Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), the inventor of dynamite, was a chemist, engineer, businessman and, most memorably, philanthropist; he was also a scholar, fluent in Russian, French, English and German. Above all, he loved poetry.
With download speeds typically maxing out at 60 megabits per second, the Internet service offered by Spectrum is barely satisfactory for consumers and some business owners but not up to the task for those who make heavy use of the Internet to transfer large files, an increasing necessity as businesses rely more and more on digital communication.
Lori A. Robbins, the attorney for Berkshire Aviation, stunned the packed selectmen's room when she announced that her client wanted to withdraw its application without prejudice.
The latest episode saw the public hearing on the airport's quest for three new hangars continued to July 10, but only after the selectboard heard from both sides of the controversial proposal, with noisy airport antagonists drowning out proponents.
An independent study submitted to the town in 2012 by a building consultant found that any developer looking to renovate the school is facing a liability of at least $850,000 in required remediation of just the asbestos and lead paint hazards.
Unfortunately for Great Barrington taxpayers, the proposed BHRSD budget calls for an increase in the town's assessment of almost 6 percent, with an increase in Stockbridge of 1.16 percent and an actual decrease in West Stockbridge of 4.58 percent.
"I want to express my gratitude to our Selectmen and our Police Department for creating and unanimously passing the ‘Sanctuary’ resolution at their last meeting. You made me proud to be a citizen of Great Barrington."
--- Local author Daniel Klein, addressing the Selectboard
“The idea of bringing this into a residential neighborhood is hard for me to swallow. So many things that have happened...things we bet on and lost.”
--- Great Barrington Selectboard Chair Sean Stanton
“We’re not kidding around about this. We care about education...we’re not interested minor tweaks [to the agreement]...we’re going to start saying no [to the school budget].”
-- Sean Stanton, chair of the Board of the Selectmen, who favored a vote on a unified school district tax rate
At the last discussion, in which some parties were demonstrably rancorous, it became clear that changing an agreement that has each town paying for schools based on the number of students it sends was not going to be easy.
“The reality is all this is an opportunity to request and shift tax burden from Great Barrington to the other two towns...and if that’s what’s its about, and if facts are what they are....it’s never gonna fly... I don’t see how we can change the rules. It would be cheaper for Stockbridge to get out [of the district].”
-- Fred Rutberg of Stockbridge
Selectboard Chairman Sean Stanton wondered if the town should vote down the school budget, as a “statement,” to “stoke the fire a bit,” because education “feels a little bit inequitable in the way it’s funded.”
Depending on what happens this week with the school budget, to be voted on this Thursday (March 3), the property tax rate could go up from the current rate of $14.29 per thousand to $15.15, a 6 percent hike.
