The divide between the natives and those from outside the area is as wide as it's ever been. Don't take my word for it or judge based only on Monday night's meeting. As of Tuesday afternoon the Great Barrington Community Board Facebook page contained more than 500 comments.
The move to repeal the water bottle ban was so controversial that the special town meeting attracted upwards of 100 more residents than had attended the Annual Town Meeting on May 7.
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.
The approval of the plastic water bottle ban from residents at the annual town meeting followed a lengthy and impassioned appeal at the annual town meeting from three Monument Mountain Regional High School students.
The new bylaw effectively bans the sale of single-use plastic noncarbonated water bottles of one liter in size or less within the town limits of Great Barrington. It will take effect May 1, 2019.
While a long list of businesses and other organizations said they supported the new bylaw, it did not sit did well with a number of other merchants, who felt the ban would harm their businesses or who objected on the grounds of legislative overreach.
