 Egremont News |
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Issue 31 |
January, 2007 |
Rules & Regulations of this Newsletter:
The purpose of this newsletter is to keep residents informed of what is going on in their community. It is printed on a bi-monthly basis by the Selectmen’s Office Staff. Articles submitted by Town Boards are not edited by the Select Board or Office Administrator. Outside organizations are allowed to submit articles of no longer than one column length. These articles are to be factual and will not be printed if they contain any political format, forum, or communication.
We welcome reader input and hope you enjoy reading the Newsletter.
Special Election:
On January 23, 2007 from 12noon to 7pm there will be a special election to fill the vacancy on the Select Board left by the resignation of Philip Reilly. Absentee ballots will be available. Running for the seat, which expires in May of 2007, are Thomas Haas and John Walther.
Selectmen:
The Board will sorely miss Philip Reilly who has resigned his seat on the Board. As noted above a special election will be held on January 23 to fill this seat only until the May town election.
High speed internet service has come to part of the Town. Verizon DSL is available to a limited number of residents in the North part of Town and Wi-Spring wireless service is available to a limited number of residents in the South part of Town. The Town is still working towards coverage for the rest of the town and towards getting cell phone service.
We are diving head first into the FY 2008 budget season; the budget which townspeople will vote on May 1, 2007.
There is a vacancy on the Finance Committee. If interested please contact Town Hall.
Highway Department:
There is a winter parking ban effective until April 1, 2007. What this means is that any vehicle parked on the side of any town road will be towed at the expense of the vehicle owner. This parking ban will insure that the plowing crew will not have to deal with vehicles parked on the roadways.
Historical Commission:
The Commission thanks Craig Elliot for his generous donation of maps for the General Knox Trail to the Archives Room.
The Alford/Egremont Cultural Council:
Attention all you budding ballroom dancers out there as well as parents, artists, lecture goers, history buffs and all-around “culture vultures”. The Alford/Egremont Cultural Council is very pleased to announce the following 2007 recipients of Cultural Council funding:
· Advanced Pastel Workshop with Greg Maichack at the South Egremont Fire House
· Passes to the Berkshire Botanical Garden for the Children’s Health Program
· Ballroom dance lessons at the North Egremont Fire House with Quintessential Dance
· Showing of a nature film with the Egremont Garden Club
· Support for an all-day trip aboard the Clearwater and an all-day trip to the Plimoth Plantation for schoolchildren at Undermountain Elementary School
· An edible plant lecture with John Root at the Alford Library
· A demonstration of birds of prey at the Alford Library
· Scholarships for local children with both IS 183 and the Berkshire Children’s Chorus
· Student enrichments programs with Berkshire Theater Festival and Shakespeare & Company
· Science and math enrichment programs as well as financial support for scholarships with the Flying Cloud organization
· Support for community programming at Community Access to the Arts (CATA)
· Art and dance enrichment programs with Sculpture Now and the Bamidele Dance Troup at Undermountain Elementary School
· A lecture and performance of “Rhythms of the World” by Davis Bates at the Weathervane Inn in Egremont
· Support for both the Castle Hill Children’s Theater Company and the Berkshire Fringe Festival for the upcoming season
In all the Alford/Egremont Cultural Council awarded over $7000 this year in grant funding from the state program and hope to see you or members of your family at many of the exciting upcoming events. Please refer to this column, posters around town and community calendar columns in local newspapers for more information on exact dates and times and on how you can sign up to register. You can also call committee chair Juliette Haas at 528-2028 for more information.
The Library Building Committee:
The first draft of the Library Building Program, written by our consultant Sondra Vandermark, was received in early November and reviewed by the Trustees. The process took a good deal of time since the document was over 100 pages, and contained a wealth of information and statistics. A meeting was arranged to meet with Ann Larson from the Board of Library Commissioners for December 1st and a meeting with our full committee on December 7th further refined the document.
The meeting with Ann Larson was extremely beneficial. She was pleased with the document but made some major changes in the format. She stressed that this was a “needs” document i.e. what the town desired in a future library indicated in the questionnaire. At our full committee meeting we went through the changes suggested and got input from members. The Trustees and Library Director will now meet to organize the document and make suggestion for changes. We will submit this to our consultant and January 1, 2007 and should have a re-write by mid to end of January.
Happy Holidays to all members of our committee who have worked so hard on this project, and of course to all you readers who have stayed interested in this project.
Agricultural Commission:
The Agricultural Commission has completed all documents required by the Town of Egremont’s General Bylaw #21 “Right to Farm.” The Select Board’s office will use these documents to notify Realtors, the Tax Collector, and has posted the required notice in Town Hall. At its recent meeting held on November 15th, the Agricultural Commission decided to establish a roster of all agricultural operations in the Town. If you are not contacted by January 1st and would like to be listed on the farm roster, please contact Carla Turner at 528-5710 or tfms@bcn.net.
Police Department:
The contact number for the Police Department for general business purposes and questions is 528-2160. If no one is in the station to answer the phone, after 6-8 rings the call is passed up to the Dispatch Communication Center in Pittsfield. Please be patient as it takes a few minutes for the call to go through. For ANY emergency however, please dial 9-1-1.
Information for Firearms Licensing (LTC/FID) is posted next to the station door. An appointment must be made for fingerprinting and processing and we ask that you call 528-2160 to set up a mutually convenient time. We are often involved with our Senior Visits Program, House-Security checks, traffic/safety enforcement, and routine calls for service. Our Bike Patrol has been put on hold until the spring (that is, unless the weather remains hot and balmy!!!) We have been extremely busy the past several months with major investigations involving residential and business break-ins, narcotics violations, and thefts. One major investigation culminated in November with the arrest of two individuals who we have reason to believe were involved in many crimes throughout Berkshire County and surrounding states. We implore everyone to keep their homes and valuables locked securely in an effort to deter people from violating your property. We appreciate your support and we are honored to serve the citizens of Egremont.
Assessors:
The tax rate for Fiscal 2007 has been set at $6.30.You should have received, or will receive shortly, your new tax bill. Please be sure to take a moment to look over the bill, specifically your buildings and land values. Land values have been increased this year. If you have any questions please contact the Board of Assessors. We meet Tuesday night 7pm - 9pm. An Assessor is at the Town Hall Wednesday mornings 9am - 11am. Telephone number is 528-0182, Ext #14.
If you want to file for an abatement it must be filed within thirty (30) days of the date of this tax bill. There can be no exceptions by state law. The Assessor’s have 60 days to act on the abatement. The Town Hall Office will have the abatement and exemption forms.
This late fall and early winter the Assessor’s office will inspect every property that has had a sale or a building permit in the year 2006. Since we are now on a five year revaluation visit plan, your property will be inspected at least once in a five year period. This will help us keep our data base up to date.
We welcome our newest member of the Board, Karen Cumsky of South Egremont.
Treasurer/Tax Collector:
Real Estate & Personal Property Preliminary Will be mailed by January 1, 2007. - They reflect your actual taxes for Fy2007. These bills show the balance due February 1 and May 1, 2007. Any payments that were made prior to printing the bills are reflected in the balance due. Please remember to contact the Board of Assessors with questions and concerns about your buildings and values.
Motor Vehicle Excise - Expect Motor Vehicle bills to be mailed by March 1, 2007 or earlier. Interim bills are being mailed periodically as the bill information is received from the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Interim bills are generated when a new or used vehicle is purchased and/or registered during the year. PLEASE NOTE: If you have disposed of a vehicle, please remember, it is the taxpayers responsibility to file an abatement. Do not ignore the tax bill as it stay on the books until it is paid or abated. Again, we only have the information provided to us from the Registry of Motor Vehicles which comes from the vehicle owner.
On Line Banking - UNIPAY on line banking is up and running. It is a great tool for last minute payments of any bill owed to the town. Go to the Town of Egremont web site www.egremont-ma.gov/ and click on pay your bills on line. Follow the instructions from that point. You will be able to use ACH or a credit card. Please give it a try.
Questions/Confusions - I will be glad to address any question that would be of general information to the taxpayers. Submit questions and concerns pertaining to the Tax Collector/Treasurer to Pat, P.O. Box 368 So. Egremont. Responses will be given in the following newsletter.
Office hours - Tax Collector 7-3 Monday through Friday or by appointment
Town Clerk:
Shortly after January 1, 2007 you will be receiving your Annual Census Form. Your prompt response to this is greatly appreciated. For your convenience a dog license form is included. Dog licenses will be issued starting February 15. If you do not own a dog please disregard.
Absentee Ballots are available for the Special Election to be held on Tuesday, January 23, 2007. Requests for Absentee Ballots must be in writing and need to be received by 12:00 noon on January 22. If you need additional information please contact Town Clerk Margaret Muskrat.
REMINDER; SPECIAL ELECTION TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2007
POLLS OPEN 12:00 NOON – 7:00 P.M.
Planning Board:
The Attorney General has notified the town of its approval of the bylaws that were approved by the town at the June 2006 Special Town Meeting. These bylaw changes dealt with a technical correction of a map reference for the Wireless Telecommunications District and with allowing wired telecommunications facilities by special permit on the same property as another principal use. These have been incorporated into the bylaw which is now available at town hall and which includes all changes to date approved by the town at town meeting.
When the town approved the town hall property as part of the Wireless Telecommunications Overlay District for potential cellular tower location, some questions were raised about whether there would be a conflict with flight patterns from the nearby airport in Great Barrington. Several citizens sought a ruling from the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission on two hypothetical sites on that property. The Commission has notified the town that one site does not violate MAC Airspace Laws or Regulations so no further MAC action is required; however, the Commission noted it might submit further comments based on federal review and that a permit could be required because of a runway approach. The other site submitted is within the regulated airspace and runway approach and would require a permit. We thank Bill Weigle who raised this issue and the other citizens who assisted him with this submission.
The board continues to review zoning issues related to commercial wind power generation and adult entertainment regulation and welcomes any input from townspeople on these topics.
Board of Health:
Perhaps some of you have heard about the recent controversy in the Northeast regarding Outdoor Wood Fired Boilers (OWFB) and federal, state and local efforts to regulate their use. Depending on your point of view or proximity to an operating one, an Outdoor Wood Fired Boiler can be either a low-cost alternative to rising home heating costs or an environmental scourge.
An OWFB, which looks a lot like a small backyard shed, provides heat and sometimes hot water to a building and uses wood and wood products for fuel. Because the boilers operate under low-oxygen conditions they produce far more smoke and particulate matter than traditional indoor stoves – about twelve times more, several studies have found. Nuisance and health complaints are not usually an issue if these units are located far enough away from an abutting neighbor and if they are installed and operated correctly.
While these boilers have been in the past and may be in the future a good alternative for someone who not only has many acres of property to meet ample setback allowances to their nearest neighbors and may also have property with ample sources of wood they are not a good alternative for people on smaller parcels of land. As the use of OWFB is steadily growing and as there is currently no permitting process in place for their installation as well as no state or local regulations concerning their use the Egremont Board of Health, along with many other towns in Berkshire County and the Commonwealth, will soon implement local guidelines for their future use. It is an effort to clearly define the proper way to operate an OWFB and to proactively address a concern before serious complaints become an issue for our residents.
Some in town may question the need for regulating the use of OWFB in Egremont. It should be noted in the discussion stages the BOH never once addressed the ban of their use, as some other towns have done. Common sense should tell folks that while we all want to stay warm in the winter, lower our costs while doing so and decrease our dependence on foreign oil we do not want to risk our air quality or annoy our neighbors in the process. While the number of current OWFB in Egremont is small if more and more people make the large financial investment to install and operate them they should be aware from the beginning of the requirements for proper use to avoid potential nuisance and health complaints.
On December 5th the BOH held a very productive hearing in which many members of the community voiced their concerns on the proposed set of regulations. Thanks to the public’s input many of the constructive comments heard that day have been incorporated into the draft set of regulations. A copy of the draft is available for further review at Town Hall or can be downloaded to your email (give the BOH clerk at call 528-0182). The regulations will take affect February 1, 2007. Please feel free to call the BOH if you have any questions about this or any other Public Health issues.
Egremont Garden Club:
You may think the gardening season is over but members of the Egremont Garden Club continue to be busy. A Wreath Workshop was held at the South Egremont Fire Station on Dec. 2 Wreaths were made and distributed to all the public buildings in the villages. The Bridge Boxes on Buttonball lane and Sheffield Road have also been decorated for the season.
Our “Holiday in Egremont” Sale at the Library was a great success. We had a wonderful array of baked goods, hand-crafted items, and seasonal arrangements. All created by our members. We wish to thank all of you who stopped by and supported our sale.
We also wish to thank Eric Haupt and the Haupt Tree Company for decorating the tree on the village green in South Egremont. The tree looks so lovely as you enter the village and brings enjoyment to us all.
Egremont Free Library:
HOW CAN YOU AFFORD NOT TO USE THE EGREMONT FREE LIBRARY?
A recent study by the American Library Association shows that a family of four, using the fully offered facilities of its local library can save up to $18,000 a year.
How, you say, could that little Egremont Library make that kind of statement. Think about it… books, audios, videos, cd’s, magazines, reference materials, search engines; they all cost money every day…. but are available free from the library. If Egremont does not have it, the librarian will order it for you, and you’ll usually have it within a week. WOW! $18,000 a year.
The book club currently meets the last Tuesday of each month at noon. In January, the group is reading “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and in February, they will read “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger. Bring a lunch and join a lively discussion.
If there is enough interest, the library is willing to host an evening book group. Let the librarian, Sally Caldwell, 528-1474, know of your interest.
There is a new patron computer in the library with Internet accessibility. The MA Board of Library Commissioners has made possible in the near future the installation of a high speed Internet. We are all anxiously awaiting this development.
We continue to have the latest and we hope the best of both new fiction and nonfiction. Give us a try!
Board meeting schedule:
Subject to change.
Archives Room - First Saturday 9-noon
Assessors - Wednesdays 9am to 11am & Tuesdays 7pm to 9pm
Board of Health - Monday by appointment, Tuesday 10am to 12pm & 2pm to 3pm Wednesday & Thursday 10am to 12noon
Meetings - First & Third Tuesday 3pm to 5pm
Board of Selectmen - Meetings Tuesday evenings 7pm. Office 7:30am to 3pm.
Building Inspector - Tuesday 12:30pm to 3:30pm.
Conservation Commission - Second and Fourth Thursdays 7:00pm
Finance Committee - Wednesday 7pm as needed.
Library - Monday, Tuesday & Thursday 2-6pm &
Saturday 9-12noon
Planning Board - Second & Fourth Monday 7:30pm
Town Clerk - Tuesday evenings 7pm - 9pm
Water Department - Third Thursday 7:00pm
Zoning Board of Appeals - as needed
To reach a board member or to leave a message please call the Town Hall.
Community Notes:
Do you have something noteworthy you would like the community to know about - please pass it on.
The Pot Luck dinners at the South Egremont Congregational Church resumed for the winter season on October 19 . The next will be January 18 and then February 15 at 6:30pm. Bring a covered dish to share and your place settings. All are welcome.
Business listings:
In an effort to promote local small businesses, the following businesses/services located in Egremont have agreed to be listed here. If we missed asking you and you wish to be included, please send your information to the Town Hall.
The Silo B&B - guest accommodations
413-528-5195
The Weathervane Inn - Lodging
413/800-528-9580
John Andrews’ Restaurant - Restaurant
413-528-3469
Elm Court Inn - Restaurant
413-528-0325
Swiss Hutte Country Inn and Restaurant-
Restaurant & Lodging
413-528-6200
Howard’s Antiques - Antique Lighting & Restoration
413-528-1232
www.howardsantiquelighting.com
Red Barn Antiques - Antique lighting & fine metal polishing
413-528-3230
Home - Asian Antiques & Interior Objects
195 Hillsdale Road (Route 23)
413-528-5383
Blue Rider Stables - Therapeutic Riding Center
413-528-5299
Green River Arabians & Pintos - Horse back riding, training, lessons, breeding, boarding
413-528-2367 arabpinto13@yahoo.com
www.thearabianexperts.com/greenriver
Indian Line Farm - Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) & Farmers Markets
413-528-8301
House to House Hauling & Recycling-
Rubbish removal
413-528-0943
G&S Gventer “Books - Buy & Sell Books
413-528-2327
Cosmic Resonance (Elfie Six) Shiatsu/Acutonics®, Soundhealing,
413-644-9979
Peter Goldberg, Dipl. Ac - Acupuncture, Pain
Management 413-528-5055
Divine Automotive - Automotive repair
413-528-8007
Old Egremont Store - groceries, beer, wine, liquor, newspapers, lottery, & much more
413-528-4796
Blueberry Lane Home Design - Interior decorating
413-528-9633
Closet Collection - clothing & household
consignment shop
413-528-6236
Berkshire Veneer Company - wholesale/retail
wood veneer sales
413-644-9696
L and L Construction - Home repairs, additions,
new home building
413-528-5548
Catamount Ski Area - Skiing
413-528-1262
Anita Schilling - Real Estate Listing & Sales
Century 21 Franklin Street
413-528-8118 x12
Florence F. Browner Real Estate - Full Service
90 Creamery Road
413-528-3266
Linda Warner - Realtor Associate
Lance Vermeulen Real Estate
413-528-1428
FrogEstate@aol.com
Kenver Ltd - Ski equipment and apparel
39 Main Street
413-528-2330
Maple Leaf Art Gallery - Joan Mentzinger
154 Hillsdale Road, Route 23
The Agency Without Walls - Helen Krancer
Advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing. 413-644-9700
Cyber Knights - Matthew Wall
Egremont Heights, South Egremont
Computer repairs & sales
413-429-7884
Dellea.biz Computer Services
Windows PC repairs & house calls
Toll-free 1-877-594-0497
http://www.dellea.biz
Support local businesses
Pictured below are participants at
The Veteran’s Memorial Dedication on November 11, 2006. A balmy spring like day that about 100 people turned out to enjoy.
Town of Egremont
P.O. Box 368
South Egremont MA 01258
413-528-0182
Printed, on recycled paper, by the Selectmen’s Office Staff
as submitted by Town Department.