Lee, Lenox, and Stockbridge — The Tri-Town Board of Health began discussing a proposed fee hike during its June 20 meeting, potentially increasing those rates by either 10, 15, or 20 percent. The measure is the first fee uptick for the agency—that includes the Lee, Lenox, and Stockbridge boards of health—since 2018, according to Executive Director James Wilusz.
The proposed fee increases can be found here. The “potential increase” heading refers to the total fee after applying the relevant increase. Permits refer to annual fees.
Ninety percent of the group’s business is in the commercial arena, with the proposal intended to stay on pace with inflation and cost-of-living rises, Wilusz said. Tri-Town’s budget for fiscal year 2025 reflected a 21 percent increase, year over year, due to higher staffing and salary costs, he said.
“We will never be able to capture 100 percent of the operating budget through our fees,” Wilusz said, adding that the fees reflect the cost of doing business. He said he favors the 20 percent fee increase option as costs have gone up about 25 percent since 2018, with those costs leveling off a bit now.
“This is one of my least favorite things to do in the public-health realm is charging fees for what we do but it is necessary—the online permitting has gone up; health insurance has gone up; fuel has gone up [as] we use our own vehicles to do our inspections,” he said. “So, all these costs are going up and I think the fees will make appropriate adjustments for that.”
About half of Tri-Town’s operating budget is recouped through fees, Wilusz said, and a 20 percent increase would bring in revenue of about $260,000 to $270,000, half of its operating costs.
Lee Board of Health representative JoAnn Sullivan asked why fees aren’t raised annually so the jump, year to year, wouldn’t be so high. Wilusz responded that a lot goes into determining the fee structure and not all towns adjust their rates annually.
A public hearing on the proposal is planned for the fall when members will approve, deny, or amend the draft.
Tri-Town eyes Stockbridge as new home
With Stockbridge Town Administrator Michael Canales in attendance, the board unanimously approved supporting a permanent home for the agency in Stockbridge’s Town Hall. A new space is needed as Tri-Town’s current office, located in Lee’s Aeroldi Building, is set to be demolished in conjunction with the buildout of a new public-safety facility.
“There is enough room [in Stockbridge Town Hall],” Canales said. “Now, how do we make it work?”
Canales, who said the site has plenty of space for the group and staff functions, will bring the idea back to the Stockbridge Select Board for approval while Wilusz will establish the cost to move the agency and build out its new space, with the latter possibly tallying $100,000. The approval of the select boards of the remaining Tri-Town municipalities will also be needed, although discussions between Wilusz and the town administrators of Lee and Lenox showed that those facilities lack the space to house the agency. The Stockbridge address will be a permanent home for Tri-Town and an aesthetic improvement for the agency, Wilusz said.
Housatonic Rest of River remediation plan update
Since Tri-Town’s last meeting on January 25, state officials protested General Electric Company’s (GE) transportation plan to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said Tri-Town Chair Dr. Charles Kenny.
The issue was raised in conjunction with a 2020 Housatonic Rest of River remediation agreement that includes adding an Upland Disposal Facility (UDF) in Lee for the less toxic materials dredged from the waterway while sending the more contaminated materials out of the area. For decades, GE deposited polychlorinated biphenyls, now banned, into the Housatonic River from its plant in Pittsfield, with those non-degradable chemicals washing down to Connecticut. A transportation plan presented by GE in October reflected mostly truck transport of those materials. However, a recent response by the EPA to GE criticized the lack of investigation of rail as a mode of transport, sending the company back to the drawing board for more thorough research of not only a railroad option but also the use of hydraulic dredging as part of the plan.
“GE has wasted an entire year, really,” Kenny said of the incomplete evaluation report.
Noting letters submitted to the EPA by the five towns involved in the 2020 agreement—Great Barrington, Lee, Lenox, Sheffield, and Stockbridge—regarding the need to consider rail as a transportation mode, he called the push “a community effort.” “And I’m very happy that, finally, our representatives are stepping in and backing the [residents] up,” Kenny said.
Green burials, Bird Flu
At the session, board members took up the status of the H5N1 Bird Flu and found that three cases of transmission to humans occurred recently, with a fourth case in 2022. Those cases showed infection occurring as part of the individuals’ direct occupation handling birds or poultry. Since no cases occurred in the northeastern part of the U.S., the board chose to not take action at this time.
However, following a discussion concerning Green Burials, or burials of individuals in a natural state or at a home property, the group unanimously approved Wilusz to draft pertinent guidelines.
