Williamstown Property Auctioned for $550K

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
07:02PM / Monday, June 23, 2025Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A North Adams man had the high bid last week on the former Chenail's garden center.

Brian Intraversato outbid three other parties to purchase the 877 Simonds Road property for $550,000 on June 17. JJ Manning Auctioneers conducted the bidding.

The property encompasses 7.1 acres of mixed-use land with eight structures, including a two-family home and two greenhouses. The south end of the property is bisected by Broad Brook; about 1.5 acres of the lot (21 percent) is on the south side of the waterway or includes the brook itself. It is assessed by the town at $632,900.

The late Richard Chenail and his wife, Donna, owned the property for 40 years. Their daughter Pam Shea continued to run the garden center after Richard's death in 2011. The stand closed last fall.

Intraversato said he is excited and not planning any immediate changes to the property, which includes a hair salon and karate studio as tenants.

"It's gonna be as is, as of right now, but eventually, potentially, subdivision. We'll see where we go with it," he said.

"We're looking to make upgrades as needed, and work with the tenants. We'll make sure the tenants feel comfortable and they understand that it's not going to be a radical change."

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Lanesborough Officials Review Schools' Budgets

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:49AM / Thursday, April 09, 2026

Mount Greylock Superintendent Joseph Bergeron, left, addresses the Lanesborough Select Board and Finance Committee as School Committee member Curtis Elfenbein looks at the projection of a slide in the district's budget presentation.

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Town officials Monday appeared generally receptive to the fiscal year 2027 spending plans for the two public school districts that serve the town.

Superintendents from the Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School District (McCann Technical School) and Mount Greylock Regional School District presented their respective FY27 budgets to a joint meeting of the town's Finance Committee and Select Board.

Both districts are sending significantly higher assessments for approval at Lanesborough's annual town meeting in June.

McCann Tech, which constituted a $317,109 expenditure for the town in the current fiscal year, is seeking $463,978 for the fiscal year that begins on July 1 even though the school's operating budget is up just 3.2 percent year to year.

The 46 percent increase in Lanesborough's share of McCann Tech's budget is is due to two factors: a rise in enrollment of town residents at the vocational school from 20 in 2025 to 29 in this school year and a capital assessment for the first round of payments — for interest only — for a roof and window replacement project on the North Adams campus.

The Mount Greylock assessment, a much larger component of Lanesborough's property tax bill, is up 10.99 percent from FY26 to FY27, from $6.8 million to $7.6 million.

Mount Greylock Superintendent Joseph Bergeron gave a budget presentation similar to one he has delivered twice to the district's School Committee and again last month to the Williamstown Finance Committee, explaining that while the FY27 budget maintains level services to students with a net reduction of three positions, a series of factors are driving much larger assessments to Mount Greylock's two member towns.

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