Letter: Donate Your Empty Deposit Bottles & Cans

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To the Editor:

Here is another way to show your support for the Elizabeth Freeman Center: Take and donate your deposit bottles and cans to the Northern Berkshire Container Redemption Center located at 1000 Massachusetts Ave in North Adams, at the corner of Protection Ave, and tell the helpful people at the counter that you wish to donate the proceeds to the Elizabeth Freeman Center.

The other cool thing about making this small, regular donation is that you do not have to empty your boxes and bags and place your cans and bottles in trays: You can immediately leave and NBCRC will do it for you and count them and credit the Elizabeth Freeman account. (A small amount will also benefit the BFAIR clients who work at the center.)

You can save time, benefit the Elizabeth Freeman Center, and free up some space in your kitchen, basement or garage. A win, win, win situation!

Ken Swiatek
Williamstown, Mass.

 

 

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Williamstown Charter Review Panel OKs Fix to Address 'Separation of Powers' Concern

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — 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.
 
The committee accepted language designed to meet concerns raised by the Planning Board about separation of powers under the charter.
 
The committee's original compliance language — Article 32 on the annual town meeting warrant — would have made the Select Board responsible for determining a remedy if any other town board or committee violated the charter.
 
The Planning Board objected to that notion, pointing out that it would give one elected body in town some authority over another.
 
On Wednesday, Charter Review Committee co-Chairs Andrew Hogeland and Jeffrey Johnson, both members of the Select Board, brought their colleagues amended language that, in essence, gives authority to enforce charter compliance by a board to its appointing authority.
 
For example, the Select Board would have authority to determine a remedy if, say, the Community Preservation Committee somehow violated the charter. And the voters, who elect the Planning Board, would have ultimate say if that body violates the charter.
 
In reality, the charter says very little about what town boards and committees — other than the Select Board — can or cannot do, and the powers of bodies like the Planning Board are regulated by state law.
 
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