Great Barrington CPA Committee Recommends Funds

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — If voters vote in favor at the Annual Town Meeting in May, more than $1.17 million in Community Preservation Act funds will be directed to town affordable housing, historic preservation and outdoor recreation and conservation projects around town.
 
The Community Preservation Act Committee has recommended the following:
 
$20,000 for open space restoration work at the McAllister Wildlife Refuge.
$40,000 for improvements to Three Mile Hill hiking trail
$20,000 for historic preservation work at the Brown mausoleum.
$225,000 for historic restoration of the manse at First Congregational Church.
$50,000 for B & B Capital 77 LLC's restoration of The Cove building at 107 Stockbridge Road.
$400,000 for the Alander Group, for affordable housing and historic restoration costs at the Mahaiwe Block at 322 Main St.
$265,000 for the town's Affordable Housing Trust
$150,000 for Construct Inc'.s housing expansion feasibility study.
 
CPA funding is raised through a property tax surcharge and supplemented by State funding. More CPA information can be found on the town website.
 
The expenditures are subject to authorizing by the Annual Town Meeting, which takes place this year on May 1.

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Elevated Mercury Level Found in Center Pond Fish

BECKET, Mass. — The state Department of Public Health has issued an advisory after a mercury-contaminated fish was found in Center Pond. 
 
According to a letter sent to the local Board of Health from the Division of Environmental Toxicology, Hazard Assessment and Prevention, elevated levels of mercury were measured in the sample taken from the pond. 
 
The concentration in the fish exceeded DPH's action level of 0.5 milligrams per kilogram, or parts per million. 
 
"This indicates that daily consumption of fish from the waterbody may pose a health concern. Therefore, DPH has issued a FCA for Center Pond recommending that sensitive populations should not eat chain pickerel and all other people should limit consumption of chain pickerel to 2 meals/month," the letter states.
 
The letter specifically points to chain pickerel, but the 60-acre pond also has largemouth and smallmouth bass and yellow perch.
 
The "sensitive populations" include children younger than 12, those who are nursing, pregnant, or who may become pregnant.
 
The Toxicology Division recommends reducing intake of "large, predatory fish" or fish that feed on the bottoms of waterbodies, such as largemouth bass and carp. More information on safely eating fish can be found here
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