Selectboard member Ed Abrahams was set to face a challenger, Michelle Loubert of the finance committee.
Tag: Michael Wise
Parking lot government: A Great Barrington town meeting for the ages
If the town meeting is not able to pass a budget by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, the town of Great Barrington, like hundreds of other small municipalities in the state with a town-meeting form of government, has a problem.
News Brief: GB ‘drive-in’ annual town meeting June 22
The Great Barrington Selectboard, Cutting Edge AV Inc. in Lee and Monument Mountain Regional High School staff are busy this week arranging for an outdoor sound system and an FM radio broadcast of the meeting, which voters can follow in their cars.
Town Hall Briefs: For the first time, Great Barrington will hold its town meeting outside; special permit for gated parking lot denied
The most important item is getting the budget passed before the end of the fiscal year Tuesday, June 30.
Reeling from COVID-19, South County towns and schools ‘pivot,’ brace for the worst
Invariably there will be other problems that we can’t even foresee, in part because hard data is difficult to come by.
Great Barrington Selectboard postpones town meeting, elections until June, extends tax payment deadline to June 1
Town moderator Michael Wise said he thought it was important that the budget be passed by Tuesday, June 30, even if the other items of the annual town meeting warrant were pushed aside until restrictions on large gatherings were lifted.
Great Barrington declares state of emergency, will likely postpone town meeting, elections
Selectboard Chair Steve Bannon tried to reassure everyone that town government was functioning and that elected officials were active and town employees were still reporting to work.
News Brief: Volunteers sought for regional school planning committee
Great Barrington’s committee members will join with similar committees in other towns to form a Regional District Planning Board.
Alan Chartock: I Publius
A word of commendation for the people who drive the snow plows, both the private snow-plow people and the folks who work for the towns: They work without stopping, clearing the roads for our doctors and first responders and anyone else who has to get to work.
Great Barrington’s cannabis quandary: What to do with that pot revenue?
Proposals for how to use the cannabis revenue windfall will be discussed by the selectboard and the finance committee in the upcoming deliberations for next year’s budget, with voters having the final say on how to spend free cash at the annual town meeting in May.
Great Barrington Master Plan anticipated infrastructure upgrades
The town’s Master Plan recommended that bridge repairs be prioritized in the town’s five-year capital improvement plans. The town has taken action about its deficient bridges in priority order as the Plan recommended.
News Brief: GB to hold town meeting improvements forum
The forum will consider how to encourage participation and how to improve the way the town meeting works.
It’s Not That Simple: Can Annual Town Meeting be improved?
Town Moderator Michael Wise will organize a forum this fall to discuss the Annual Town Meeting format, to seek ideas and consider changes, or possibly to just leave it alone. Please stay tuned to the program for a date.
ZBA says changes to 100 Bridge Street too great, putting CDC development plan at ‘significant risk’
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
Finalists named in Great Barrington town manager search
Interviews will take place at Town Hall Tuesday, March 26, and Wednesday, March 27. The public is invited. Town residents wishing to submit questions for the candidates must do so no later than Friday, March 22, at 5 p.m.
Great Barrington town manager a finalist for similar post in Adams
The Adams town administrator search is being conducted by Community Paradigm Associates, the same firm that is leading the search for Tabakin’s successor in Great Barrington. Paradigm principal Bernie Lynch did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
As selectboard mulls new alcohol policy, GB package store owners fail to stop additional licenses
The state sets a quota for the total number of licenses based on year-round population. Census figures set Great Barrington at two all-alcohol licenses and five beer-and-wine licenses. But the town currently has eight total licenses, only one of which is beer-and-wine only.
Pop-up demonstrations protest threats to Mueller investigation
Some 120 demonstrators showed up to a hastily organized rally at Great Barrington Town Hall, one of more than 1,000 rallies nationwide occurring at 5 p.m. to support the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election..
Selectboard round-up: Housatonic water woes prompt action from the town; search firm hired to replace town manager; Manville Place approved
The selectboard announced that, about a year ago, it had commissioned a report by David Prickett of DPC Engineering to gather information on the water systems in the town, what the capital needs are and whether there are redundancies.
Great Barrington Selectmen appoint Du Bois legacy panel; begin town manager search; approve Tractor Supply
According to the selectmen, the committee’s charge will be to “oversee several town-sponsored events and programs honoring Du Bois,” including: the Du Bois Day Celebration; the annual Du Bois Festival (from Martin Luther King Day through Feb. 23); banner installations; collaboration with UMass Amherst and local educational institutions and arts, historical and community organizations; and more.
Special town meeting unnecessarily messy
In her letter Carol Diehl writes: “The petition to repeal the single-serve plastic water bottle ban might never even have come up if the proponents of the ban had, from the beginning, presented it in a way that related it specifically to the needs of Great Barrington.”
NEWS ANALYSIS: Plastic water bottle ban exposes divisions as town fails to buy off O’Brien
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.
Nonvoters allowed to attend and speak at Monday’s special town meeting
Town moderator Michael Wise said nonvoters (including minors and nonresidents) are allowed to attend the special town meeting and speak if they obtain permission.
Great Barrington Rotary reaches million-dollar mark in student scholarships
Supporting student scholarships is one of the major community activities of the Great Barrington Rotary Club.
Election news: Kate McCormick bails on candidacy for register of deeds; Zakim wins party endorsement for secretary of state
It was not clear how Kate McCormick would perform the duties of register, a full-time job, and continue to be managing partner of the law firm previously run by her father, Edward G. “Buddy” McCormick.
Cooke re-elected, newcomer Burke brings ‘youth’ to Great Barrington Selectboard; Atwood out at FinCom
At 33, Kate Feuer Burke represents a much-desired but disappearing demographic in town: a young professional with children who brings new vision and energy to the board.
Candidates for Great Barrington Selectboard, Finance Committee, ZBA present their platforms
The six candidates for Great Barrington Selectboard range from two men and one woman who have been on the scene for a long time to younger office seekers looking for generational change on the board.
Great Barrington’s pot wars resolved and other tales from the floor
The battle royale involved the planning and select boards. For weeks, the two panels had been at odds over which should be the special-permit-granting authority in regards to the marijuana production and sales facilities, and whether most, if not all, of the facilities should require a special permit.
NEWS ANALYSIS: In a matter of minutes, plastic water bottle ban rode a giant wave
What started off as a civic exercise turned into a lesson in how a righteous cause can gather steam, convince fence-sitters, transition to a generational issue and overwhelm the opposition.
Great Barrington adopts historic environmental stance: No single-use plastic water bottles
More than 40 businesses and organizations had signed off on the plastic water bottle ban, including Guido’s, Prairie Whale, SoCo and the Berkshire Co-op Market.
Springfield attorney challenges U.S. Rep. Neal from the left, points to ‘open secrets’ about his donors
There is a reason Amatul-Wadud cares so much about people. It’s because, as a lawyer specializing in probate, families, custody and visitation rights, “I get to see people in their most intimate spaces.”
Lively selectboard election in the offing this spring in Great Barrington
Friday, March 23, is the last day nomination papers can be obtained from the town clerk for candidates who want to be on the ballot for the Tuesday, May 15, nonpartisan municipal elections.