The independent bookstore is known for offering an eclectic collection of new, used, rare, antiquarian, and out-of-print books, complemented by clever displays.
Leigh Davis openly questioned why her fellow board members wanted to revise certain policies and whether they were a response to actions she has taken since her election to the board in May.
Economic development committee Chairman Steve Picheny wanted an update from town manager Mark Pruhenski on the environmental status of the building and then solicited thoughts from committee members about what uses they thought would suit the empty building.
The language that is always being used is that the CDC is ghettoizing our poor, or low- and moderate-income families ... We think that description is absurd, given where the site is ... and the fact that ... 50 percent of the families in Great Barrington qualify for these units."
-- Tim Geller, executive director of the CDC
Abrahams doubts anything will come of it because the ethics commission told him earlier there was no conflict of interest so long as he did not have a financial relationship with the applicant or otherwise stand to benefit financially.
Selectboard Chair Steve Bannon agreed that Housing Authority Chair Karen Smith's transgressions do not rise to the standard for removal under state law.
The case has been an enormous headache for town officials and nearby residents in the Blue Hill neighborhood and has so far cost tens of thousands of dollars in billable hours from the town’s law firm.
Sean VanDeusen, who heads the town Department of Public Works, said contractors currently performing work on Town Hall found the chimneys "to be in worse shape than previously thought." Two of the chimneys need to be completely rebuilt.
Inspector Edwin May did his job by interpreting what was available on the books. He treated Kearsarge’s project, which is to generate power at discounted rates for three central Massachusetts municipalities, as “light industrial” and so not allowed on the land the company planned to lease from farmer Bob Coons.
Sheffield Officer Brennan Polidoro stopped off-duty Great Barrington Officer Daniel Bartini in the early hours of Saturday, August 20, after observing him driving erratically, but was instructed to let him seek a ride home in what appeared to be an act of “professional courtesy.”
The permit split raised concerns that the 45 housing units would sit alone up against the wastewater treatment plant, with 6 acres of toxic soil either left there or remediated in phases.
While Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire (CDC) has presented its plan for 45 units of affordable housing to several boards, the Zoning Board of Appeals is the one that has to decide whether to issue CDC its comprehensive permit.
“The applicant has taken it all very much to heart and wants to do...what is right for the community…we all have the potential to get something good for Great Barrington.”
--- Sean Stanton, chairman of the Great Barrington Selectboard
"The Selectboard will need to determine whether the proposed project will ‘redevelop’ the Searles building in a manner that secures to the Town the benefit of the building’s historic or cultural or architectural significance."
-- Great Barrington Town Counsel David Doneski
