Letter: Vote Yes on 33, No on 34

To the Editor:

If you can do so safely, please attend Williamstown's annual town meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. (in person only) and stay to vote on proposed marijuana bylaws Article 33 (Limited Indoor) and Article 34 (Widespread Outdoor). The only sensible path forward is YES on 33 and NO (or postpone) 34.

We should not agree to postpone Article 33 until next year's town meeting. We'll need Article 33's insurance in the meantime against the intense development pressures we've already seen big cannabis bring to town.

Tabling Article 33 means we'd automatically revert to our woefully deficient 2017 bylaw with virtually no local zoning control (except ZBA general principles). Applicants can build intrusive 100,000 square-foot operations on 5-acre lots throughout our RR2 neighborhoods, with minimal setbacks. These will change the landscape and quality of life for years.

Since 100 percent of the cannabis for medical and recreational pot sold in Massachusetts must be grown in-state (no crossing of state lines), this is a very high-stakes issue. With annual revenues for growers projected at $2-$5 million per 50,000 square-foot canopy, outside investors are motivated to develop rural Massachusetts communities in ways benefiting few.

The expansive fields near Mount Greylock Regional School are prime spots for big cannabis. Making matters worse, the Mass Cannabis Control Commission recently proposed changing how the 500-foot school buffer zone will be measured, from the school building entrance rather than property line.

Anne Hogeland
Williamstown, Mass.

New Ashford Fire Department Puts New Truck into Service

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
07:35AM / Sunday, May 05, 2024

New Ashford Fire Department Chaplain J.D. Hebert gives an invocation on Saturday morning.

NEW ASHFORD, Mass. — With a blessing from its chaplain and a ceremonial dousing from a fire hose, the New Ashford Volunteer Fire Department on Saturday christened its first new apparatus in two decades.

 

The company purchased a 2003 HME Central States pumper from the town of Pelham earlier this year.

 

On Saturday, the department held a brief ceremony during which Chaplain J.D. Hebert blessed both the new engine and the company's turnout gear.

 

After the apparatus was sprayed with a hose, a handful of New Ashford's bravest helped push it as it was backed into the station on Ingraham Road.

 

Fire Chief Frank Speth said the new engine has a 1,500 gallon pump and carries 1,000 gallons of water. And it replaces a truck that was facing some costly repairs to keep on the road.

 

"We had a 1991 Spartan," Speth said. "When we had the pump tested, it needed about $40,000 worth of repairs. Being it's almost 30 years old, I said to the town, 'We put the $40,000 in, but then how many more years can we get out of it?'

 

"Once you get into the pump situation, you get into, 'This needs to be done, and this needs to be done,' and it could be more than $40,000. So do we want to spend that amount of money to repair that engine or get something that will replace it."