Article updated on Thursday, Oct. 5 to include comments by Town Manager Mark Pruhenski.
Great Barrington — After several weeks of discussion, during its Monday, October 2 meeting, the Selectboard scheduled a special town meeting for 6 p.m. on Monday, October 23 at Monument Mountain High School. At the top of the special town meeting’s agenda is a resident vote on the establishment of an eight-town regional school district.
For three-and-a-half years, the Eight Town Regional School District Planning Board has investigated the potential merger of the Berkshire Hills and Southern Berkshire regional school districts. The Berkshire Hills Regional School District includes Great Barrington, Stockbridge, and West Stockbridge, while the Southern Berkshire Regional School District includes Monterey, New Marlborough, Sheffield, Alford, and Egremont. A regional school district merger agreement was passed by Eight Town Regional School District Planning Board members at their meeting on September 26.
According to documentation from the board, if the district merger agreement is approved by all towns at the special town meetings, a new high school for grades nine through 12 will be built in Great Barrington for 620 students.
Article two on the draft of the special town meeting warrant, which was reviewed by the Selectboard on October 2, was “to see if the town will vote to authorize the Selectboard to enter into a Tax Increment Financing Agreement and Tax Increment Financing Plan with The Chamberlain Group, or its Nominee, pursuant to the provisions of MGL Chapter 40, Section 59, in connection with the redevelopment of the property at 6 Nolan Drive, Great Barrington.” According to Selectboard Chair Stephen Bannon, however, the company withdrew its offer and article two was subsequently removed from the special town meeting warrant.
The next article on the warrant asks residents to approve three community preservation projects totaling $442,400, including $92,400 in emergency family housing funds for Construct Inc., $50,000 in funding for the Ramsdell Library, and $300,000 for an open space and recreation project involving the Community Land Trust and River Run Farm.
The last article has been placed on the warrant via citizen’s petition, and it states: “We are petitioning the town of Great Barrington to put to a VOTE whether the VOTERS want a redesign of the Mason Public Library grounds.” The citizen’s petition does not list any further details or specifics on what, exactly, residents are voting on. However, it can be assumed that the citizen’s petition is referring to the W.E.B Du Bois Sculpture Project.
According to the project’s website, plans call for a life-size bronze of Du Bois to be part of a new plaza in front of the library, along with repairs made to the front steps of the library, the installation of banisters and lighting in front of the library, and new benches.
At a public hearing back on August 17, members of the town’s Historic District Commission sparred with members of the project over details of the plans for the library. According to W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Project Chair Julie Michaels, however, the commission did grant the project a certificate of appropriateness at its subsequent meeting on September 21.
Michaels told The Berkshire Edge that neither she nor anyone else connected to the project has anything to do with the citizen’s petition. “I was told by [Town Manager Mark Pruhenski] that it seems to him to be an advisory citizen’s petition, which is not really a big deal,” Michaels said. “This would be an advisory vote and it will not have any impact on the project.”
Pruhenski contacted The Berkshire Edge on Thursday, Oct. 5 after this article was published.
“I believe that this citizen’s petition is advisory only, but we are waiting for an opinion from the town council,” Pruhenski said “We are still waiting for an opinion from the town council.”
According to Town Clerk Jennifer Messina, resident Karen Johnson submitted the citizen’s petition. Johnson has criticized the project during public comment portions of various municipal meetings, including at a previous Selectboard meeting on March 27. “I want to know whose idea [it was] to change the Mason Public Library town property into a courtyard or a plaza,” Johnson inquired of the Selectboard at the March 27 meeting. “Where was the need for change? How can a town’s historic site be changed without a town vote? Who is paying for this? Why wasn’t a plan such as this brought forth in 2007 when a major renovation was done to the library?”
In the meantime, Michaels said that both the project and the town will be working together to fund the project. “After the Historic District Commission laid out some very strict rules, it was decided that the town will apply for Community Preservation Act funds to cover the historic restoration of the steps at the library, along with the lighting and the railing,” Michaels said. “The project will fund the benches and the sculpture part of the project. This will be done together with the project and the town, which means that we will have a good outcome for this project.”
