Stockbridge — With Tri-Town Board of Health—the regional health department for Lee, Lenox, and Stockbridge—soon making the Stockbridge Town Hall its new home, the latter’s Select Board discussed how to make the site’s parking lot work, for not only its new tenant but also the Berkshire Hills School District that has taken up residency with a program in a downstairs meeting room, as well as the town’s police department, officials, employees, and general visitors. Their unanimous decision included adding signage to designate parking spots for the various users of the facility.
“With those different programs, we’re going to be having, [on] an average day, 11 more staff members,” Town Administrator Michael Canales said during the group’s September 19 meeting. “We need to figure out control of the parking around the building.”
Researching the issue, he came up with a plan to divvy up the parking lot’s 75 spaces to accommodate the additional vehicles: 15 undesignated parking places; 10 places for town employees; two places for building tenants; 14 places for Town Hall patrons, plus four handicapped places; 11 places for police vehicles; six places for Tri-Town Board of Health, plus a charging station; and 12 places for Berkshire Hills. The plan ensures the back parking lot is kept open for patrons of the facility, including seniors who may have mobility issues, since the main entrance is located behind the building and serves as a handicapped-accessible entrance, Canales said. The 15 undesignated parking spots are closest to the downtown area and can serve those shoppers and diners visiting that area of town, he said.
Signage is needed to establish control of the parking lot pursuant to the proposed plan, Canales explained. “We want to put out on the road [signage] to make sure people are aware that there’s public parking here,” he said of the possible hanging or pole signs.
Canales presented a first draft of such signage. Board member Ernesto Cardillo touted the plan and said he “would move forward with it.”
At the session, Jamie Minacci was unanimously approved as chair of the Select Board, taking the gavel from Cardillo. Minacci and fellow Select Board member Patrick White faced off as candidates, along with winner Great Barrington Selectboard Vice Chair Leigh Davis, in the recent Democratic primary for the seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives to be vacated by State Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli (D – 3rd Berkshire District) at the end of his term in January.
During the meeting, the group also:
- Approved transferring $4,345.94 of sewer department reserves to department expenses to cover sewer overruns;
- Approved applying the Massachusetts Zero Emission Vehicle First Policy to the town’s government and departments; and
- Approved one-day alcohol licenses for the Chesterwood Museum on October 5 and October 19, as well as for the Berkshire Botanical Garden for September 21 and October 6.
