Great Barrington — While the details are still being finalized, customers of Housatonic Water Works (HWW) may soon be receiving financial relief funding from the state.
During the Selectboard’s regular meeting on Monday, April 10, the board reviewed articles for the annual town meeting, which is scheduled for May 1. After some discussion, one of the articles, which was to authorize town funding for relief for HWW customers, was removed by the Selectboard. The article would have sought approval by town meeting voters to appropriate $150,000 from the town’s Free Cash line item for HWW customers.
At the April 10 meeting, Town Manager Mark Pruhenski asked the board to remove the article because he said that the town has been able to secure $250,000 in relief funding from the state. The Selectboard unanimously approved Pruhenski’s request.
In an email to The Berkshire Edge after the Selectboard meeting, Pruhenski said that the town has not yet received the funding, but that the Selectboard will decide how to utilize it once it is received from the state. Pruhenski wrote that he is expecting a discussion on the relief funding during the Selectboard meeting scheduled for April 27 or May 10, and that the town will be sending out a notification of the funding to residents around that time. In the meantime, Pruhenski wrote that the town has applied to MassDEP for the funds.
During the April 10 meeting, the Selectboard approved the placement of a citizens’ petition article on the annual town meeting warrant that asks for the town to purchase HWW. The Selectboard also went into executive session under state General Law Chapter 38, section 21 “to consider the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real estate, regarding Housatonic Water Works, because an open discussion may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the public body.”
The Selectboard did not return to an open public session after the executive session.
