CBRSD Aims to Improve Town Meeting Attendance

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
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DALTON, Mass. — As town meeting season approaches, the Central Berkshire Regional School District aims to lower a barrier to residential participation caused by the lack of child care.
 
District Assistant Superintendent Michael Henault informed the School Committee last week that the district plans to offer child care at Kittredge, Beckett-Washington and Wahconah High schools on voting nights, provided by a combination of National Honor Society students and staff volunteers.
 
"We're organizing that right now … we're going to make it work, make it happen. A survey will go out to see the interest, but we're going to try to take away that barrier," he said. 
 
The committee recently unanimously voted to have Henault take over the superintendent position following the retirement of Leslie Blake-Davis on June 30
 
"I appreciate the thoroughness of the search and aside from setting your budget every year, selecting the superintendent is the biggest responsibility of this committee. Throughout the process, I saw how committed and dedicated all of you were to it, and I'm obviously thrilled by the outcome and ready to go," he said. 
 
"I really appreciate that at the end of the night, the unanimous show of support that really tells me that despite where anybody might stand throughout the process, that we'll be able to work together to really get things done, which is really important."
 
Henault has started the transition process into his new role with the district. 
 
The decision on who to hire for the assistant superintendent is at the discretion of Henault, who appoints someone for the position, said Richard Peters, School Committee chair. 
 
"The School Committee has to approve that appointment, but it's up to the superintendent to put forth candidates. He may do a search; he may not. It's really up to him," Peters said. 
 
The candidates will be discussed during a Personnel subcommittee meeting. 

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Lanesborough OKs Open Space Plan, Short-Term Rental Forms

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Select Board on Monday set fees for short-term rentals and adopted an Open Space and Recreation Plan.
 
Town Administrator Gina Dario discussed the draft for STR registration and certificate of inspection since the new bylaws were passed at the annual town meeting.
 
The draft shows the process to file for inspection through Permit Eyes, the town's online permitting system that includes the state building code and safety requirements. Dario said members of the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals and the building commissioner looked at other town models to come up with the best process for registration.
 
Inspections will be annually for non-owner occupied units and five years for owner-occupied. The inspection fee is a flat $50. The last suggestion discussed was the posting requirements for key information.
 
Dario said they looked at about four other communities on how they used non-sensitive information on owner contacts. Chair Deborah Maynard motioned to have the information posted both inside and out to help with law enforcement if needed.
 
"I'm going to make a motion that we put that relevant information not only on the inside of the short-term rental but on the outside, so if the police need to respond, ambulance needs to respond, fire especially needs to respond, all that information is there, nobody has to go searching for it," she said. "If push comes to shove, and it's a matter of minutes, that's going to make a big, a big difference in the outcome of the incident."
 
The board then heard a presentation from Berkshire Regional Planning Commission's community planner Andrew McKeever and Open Space and Recreation Committee Vice Chair Mark Hawthorne.
 
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