For parents teaching their children to garden, it is hard to compete with the apps on their tablets and phones, such as “Farmville” and “Grow A Garden,” that grow plants and communities seemingly overnight.
By the end of the summer, service is expected to be extended to the Mason Library and the town water department, known as the Great Barrington Fire District, on East Street.
The town expects to have the north side of Railroad Street "buttoned up," including the installation of bases for decorative light poles, by the end of this week.
The accusations came to a head earlier this month when the selectboard held a hearing to consider calls for her removal from the housing authority. Some witnesses vouched for Smith's integrity and hard work but others accused her of practicing nepotism, creating an environment of "toxicity," and exhibiting "aggressive and hostile behavior."
The primary order of business for Conner and Nappo was to get the selectboard to write a letter of endorsement for Grayhouse's application for $75,000 on an emergency basis from the Massachusetts Historical Commission's Preservation Projects Fund.
At least a half dozen offers to buy the property have come in over the nine years it has been on the market, but the offers were too low to clear debts to the town and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
It’s a “unique lake in Berkshire County. There are few so close to downtown … It’s not private and just for town residents. It’s a public resource in walking distance from several neighborhoods, and for visitors."
-- Great Barrington Town Planner Christopher Rembold
Bridge Street, the link between downtown Great Barrington and its eastern districts, is emerging as a significant commercial corridor, with $65 million in proposed commercial developments, plus $2 million in road and bridge upgrades.
“There is a chronic risk to current postal workers exposed to basement air at the [Great Barrington] Post Office due to naphthalene, PCE and TCE” left from the adjacent Ried Cleaners, an environmental consultant concluded.
“This is an investment by local people. And we’ll be creating a shared environment for our customers and for the town, a virtual downtown resort, where our visitors will find destinations for entertainment, culture, shopping and dining within walking distance."
--- Chrystal Mahida, owner of 79 Bridge Street Realty, the future developer of the Searles School
“We want to create zoning that better reflects the fabric of the village. The hope is to have fewer hoops to jump through if people want to invest money in their property.”
--- Planning Board Chair Jonathan Hankin
Planning Board Chairman Jonathan Hankin hopes the designation of volunteers as "Special Municipal Employee" will “encourage more volunteers to fill vacancies on town boards and committees and not prevent all volunteers from doing business in our town,” he wrote in an earlier email to the Selectboard. “We need to reward people who donate their time, energy and considerable expertise in serving the town, not punish them.”
"I’m not surprised the bill [reform of payment in lieu of taxes requirements] met its demise. There is scant enthusiasm to compel nonprofit and charitable organizations to pay taxes either in whole, or in part."
-- Great Barrington Assessor Christopher Lamarre
"With a strong CPA fund, the town will be better able to meet some of our important affordable housing, historic preservation and open space needs."
-- Great Barrington Town Manager Jennifer Tabakin
“I’m not here to give out money because people applied,” she said. “I’m here to give out money because it’s best for the town.”
-- Community Preservation Committee member Kathleen Jackson
Work on the Main Street Reconstruction is to begin in this summer, starting at Cottage Street, and conclude in the spring of 2016, but won't proceed within the downtown core, from Bridge to Elm streets, during July and August.
