LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen set a special town meeting for Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 6 p.m. that will address the Mount Greylock Regional School project.
There will only be two articles, with one of them not having a vote. The first question authorizes the Board of Selectmen to acquire easements to move a project to replace the Narragansett Avenue bridge, and the second is about the middle and high school project.
The regional high school was the driver behind calling the meeting but the Selectmen also wanted to get those easements in place to keep the bridge project moving forward. There will be no vote on the school project but rather open discussion.
"We are not looking to take a vote at this meeting, we are just looking for discussion," Chairman John Goerlach said.
The $64.8 million project was already approved by the Mount Greylock School Committee and the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which is paying $32,491,074 of the cost. Williamstown and Lanesborough, the two towns in the regional district, will split the estimated remaining amount $32.3 million through a rolling cost-sharing agreement over the course of a bond lasting around 30 years.
Voters will be asked to approve the project on March 15 at the ballot box by excluding the debt from Proposition 2 1/2 provisions. The forum on the 23rd is seen as an opportunity to share information prior to that vote.
However, resident Michelle Johnson asked why go through the legal requirements call it a "special town meeting" when it could just be a forum for a fraction of the cost. Town Manager Paul Sieloff, when asked, said an annual town meeting costs $1,500.
"We are labeling it a special town meeting and with that are certain requirements. We could just have a public forum," Johnson said.
The Selectmen said there have been many other forums on this but residents didn't attend. Having a special town meeting not only gets the vote for the easements but also will help drive more people out.
"If you don't show up, that's not the board's fault," Johnson said. "To me, it doesn't make any sense."
The Selectmen faced similar questions when the board opted to hold the ballot vote on March 15 at a cost of nearly $1,000 when it could have coupled the vote with the presidential primary on March 1 for a fraction of the cost.
Williamstown is holding its debt exclusion vote on Super Tuesday, March 1, and will not hold a special town meeting.
Below is information about the building project as presented by the Mount Greylock School Committee.
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Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation Scholarships
LUDLOW, Mass. — For the third year, Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation (BWPCC) will award scholarships to students from Lanesborough and Hancock.
The scholarship is open to seniors at Mount Greylock Regional High School and Charles H. McCann Technical School. BWPCC will select two students from the class of 2024 to receive $1,000 scholarships.
The scholarships will be awarded to qualifying seniors who are planning to attend either a two- or four-year college or trade school program. Seniors must be from either Hancock or Lanesborough to be considered for the scholarship. Special consideration will be given to students with financial need, but all students are encouraged to apply.
The BWPCC owns and operates the Berkshire Wind Power Project, a 12 turbine, 19.6-megawatt wind farm located on Brodie Mountain in Hancock and Lanesborough. The non-profit BWPCC consists of 16 municipal utilities located in Ashburnham, Boylston, Chicopee, Groton, Holden, Hull, Ipswich, Marblehead, Paxton, Peabody, Russell, Shrewsbury, Sterling, Templeton, Wakefield, and West Boylston, and their joint action agency, the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC).
To be considered, students must submit all required documents including a letter of recommendation from their school counselor and a letter detailing their educational and professional goals. Application and submission details will be shared with students via their school counselors. The deadline to apply is Friday, April 19.
MMWEC is a not-for-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts created by an Act of the General Court in 1975 and authorized to issue tax-exempt debt to finance a wide range of energy facilities. MMWEC provides a variety of power supply, financial, risk management and other services to the state's consumer-owned, municipal utilities.
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