The Public Transit Advisory Committee will be charged with regularly evaluating the public transportation needs of South County residents, through surveys and public input meetings, in order to provide recommendations to the town manager, the selectboard and the BRTA.
Selectboard Chair Steve Bannon agreed that Housing Authority Chair Karen Smith's transgressions do not rise to the standard for removal under state law.
A Lee resident, Knight has, since 2006, been in private practice in Great Barrington. About 80 percent of her practice has been in criminal defense, with most of the remainder of her practice in mediation.
As Harrington sees it, trying cases against defendants is not the only relevant experience that qualifies one to be a prosecutor. Her extensive experience as a defense attorney, for example, has given her a clear-eyed and detached view of the criminal justice system.
At issue is that the plan ran afoul of the town's Cottage Era Estate zoning bylaw governing the development of a handful of historic properties in town that fall under that bylaw.
The vote by Berkshire Health Group, the school district's joint health insurance-purchasing entity, to keep rates flat for next year surprised district officials, but they're not complaining.
Only 15 percent of Berkshire Hills third graders met or exceeded expectations in reading ability, compared to a state average of 47 percent, with 25 percent meeting the same threshold in SBRSD.
At its regular meeting Thursday night, the Southern Berkshire Regional School Committee voted to form a subcommittee whose title would be "The Future of Education in Southern Berkshire County."
"It's time we start talking with our neighbors. I'm certainly willing to talk to anyone who wants to talk about moving forward with Berkshire Hills or even Farmington River and Richmond."
-- Egremont Selectboard Chairman Bruce Turner
Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee member Richard Dohoney said the school committee should be focusing on a realistic goal such as sharing services or merging with another nearby school district.
Among other research, the EPA’s findings indicate that where there are small, piston-engine aircraft operating, there is an increase in lead concentrations in air. The FAA says it, along with the EPA, is working to stop the use of lead in the fuel, and backing research to come up with alternatives.
“Building relationships with neighboring districts, a concrete plan for the high school, and continuing to explore a way to marry vocational programs to the local economy” are issues that are priorities.
-- Attorney Richard Dohoney, re-elected to the Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee
After Great Barrington voters shot down a Monument Mountain Regional High School renovation project two years in a row , a Regional Agreement Amendment Committee formed to get the three towns to the negotiating table to try to change the per-pupil funding arrangement.
The towns will pay for future improvements or building projects for the district’s three schools based on what the state calls “equalized value [EQV],” defined as the “full and fair cash value” of all taxable property in a town.
Housatonic homeowners are now worried about their property values — not to mention potential health risks from a nearby dump — and prospective homebuyers are now saying they won’t buy in Housatonic.
