Lee — The Lee Select Board executed a June 3 addendum to an inter-municipal agreement (IMA) with Stockbridge, Lenox, and Great Barrington for shared inspectional and zoning enforcement services that adds the town of Becket to the contract. Board member Gordon Bailey recused himself from the decision.
The change was necessary since the last IMA included West Stockbridge; however, during that town’s May 5 meeting, voters nixed a warrant article that would have added the municipality to the shared services group. “Unfortunately, West Stockbridge failed at their town meeting to fund it,” Town Administrator Christopher Brittain said at the Select Board meeting. “This is just switching and taking West Stockbridge out and adding Becket in because they expressed interest in it as well.”
With the change, he said the town budget appropriations for the program would remain the same.
As Lee’s public-safety complex project gets underway, the Select Board added Alexandra Heddinger to the town’s Building Re-Use Committee that will help determine the future of the Central Fire Station at 179 Main Street. The historic structure was originally intended to transition into a public space when local departments are reconfigured. Heddinger also serves as the executive director of the Lee Chamber of Commerce.
Other appointments confirmed at the meeting include Molly Shifrin and Peg LeClair to the Lee Affordable Housing Trust, with LeClair also appointed to the Cable Advisory Committee. Hayden Kuhn was appointed to the town’s Parks and Recreation Committee, and Andrea Wadsworth received a seat on the fiscal year 2026 Berkshire Regional Transportation Authority Advisory Board as Lee’s representative to the organization.
Vera Giarolo was commended with a proclamation naming June 10 in her honor. The Golden Cane Award recognizes her as a “living treasure” as she “embod[ies] the values of family, resilience and grace,” said Board Chair Sean Regnier. Born in Italy on April 23, 1924, Giarolo grew up in Lee’s Little Italy section of town and has been a member of the community for 95 years.
Regnier also announced the availability of a podcast regarding how the local government functions that he posted together with Brittain that is accessible on the Lee Community Board as well as YouTube.
