions of that law.
Lanesborough representative Robert Barton was the subject of a complaint filed by fellow resident Richard Cohen in reaction to Barton's actions at the Feb. 24 SU71 meeting.
According to Cohen's complaint, Barton violated the law by repeatedly — and against the advice of legal counsel present at the meeting — attempting to engage the committee in the discussion of a personnel matter during a public session.
"Mr. Barton stated the employee's name twice and then proceeded to repeat, and expanded upon, these charges and complaints, even after the committee's legal counsel, Fred Dupere, warned him three times that he had violated the OML," Cohen's complaint reads in part.
On Wednesday, the committee voted to send an acknowledgment to the office of the attorney general.
The six-member SU71 Committee is made up of representatives from the Williamstown and Lanesborough school committees. The superintendency union oversees the shared administrative services between the two towns' elementary schools.
Four of the SU71 Committee members, including Barton, attended Wednesday's meeting.
Barton voted with the other three members to forward to Boston an acknowledgement of the complaint.
He abstained from a vote on a separate motion by committee member Valerie Hall of Williamstown, who proposed the committee require Barton to undergo Open Meeting Law training.
"I'm angry we have to be here because of the actions of one of our members," Hall said. "I'm angry that ethical charges have been brought against our board.
"We requested counsel to attend every meeting we have to check this kind of behavior, but it wasn't checked."
SU-71 Committee Chairwoman Regina Dilego clarified that Barton's behavior was "checked" in the sense that Dupere attempted to correct it, but Barton continued his violations after being advised by counsel.
On Wednesday night, Barton did not comment on the specifics of the complaint. But he did say in response to a question from Dilego that he had taken the standard OML training when he was elected and that he was open to the idea of discussing the Feb. 24 meeting with Dupere.
Dilego said the committee would follow whatever recommendations the AG's office recommends in addition to the training the committee required on Wednesday night.
Cohen's complaint requests three remedies: a public apology, an investigation by an independent person or agency to determine whether Barton violated the OML in a Feb. 24 executive session of the committee, and a review by the attorney general of Barton's emails on file at SU-71 to see if any fines should be imposed on Barton.
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Well Mr. Barton, now you are not simply an embarrassment to yourself; you have embarrassed our town and cast a pall over our school. You have done, in your brief tenure, what no one else has been able to do over these past few years. Quite an accomplishment!!!
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board on Tuesday agreed in principle to most of the waivers sought by Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity to build five homes on a Summer Street parcel.
But the planners strongly encouraged the non-profit to continue discussions with neighbors to the would-be subdivision to resolve those residents' concerns about the plan.
The developer and the landowner, the town's Affordable Housing Trust, were before the board for the second time seeking an OK for the preliminary subdivision plan. The goal of the preliminary approval process is to allow developers to have a dialogue with the board and stakeholders to identify issues that may come up if and when NBHFH brings a formal subdivision proposal back to the Planning Board.
Habitat has identified 11 potential waivers from the town's subdivision bylaw that it would need to build five single-family homes and a short access road from Summer Street to the new quarter-acre lots on the 1.75-acre lot the trust purchased in 2015.
Most of the waivers were received positively by the planners in a series of non-binding votes.
One, a request for relief from the requirement for granite or concrete monuments at street intersections, was rejected outright on the advice of the town's public works directors.
Another, a request to use open drainage to manage stormwater, received what amounted to a conditional approval by the board. The planners noted DPW Director Craig Clough's comment that while open drainage, per se, is not an issue for his department, he advised that said rain gardens not be included in the right of way, which would transfer ownership and maintenance of said gardens to the town.
Town meeting voters will be asked Monday to approve a request to change state law in a way that will preserve education at Hancock Elementary School. click for more
The Charter Review Committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to endorse an amended version of the compliance provision it drafted to be added to the Town Charter. click for more
Developer David Traggorth asked the trustees to make the contribution from its coffers to help unlock an additional $5.4 million in state funds for the planned 54-unit apartment building at the south end of the Cable Mills site.
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