LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Voters will not be able to cast ballots early by mail but can they can still request an absentee ballot for the town election.
Last week, Clerk Ruth Knysh asked the Select Board to opt out of early voting by mail for municipal elections. Her request came after the state expanded access last year.
"An act passed to allow early voting by mail for local elections. It used to be just state and federal," she said. "So my thought on that is it's not in my budget, it's a lot of extra work added on me. I'm only one person in there."
Knysh explained that all of the mail-in ballots would have to be opened and processed by herself before being checked against signatures in the state computer.
"It's a process and the local elections are not well participated in," she said. "I'm just worried that if that is an option to vote by mail, we're going to get hundreds of people that don't typically vote wanting to vote by mail because they can."
The Select Board accepted the request, understanding the nature of Knysh's concern. The board also approved her request to have a police officer at the polling location for every election to "preserve order and protect the election officers." This also is now required by the state.
Nomination papers became available on March 1 and the last day to submit them is May 1. The last day to apply for an absentee ballot is June 12 ahead of the town election on June 20.
So far, incumbent Michael Murphy is being challenged by Barbara Davis-Hassan and Deborah Maynard for a three-year seat on the Select Board.
There is also a race shaping up for a three-year seat on the Finance Committee, with incumbent Jodi-Lee Szczepaniak-Locke challenged by Kristen Tool.
Incumbent Sherri Wilson is the only who has taken out nomination papers for library trustee and no one has yet taken out papers for a five-year seat on the Planning Board.
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Former Country Club Reopens as The Venue at Skyline
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
The new Patty Barnaby's name is all over the venue.
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — A new but familiar space is opening for event rentals as The Venue at Skyline.
Patty Barnaby recently leased the former Skyline Country Club building at 405 South Main St. Barnaby used to attend events there, including holding her own "Jack and Jill" wedding shower.
"I've been to the golf tournaments. We've been to fundraisers. We've been to benefits. Actually, sports banquets for our girls, my oldest daughter. We had quite a few of her sports banquets here, just town events, truly, but our Jack and Jill was here," she said. "I had my stepfather's retirement party here, so, we've had a lot of events here as a family."
The golf course closed in 2021 after 58 years and sold to Mill Town Capital, which is using the course for a solar installation. The town's eyed the driving range for a new police station, and the club has been used intermittently, such as for the town's winter festival last year.
Barnaby is active in the community, including serving on the Lanesborough Community Development Committee. She enjoys hosting events and having get-togethers.
"I just have always loved to bring people together, like at our house, doing parties. And our house is very small, so it's always a big summer party," she said.
Barnaby wanted a place for people to host events that may be too big or busy for their homes, but also in an open and beautiful area.
"We need a space like this, not only in Lanesborough, for Lanesborough residents, but in general, for people to be able to come and have events, whether it be inside or outside when the weather permits," sshe said. "It's a beautiful spot, it really, truly is. And I didn't want to see it sit because it really is one of those staples in our town that everybody just knows."
Barnaby had indicated interest in the space after the Winter Festival. She signed the lease on Oct. 31 and has worked hard to make it her own.
She's painted, added new seating, redone the bathrooms, and some other cosmetics upgrades. She also added six televisions, more bar equipment, and will be adding a jukebox.
Barnaby kept the name Skyline because of the location's history and just added "The Venue" to make it her own.
"I just love this space. It is just one of those spaces that, like you don't want to see ever sit," she said.
The former pro shop will be turned into a thrift store. She currently sells clothes out of her house and hosting pop-up thrift events but is now excited to have a permanent space. It will have hours outside of events and will be listed on her social media page once it is ready.
Barnaby is asking that vendors should reach out so that she can compile a list for those who want to host events. She is also looking for a food vendor to sublease the space.
"I would love to have people reach out to me as I have reached out to them, to be put on a list of like vendors that we can suggest to people that are coming up for events," she said.
Barnaby said she'll help with planning at the location and that she wants to create a comfortable and joyous environment that people would like to come back to.
"It's family friendly, like I am very community-oriented and being very family oriented, so I understand when you're trying to plan a birthday party, or you just need a space, or you're trying to put little details together. I want to be able to help with that," she said.
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