In short, the woman who cannot decide whether she is GI Jane, Calamity Jane, or Amelia Earhart is a despicable freak whose removal was both justified and overdue.
“It was a teamwide effort. The best part of it is we were the first department in Berkshire County to get accredited [by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission."
-- Police Chief William Walsh
Selectman Ed Abrahams said he does like the idea of a public-private partnership because, even if it means the town still owns the building, at least the town would retain some control over its future.
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 cost for a sewer system as small as Great Barrington's is staggering. The annual cost for dealing with so-called "flushable" wipes is estimated to be $150,000 for cleaning and unclogging, with labor alone costing $85,000.
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.
"The Sierra Club is opposed to additional fossil fuel infrastructure out of the widely held scientific view that we must move as rapidly as possible away from fossil fuel energy, and that if we don't, human society will face cataclysmic impacts."
-- Emily Norton, chapter director of the Massachusetts Sierra Club
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.
"There is no discernable evidence leading me to conclude future real property values will be negatively impacted by such an occasion and to assert otherwise is speculation."
-- Town Assessor Chris Lamarre
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.
Great Barrington has recorded $37 million in new construction in the past year, resulting in permit fees totaling more than $88,000 and new tax revenues of $538,690.
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.
Great Barrington’s wastewater treatment facility, which maintains 35 miles of sewer line and six pumping stations throughout Great Barrington and Housatonic, was recognized for its exceptional organization and exemplary maintenance program.
Wheeler & Taylor owns the building and the bank on the corner of Bridge and Main streets, and construction may block access to a 30-foot right of way that it was deeded access to.
Some Great Barrington Selectboard members lit up in 2011 as they considered the restoration of a hamlet that had fallen on hard times, especially after a massive fire wiped out the Aberdale block in the 1960s. Board members were also starry-eyed at the much-needed tax revenue potential.
