The Lenox Select Board held a comparatively short and positive meeting Nov. 15 as a prelude to Wednesday evening’s budget meeting.
Richard and Ingrid Taylor, who recently retired from London to Foothill Farm on Undermountain Road, have donated 20 acres abutting Parson’s Marsh to the town. The board invited the Taylors to Town Hall to thank them formally for the gift. Selectman Rob Akroyd said it would protect what he thinks is one of the most beautiful roads in Lenox, and Selectman Janet Pumphrey added that she was glad to have such good neighbors. The town will mow the meadow land and keep it as open space, for trails and recreation only.
Selectman Smitty Pignatelli took a moment to address the recently defeated Berkshire County charter and council, Question 9 on the November state ballot. Lenox has acted as an interim municipal leader and taken on some of the work of a county council — helping to coordinate highway services, for example — since the old Berkshire council dissolved. Now that the Berkshires have rejected the new charter, Lenox can step down. Pignatelli thanked his board for supporting Question 9, which he believes would have saved the town money. He thanks them more strongly for having taken a stand on a controversial issue. A lot of people say they’re leaders, he said; “My colleagues stepped up to the plate and acted like leaders.†He adds that Mayor Gerald Doyle of Pittsfield may be willing to work with Lenox and a few more of the neighboring towns in a small, cooperative group.
In this benign spirit, the board revisited the Lenox Dale intersection design effort. Thanks to state Rep. Christopher Hodgkins’ (D-Lee) Peer-to-Peer program, the village of Lenox Dale has come together and proposed some improvements they would like to see: sidewalks, trees, more green and less asphalt; work on the entrance to Tillitson Park. They have asked for town funding to develop a design plan. In the face of significant sewer and reservoir repairs, the board hesitated over the Lenox Dale bid when it first appeared. Selectman Timothy Doherty argued against funding designs which the town might not have the funding to execute for years.
Pignatelli has met with the Lenox Dale Economic Action Committee, which has assured him that it understands the project will have to wait its turn for town funding. Hodgkins has sent word that the town has a strong chance at grant money for the project. Town Manager Gregory Federspiel has also spoken to UMass-Amherst, and he added that the board could employ a graduate student for the project at a lower rate, if they wished; the difference in cost was about $2,000. Pignatelli said he would rather save the graduate student to look at some of the smaller projects on the Lenox Village streets, and make sure the Lenox Dale planning is well done. Doherty himself made the motion to award the bid for Lenox Dale to Greylock Design; the motion passed unanimously.
Finally, the board and the Center School day care facility are moving ahead with the Center School 10-year lease. The board approved one last term of lease, defining major and minor repairs. Center School will be responsible for repairs costing $2,500 or less, and the town will support larger repairs; as a simple escalator clause, they have approved Federspiel’s suggestion to increase the amount to $5,000 after five years.
And in other business, the board set the closing hours for package stores over the Holidays: on Nov. 19 and 26, Dec. 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31, stores must close by 11 p.m. They agreed to grant town employees a paid holiday on the Friday after Thanksgiving, because Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday this year. Pignatelli asked and was assured that town employees who could not take the day off would be paid time-and-a-half. And Akroyd asked whether Federspiel had made any progress in getting a blinking light at the Jaynes Road and East Street intersections. Federspiel explained that the state would donate a light, but the electric company that supplies Lenox will not allow the town to hang a light on their telephone poles; he is working on setting up a pedestal of some kind.
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Berkshire Food Project Closed for Power Issues
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Berkshire Food Project is closed Monday because of a power outage early in the morning.
"We are unable to get proper electricity and heat to the building," according to Executive Director Matthew Alcombright. "We hope that this can be resolved and be open tomorrow."
The project does have some sandwiches and frozen meals that will be distributed at the entry.
The city has lifted a boil water order — with several exceptions — that was issued late Monday morning following several water line breaks over the weekend. click for more
The bridge had been closed to all vehicle traffic since March 2023 after being deemed structurally deficient by the state Department of Transportation. click for more
