Longtime town meeting members were recognized for their service, including Starr Baker who has been a member for 50 years.
ADAMS, Mass. — Town meeting approved all 30 articles on the annual warrant, including the fiscal 2020 budget of $15.8 million.
It was a pretty straightforward meeting Monday night with much of the articles passing in bulk. Before running through the warrant, Town Clerk Haley Meczywor thanked town meeting members present and past.
"This town report is dedicated to all of you sitting in the center of the auditorium," she said. "Your service to the town is remarkable and without your commitment and dedication the town of Adams cannot function .. .you are the voice of Adams."
Adams has a representative form of government in which 150 town meeting members are elected by precinct to weigh the community's decisions.
Meczywor said the town report is dedicated to all town meeting members and recognized those who have served continuously for more than 20, 30, and 40 years.
Town meeting member Starr Baker was asked to stand and Meczywor said he has continuously served for 50 years.
The rest of the meeting went by quickly and clocked in well under an hour.
There was only discussion on some of the early articles that represented the $15.8 million budget but ultimately Articles 7 through 15 achieved safe passage.
Article 6, which fixes the salary and compensation of all elective officers, was amended to reflect some salary increases not correctly written on the warrant. Article 28 was also amended to clarify some language having to do with rededicating the Town Common.
Article 10, the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District budget, was held by town meeting member John Cowie, who had questions about the assessment of $5,792,649.
Many of his questions centered around education, however, because the superintendent was not present at the meeting, they went unanswered.
The school district's Business Manager Erika Snyder did attend the meeting and was able to clarify some of the assessment mechanics.
Some of the larger articles such as Article 22, which amends the ACRSD agreement and changes its name to the Hoosac Valley Regional School District, passed with ease. Article 24, The special tax agreement with B&B Micro Manufacturing, also passed without pause.
One hundred and fifteen town meeting members attended the annual meeting, or 77 percent.
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Adams Community Bank Holds Annual Meeting, Announce Growth
ADAMS, Mass. — The annual meeting of the Community Bancorp of the Berkshires, MHC, the parent company of Adams Community Bank, was held on April 10, 2024, at Charles H. McCann Technical School in North Adams.
The meeting included reviewing the 2023 financial statements for the Bank, electing directors and corporators, and highlighting upcoming executive personnel changes.
"In 2023, the Bank experienced another year of growth in assets, loans, and deposits, noting the Pittsfield branch reached $26 million in customer deposits from its opening in December of 2022," President and CEO of Adams Community Bank Charles O'Brien said. "Those deposits were loaned out locally during 2023 and helped drive our #1 ranking in both mortgage and commercial real estate lending, according to Banker and Tradesman."
At year-end 2023, total assets were $995 million, and O'Brien noted the Bank crossed the $1 billion threshold during the first quarter of 2024.
Board chair Jeffrey Grandchamp noted with O'Brien's upcoming retirement, this will be the final annual meeting of the CEO's tenure since he joined the Bank in 1997. He thanked him for his 27 years of dedication to the Bank. He acknowledged the evolution of the Bank as it became the premier community bank in the Berkshires, noting that branches grew from 3 to 10, that employees grew from 40 to 135, and that assets grew from $127 million to $1 billion.
An executive search is underway for O'Brien's replacement.
The Adams Beautification group, which has been quietly sprucing up the town since 2022, hopes to bring in more members of the community during a community cleanup day scheduled for Saturday, April 27. click for more
Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School history teacher Alla Chelukhova has been selected as the April Teacher of the Month. click for more
Desroches graduated from the Police Academy on March 22 in the top tier in his class. He's currently in the field training program and assigned to Sgt. Curtis Crane.
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Michael Wynn, who was selected in January to run the center, submitted a level operating budget of $57,500 but said he could pull funding from different lines to ensure there was money for advertising this fall.
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