Stockbridge — With their approval of fiscal year (FY) 2026’s overall $13.4 million operating budget that represents a year-over-year uptick of about $1.1 million, Stockbridge residents will see numerous projects begin or come to fruition, including: a pickleball/skating rink at Bidwell Park; a celebration honoring the 250th anniversary of Berkshire County; a new revolutionary war memorial; Town Hall roof repair and a new flag pole; Stockbridge Fire Department equipment; a new transfer station dumpster; new town meeting clickers; radar feedback speed signs; a new four-by-four pickup truck for the sewer and water departments; funding for the town’s Affordable Housing Trust; reconstruction of siding and decks at Pine Woods; a wheelchair ramp at the Old Town Hall; restoration of artwork at the Stockbridge Library, Museum & Archives; a video virtual tour of Ice Glen; new benches and plantings at Gould Meadows; a covered shed for concerts in the park; and the restoration of the Elizabeth West Stone in the town cemetery.
Excluding education fees, that operating budget amounts to about $9.3 million, or about a nine percent year-over-year increase, or $890,000, Finance Committee Chair Jay Bikofsky said. The FY 2026 budget translates to a 3.5 percent tax rate for Stockbridge residents, he said.
Bikofsky noted that the shared agreement for building inspector services with Great Barrington, Lee, and Lenox accounted for the 34 percent increase in the public-safety budget, year over year, but the three partner towns will reimburse Stockbridge for their shares of the program.
The May 19 Town Meeting was attended by 213 registered voters out of 1,669 registered voters in the municipality, or just under 13 percent participation.
Although the largest ticket item out of the approved expenditures was the town’s assessed share of the Berkshire Hills Regional School District that tallied a year-over-year increase of about $4 million, or about six percent, a petition, Article 17, brought a continuous line of residents to the microphone. Ultimately, the petition requesting the town acquire a 35-acre tract failed to accumulate the required two-thirds vote, with a final tally of 135–65 against the petition.
The Stockbridge Town Warrant can be found here.
The Stockbridge Town Meeting motions and voting counts can be found here.
A video showing the Town Meeting vote on Article 17 can be found here.
Backstory of the Moffatt tract petition
The controversial petition asked the town to exercise its right of first refusal to purchase Miles Moffatt’s 35-acre parcel at 0 Interlaken Cross Road for $600,000. The action would serve as an effort to preserve local land, freeing it from potential development. Last week, the Select Board approved a development on the DeSisto tract at 35–37 Interlaken Road that placed two-thirds of that parcel into a conservation restriction.
The tract’s buyer, Jim Scalise—who heads up SK Design Group Inc. and is the project engineer for the DeSisto development—offered Moffatt $600,000 for the property. Since the tract is enrolled in a state program classifying it as “Chapter 61”—offering landowners lower property taxes in exchange for maintaining and preserving their property for forestry, agricultural, or recreational purposes—the town of Stockbridge was given the option to buy the parcel at the same price as Scalise since its intended use differs from those uses specified in the state regulation. Moffatt notified the town on February 11 of the pending transaction, with its right of first refusal set to end on June 10, 120 days later.
The Stockbridge Land Trust voted not to acquire the property, and the purchase was also deterred by the Laurel Hill Association and Stockbridge Finance Committee, while the Community Preservation Commission (CPC) discussed contributing $100,000 for the project.
According to Stockbridge Land Trust President Richard Bradway, the assessed value of the property is $150,000. With a purchase price of $600,000, he said the nonprofit group isn’t allowed to act on the parcel since the purchase price was considerably higher than its fair market value, prompting the group to decline acquiring the Moffatt tract.
Finance Committee Member Shatz relied on the town’s policy of maintaining substantial reserves of 15 percent as his group’s reason to oppose the proposal. Should all warrant articles be funded, he said the $600,000 purchase would deplete the town’s $670,000 free cash account down to $70,000 and would remove the property from Stockbridge’s tax rolls, shifting the burden of those missed funds to the remaining residents.
During the Select Board’s May 8 meeting, a group of residents pushed the dais to allow the community to determine the future of the property, submitting a citizen petition in support of the measure. Select Board Chair Jamie Minacci voiced concern over possible liability issues stemming from the tract as well as the cost of cleaning and maintaining the site that has old cars. Board member Ernest “Chuck” Cardillo decried the resulting small free cash balance should the property be acquired. With more than 40 percent of Stockbridge land covered by a form of conservation, he asserted that some growth in the town is needed. Board member Patrick White pledged his support for the project with a plan to subdivide the tract, selling off a few lots to assist with its entire purchase price, and then conserving the remainder of the site.
Questioning the legality of using donated funds for the acquisition, the Select Board unanimously tabled their decision until after the Town Meeting.
Town residents at odds over preservation versus development versus middle ground
Flyers were distributed to voters entering the Town Meeting, advocating for the municipality to buy the Moffatt tract.
Resident Carole Owens [Disclaimer: Carole Owens is a columnist for The Berkshire Edge] explained that the tract purchase price is no longer $600,000 should Stockbridge vote to approve the sale. After counting $80,000 of accumulated donor pledges in less than three weeks, a $100,000 conditional pledge from the CPC and proceeds accumulated after subdividing the tract and selling two lots of two acres each at $150,000 market value per lot, the cost dwindles to $120,000, she said. A conservation restriction would be placed on the remaining 31 acres, and property taxes would be collected on the lots sold. “The lucky buyer of those two lots would have the biggest backyard in the Berkshires,” Owens said to applause.
Resident David McCarthy pointed out that the $100,000 contribution from CPC funds “is our money as well,” since it comes from tax dollars to the town and suggested the town isn’t prepared for the carrying costs that may be involved with the purchase.
Supporters of the proposal said the Moffatt tract purchase plan, as designed, could be a template, a “blueprint,” for how the town should respond to the remaining Chapter 61 properties as they come onto the open market.
According to Shatz, over 50 properties in town exist under Chapter 61 status. But he cautioned that a negative comes with adding those properties to the town’s established conservation lands.
“As every one of those properties comes out of [Chapter] 61 and if the town were to establish a project for the purchase of these properties, somehow or other, the lost tax revenue has to be made up,” Shatz said.
Other naysayers called leaving such a low balance in the free cash account “irresponsible,” arguing that CPC monies haven’t been allocated yet and won’t be for another year, the donor pledges are promises to be collected upon and can be reneged, and the town coffers would need to shell out $600,000 for the purchase initially. Additionally, Jon Gottlieb was among residents who suggested there may not be demand for buyers for the two lots for sale and that parts of the tract may not be buildable.
Bradway suggested the purchase price is greater than $600,000, considering other charges such as appraisal fees and remediation costs may be involved in the creation of a conservation restriction on all or part of the parcel.
A later warrant article that was approved moved $800,000 from free cash into the town’s stabilization funds as reserve funds in accordance with approvals from the Select Board and Finance Committee. Residents countered that, without that transfer, the free cash account would be flush with funds to buy the Moffatt tract. On behalf of the Finance Committee, Shatz responded that the group is very concerned about retaining the town’s reserves and maintaining its high investment rating of AA-plus which is influenced by those reserves.
White advocated that maintaining the character of the town “helps our property values” when others “see an opportunity to completely change the nature of the town.”
“When you tear down a forest, you never get it back,” he said.
Amy Pollack urged voters to approve the measure in an effort for residents to control the town’s destiny instead of developers buoyed by “their own enrichment.” “Please protect our unique small-town way of life that has served Stockbridge so well,” she said. “Please protect it for all of the future generations.”
In an unusual act, Moderator Gary Johnson called upon Scalise to address the constituency. The civil engineer and Dalton resident who was in attendance explained he primarily wanted the tract as a home base for his family that includes five children. “At the end of the day, I can build some lots there for my family, hopefully,” Scalise said, adding that he probably will sell some lots to make the purchase economically feasible. He was agreeable to leaving some of the land as open space. “I’m not here to fight with anybody; I was hoping to move here,” Scalise said.
Town Administrator Michael Canales confirmed to The Berkshire Edge that the town of Stockbridge has never exercised its right of first refusal on a Chapter 61 property. Following the town meeting vote during which funding for the purchase was denied, he said the Select Board will let Stockbridge’s right of first refusal expire on June 10.
A second petition that would have added groundwater protection to the town’s water supply district, including the aquifer recharge area connected to Lake Averic, was rescinded by petitioner Denny Alsop.
