Selectmen:

            The Board notes the passing of two Town Officials: Philip Reilly who served as Water Commissioner and Selectman; and Jack Harvey who served as Egremont’s Tree Warden for over 50 years and also served as a Fireman for the same amount of years. Both will be deeply missed at Town Hall as well in the community.

            Town Meeting is May 1 and warrants are available at the Town Hall, the post offices, the Library or the Country Market in South Egremont. The Town Meeting will begin at 6:45pm at the Performing Arts Auditorium at the Mt. Everett High School in Sheffield.

            Town Election is May 8 at the North Egremont Fire Station from 10am to 7pm. If you are unable to vote in person you may request an absentee ballot from the Town Clerk’s office. The request must be made in writing and should be done as soon as possible.

Planning Board:

            The Egremont Planning Board has spent many weeks drafting an Adult Entertainment Bylaw to propose to townspeople. This proposal would create an overlay district which allows adult entertainment uses in all areas of town while providing protections against secondary impacts which are adverse to the health, safety, and general welfare of the Town of Egremont and its inhabitants.

            Adult entertainment uses have been the subject of bylaws passed by several other area towns. These towns have created specific districts where such uses can be located. Because Egremont is not divided into specific commercial zoning districts, the Adult Entertainment proposal will not designate any specific area for such uses but will provide for regulation of such uses throughout the town. Under state and federal law, it is possible to regulate such uses but not forbid them entirely. It is the Planning Board’s position that the town would be best served by having regulations in place, as other area towns have done.

            This proposal will soon go to the Selectboard and Town Counsel for review, to be followed by distribution and public meetings for further discussion.

            The Planning Board usually meets the second and fourth Monday of the month (check at Town Hall before each meeting for any changes). All meetings are open to the public.

Council on Aging:

            ATTENTION: Egremont Seniors. Please note that the Spring session of the Water Exercise program at Simon’s Rock is under way. We have room for additional participants and would love to hear from you if you need this type of exercise! Please call 528-3488 for more information.

            The free Smoke Detector Program for seniors has been in progress. If you did not get your name on the list, we may yet be able to add you to the program. Let us hear from you!!!

            A personal note from Rachel Shaw: Dear fellow residents of Egremont, your Council on Aging is an important part of town functions. Many seniors are helped every year by our providing vital information needed to stay independent, information about the many, many resources available to anyone who knows how to navigate the system. – Your present Council members are getting older... and tired! We appeal to you younger seniors for some assistance in preparing for the future. As chairman I do not wish to retire until another resident is prepared to step in and keep this important “ball rolling”. We are not required to have a lot of meetings, but we meet every other month...and keep ourselves informed about the various senior programs. AND...we do have some good fellowship and fun, while doing our work. Please get in touch with me if you have any interest in keeping the Council alive and well! Thanks, Rachel 528-3488.

Alford/Egremont Cultural Council:

            Your cultural council would like to take this opportunity to report on a few funded programs which recently took place with glowing success:

·   Sounds of music and laughter were emanating from the North Egremont Fire House on Thursday nights during March. That’s because grant award recipient Quintessential Dance gave an outstanding 4-week ballroom dance program to the Alford and Egremont residence in attendance. Lucky participants not only learned the basics of the foxtrot, Texas two-step, waltz, East-coast swing and tango but had great fun in the process. It was a wonderful introduction to the pure enjoyment of dance and a terrific opportunity to have some fun and chase away those mid-winter blahs. Thank you Quintessential Dance!

·   Awarding winning Holyoke, MA pastel artist Greg Maichak gave a highly informative 2-hour class in the South Egremont Fire House on the art of pastel drawing. Greg provided hundreds of high-quality pastels, special pastel papers along with copies of suburb pastel art from the great masters. The informative event was part art history and part one-on-one instruction. Judging from the finished pieces from his students that day Egremont has some very fine artists in residence. Thank you Greg for a wonderful afternoon.

            Mark you calendar for the following fine programs which will soon be coming to our community and providing enlightening experiences for all:

·   On May 12^th musician and storyteller Davis Bates will be performing a special fun for all ages one-hour concert entitled “Rhythms of the World: Songs and Stories for Everyone”. The concert will be held at the barn of the Weathervane Inn, 17 Main Street South Egremont. (Time of event not available at press time. Please check local flyers and advertisements.) This free event will include Native American stories and songs as well as work songs of farm and sea which celebrate the diversity of the New England region.

·   The Caste Hill Theatre Company received a generous grant to support their programming efforts for the upcoming season. Last year you may remember their tremendously enjoyable production of “Puss And Boots”. This year they are planning to outdo their previous successes and stage “Rumplestiltskin”. Look for advertisements in local newspapers and flyers to ensure attendance at one of their performances -- you’ll be glad you did!

·   On June 9^th at 10:00 a.m. at the Alford Children’s Library naturalist John Root will present a 90-minute introduction to the identification of edible wild plants of New England. The class is free and available to all Alford and Egremont residents.

Library:

IT’S GARDENING TIME

            It’s gardening time, and the Egremont Library has one of the most extensive set of books in the Berkshires.

            Given in memory of Evie Cobden, member of the Egremont Garden Club, these books can answer almost any question one might have, be they experienced on inexperienced.

            The Book Club continues to meet the last Tuesday of the month at 12 noon.

May 29 Maisie DobbsJacqueline Winspear

June 27 Snowflower and

                 the Secret Fan Lisa See

            Bring a sandwich and come join us.   

Egremont Library Building Committee:

The Library Building Program has been completed by our consultant, and will be reviewed by the Trustees and full committee by mid-may. Upon approval it will be submitted to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners for review and approval.

            The next step will be to hire a program manager and an architect to complete the study. This will provide the town with information regarding site, plan and cost for a potential library. All of this cost is covered by the grant of $20,000 plus an additional $20,000 already approved by the town.

Transfer Station:

            Mini Household Hazardous Waste Collections:

            Wednesday May 16- 4pm to 6:30pm at the Great Barrington Recycling Center on Route 7.

            Saturday, June 16 - 9am to 11am Lenox Department of Public Works

Accepting motor oil, oil based paints (not latex), turpentine, stains, thinner. Mandatory pre-registration by calling 1-800-238-1221 ext 17 or by email shannonm@cetonline.org.

            The first comprehensive collection will be July 21^st in Stockbridge. More info will be in the next newsletter.

Board of Health:

            Three years ago voters at an Egremont annual town meeting approved the first step in forming a wastewater management district for two areas in Egremont – a broad area encompassing South Egremont village and the residential neighborhood surrounding Prospect Lake. The proposal went to the State Legislature, made it through the House, but unfortunately did not make it through the State Senate before the legislative session expired. The Board of Health, at the upcoming annual Town Meeting, will again be asking residents to take the first step in forming wastewater management district but this time the request will be for the entire town and not just the two areas previously mentioned.

            Why is the BOH proposing a town-wide wastewater management district this time and just how does this formation provide better services to the townspeople? As a separate legal entity a wastewater management district would address future septic issues collectively for all Egremont residents thereby providing options outside those traditionally offered by the Town. First and foremost, by providing the focus, clarity and specificity this legal entity would be the management group which provides the foundation for successful application to various state and federal agencies for project funding assistance. Suggested future projects offered by the district could be single service (town-wide tank pumping program), comprehensive (replacement system program) or anything in between (providing management of clustered septic systems). The resulting benefits would provide homeowners with failed systems and few options the opportunity to have compliant septic systems which not only insures the obvious environmental protection but provides constant tax revenue to tax coffers.

            District formation allows the town to proactively address current and future septic planning. As the Board of Health continues its work towards providing a growing number of homeowners with difficult septic problems with viable solutions we as a town need to prepare for this increasing problem by having septic upgrade options before us and at the ready. A town-wide wastewater management district project option can be designed to generate fees or levy taxes solely on the individuals benefiting from a service without increasing costs to taxpayers not directly served.

            At its very least the pooling services offered by the district would provide volume discounts on septic tank pumping services to all Egremont homeowners who partake in the program. At its most comprehensive it would provide assistance to all of us who will one day face the reality of septic system replacement.

Treasurer/Collector:

            FY 2007 - Real Estate & Personal Property Taxes - The fourth quarter is due on May 1, 2007. If that payment is missed, interest and fees will accrue on the unpaid amount. All current year taxes are expected to be paid during the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2007.

            Please, please, please remember to contact the Board of Assessors with inquiries on your assessments.

            Motor Vehicle Excise - Calendar year FY07 interim bills will be generated when a new or used vehicle is purchased and/or registered during the present or prior year. If you have not received a bill, most likely it will come out with the next batch of bills from the registry is May or June. 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 stays 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. If you have received a notice from the Deputy Collector please call his office to clear your obligation.

            RMV Plates - If you intend to turn in your plates, for whatever reason, do so ASAP. The RMV charges for your plate until they receive it. You will then get a plate return receipt. Use a copy of that receipt to apply for an abatement on your excise tax through the town.

            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. Thank you to all who are using the on-line product. It is working great. Please give it a try.

            E- Banking - Letting your bank send the check? That’s OK, but please put your current bill number or you map & lot on the memo line so your payment can be easily identified. Prior year bill numbers are of no use in accessing owner identification as they change from year to year.

            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

French Park:

            The French Park Fund has arranged for the Conway School of Landscape Design to prepare a master plan for French Park. Work on the plan has started and will continue through the spring. There will be at least one public meeting at which Egremonters will discuss what they would like to see happen at the park, but you need not wait for that meeting to express your views. Just send them to town hall or discuss them with any of our Selectmen or any of the French Park Committee members or Fund trustees.

            The Fund has also arranged for refurbishing of the tennis courts at the Park, which should occur in early summer.

            The French park fund is a charitable organization whose purpose is to improve and maintain French Park. Contributions to it are tax deductible. The trustees are Richard Allen, Lorraine Berger, Jen Brown, Richard Goodkind, Sue Karp, Hilary Penglase and Steve Schoenfeld.

Friends of Prospect Lake (FoPL) :