WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – A Williamstown farm that has been on the market for several years was purchased this week, but the purchaser has declined to talk about its plans for the property.
On Monday, the real estate agent listing the Green River Farms property in South Williamstown confirmed that a deal had closed on the property and directed inquiries to an employee of an Alabama-based farm consulting company named Understanding Agriculture.
On Tuesday, Morgan Hartman, identified as a “consultant” on Understanding Agriculture’s website, returned an email asking about the company’s plan for the property by saying, “We'll be issuing a press release in the next couple of weeks. After that press release I'll be available for an interview.”
On Saturday morning, iBerkshires.com posted a story identifying Understanding Agriculture as the purchaser, but in a subsequent email, Hartman said that the consulting firm itself was not the purchaser.
He still declined to identify who purchased the property or for what purpose.
“Neither Understanding Ag, LLC, nor any of its constituent members purchased Green River Farms,” Hartman wrote, continuing to use his business email. “When I use the collective term ‘our’ I am referring to the actual owners and management of the farm.”
Hartman still did not say who the "actual owners" are.
According to the Registry of Deeds website, the new owner of the property is a corporate entity known as Green River Regenerative Farm Inc. for $1.9 million. The Secretary of State's website lists that company at 66 West St. in Pittsfield with a Dirk Schultze of Wisconsin Dells, Wis., as the sole officer.
In 2010, Franklin Lewis of the state of Florida purchased the farm for a reported $1.5 million.
Lewis' Farmland Enterprises LLC is listed on the town's tax roll as the owner of three parcels: a 65-acre parcel on the west side of Cold Spring Road (Route 7), just south of the Mount Greylock Regional School campus and two contiguous parcels on the east side of Cold Spring Road, both with Green River Road addresses, one measuring 84 acres and the other 94 acres.
In total, the 244 acres and associated buildings, principally at 2480 Green River Road, have an assessed value of $778,786.
Last year, the Berkshire Eagle reported that Lewis was advertising the 244 acres for sale with an asking price of $2.75 million.
According to its website, Understanding Ag describes itself as, "real farmers and ranchers who combine decades of experience to help our clients successfully implement regenerative agricultural and ecological principles that replace the input-intensive, agricultural model to enable sustained profitable farming and ranching operations."
There is no information on the website about the consulting firm owning or purchasing any other farms.
The Natural Resources Defense Council describes regenerative farming as a philosophy of farming and ranching, "in harmony with nature."
"Practitioners [of regenerative farming] take a broader view of their role in the world, especially in terms of soil and nutrient cycles," according to the website nrdc.org. "By contrast, the industrial agricultural system that dominates Western food and fiber supply chains incentivizes practices that promote soil erosion at a rate of 10 to 100 times higher than soil formation; nutrient runoff and harmful algal blooms in freshwater and coastal systems; and monocropping and other threats to local biodiversity, including critical pollinators."
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Teacher of the Month: Frani Miceli
By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
Students say teacher Frani Miceli makes learning fun.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williamstown Elementary School fifth-grade teacher Frani Miceli has been selected as the July Teacher of the Month.
The Teacher of the Month series, in collaboration with Berkshire Community College, will run for the next 12 months and will feature distinguished teachers nominated by community members. You can nominate a teacher here.
Miceli has been teaching for 26 years and has worked to develop a happy, comfortable, and creative learning environment for her pupils.
Through her connection with her students and the decor on her classroom walls, Miceli hopes to help them realize that being kind is possible.
"I have a thing on my wall that says, 'Character is what you do when no one is watching.' So, I hope that they have internalized that," Miceli said.
"We make personal decisions because it's the right thing to do, and sometimes our actions can negatively impact other people, and sometimes they can positively impact other people. So I think happy kids make happy choices, and so I just want them to be happy, engaged children"
Every single one of her students in her morning math class jumped at the opportunity to praise their teacher.
The Prudential Committee on Wednesday discussed the need for a policy for all call-volunteer firefighters who reach the state's mandatory retirement age.
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The Select Board on Monday was told that it should let the people who walk their dogs in the Spruces Park decide how the 114-acre town-owned park is managed. click for more
The exhibit "Fragile Beauty" fills the pavilion with glass objects from the Corning Museum of Glass, showcasing different cultures, time periods and techniques, and will run through Oct. 27.
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The Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday began its review of the development plan for a new Williams College Museum of Art at the junction of Routes 2 and 7. click for more
Greylock Canine Club owner Peter Umbrianna is always surprised when owners drop off their dogs at his South Williamstown doggy day-care. click for more