Stockbridge — At their October 26 meeting, Stockbridge Select Board members unanimously approved the disbursement of the Housatonic Rest of River Municipal Committee’s $1.5 million reserve fund, with the identical motion used by the select boards of the four other towns in the group: Great Barrington, Lee, Lenox, and Sheffield.
The funds had been established to pay for legal, consulting, and other fees related to remediation efforts for the Housatonic River following decades of General Electric Company depositing toxic materials, the now-banned polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), into the waterway. Created in 2013 to push for increased cleanup efforts, the committee’s title, Rest of River, refers to the waterway’s third segment to be remediated, which stretches from the confluence of its east and west branches in Pittsfield to Connecticut. The committee met on October 3 and approved requiring all of its member select boards to vote on the fund dissolution.
A 2020 agreement exacted between the Rest of River’s five towns, as well as GE and the Environmental Protection Agency, provided that an Upland Disposal Facility (UDF) would be established in Lee, with each municipality to receive monies from GE. According to EPA officials, that permit is now in its implementation stage.
With the 10- to 15-year remediation program looming and the committee about to be dissolved, White said, “the town has real concerns and considerations around how the project going forward is managed.” He advocated for “a real discussion” of the issues including the trucking route for the transportation of dredged materials after noting that 400 individuals filed a petition relevant to the remediation.
The aforementioned petition is a document created in late September by Lee resident Anne Langlais and entitled “STOP THE TRUCKS! SWITCH TO TRAINS!” With about 1,400 signatures, as of November 1, the petition pushes for a public discussion of using rail to transport the PCB-laden soil and sediment from excavation sites during the cleanup process, an option that would “eliminate the horrible negative effects of years of trucks passing through our towns,” as well as contribute positively to the local tourist and hospitality economy that would be marred when dozens of large trucks traverse the area in plain sight, the petition states.
“I don’t know if it’s valid or not, but I think if it’s a valid concern, we should listen and if it’s not valid, we should explain why,” he said. “I’m very uncomfortable when 400 people sign a petition.”
When an audience member asked to speak, White explained that the only item on the agenda was the Rest of River monetary fund dissolution, so the board couldn’t entertain a deliberation surrounding trucking routes or other items pertaining to the remediation plan at the session. The unnamed attendee stated that GE is in the early stages of investigating public transportation routes for the toxic materials, with the routes subject to EPA approval.
That transportation plan, released by GE on October 31, favors truck transportation over rail for most of the sections involved in the remediation plan, with public input available prior to the EPA’s approval. The agency can also deny the plan or send it back for revisions.
White suggested adding a couple of items to a future meeting’s agenda, including a discussion of managing the town’s interest going forward “because this is a big job that has a lot of implications for the town.” He said neighboring towns have already hired engineering firms, with those consultants exploring transportation routes relevant to each municipality’s interests. White also recommended for discussion “the specific question of truck routes and what we think is the best route[s] from Rising Pond and from Glendale to the Upland Disposal Facility are going to be.”
“We won’t let this fall through the cracks,” Chair Ernest “Chuck” Cardillo said.
Following a site visit to Church Street immediately before the meeting, board members said the town’s tree warden will be tasked with reviewing concerns over a list of trees in the area. The group will also address the drought effect of the redirection of the drainage on the Trustee of Reservation’s property.
At the meeting:
- The board witnessed The Stockbridge Sportsman Club and Stockbridge Fire Department recognition of 19-year-old Olivia Netzer for her life saving actions on July 30. On that date, while catering an event at the club, Netzer witnessed a woman collapse and immediately rushed to her side to perform CPR. The woman, Susan Adams, Ph.D., an associate professor at Butler University, regained consciousness and was taken by ambulance to the Berkshire Medical Center. According to a letter read at the meeting, Adams is alive today as a result of Netzer’s “selfless actions that day.” The young woman is preparing for a career in the health sciences, and the club presented her with a check to go toward her college education.
- The board unanimously approved the recommendation of the Stockbridge Green Committee that the current rate for residents using installed electric vehicle charging stations in town remain at the current level. However, to encourage ownership of such vehicles, the approval includes the committee’s suggestion to set a dual rate; that is, a rate for town officials and employees “at cost.” Town Manager Michael Canales said a different code will be provided to town officials and employees at the charging station, with those individuals required to complete their conflict-of-interest training before qualifying.
- The board approved a one-day alcohol license for Berkshire Botanical Garden on Nov. 17 and 19.
- The board appointed Polly Mann Salenovich as part-time Director for the Stockbridge Council on Aging.
- The board heard a resident voice concern over the functioning of the Stockbridge Bowl Stewardship Commission, and said the Commission has not met since August 4, with that session not having a quorum to act. Cardillo said the group will look into the issue as it was not on the evening’s agenda.
