Lanesborough's Town Administrator Resigns After 13 Years

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Boudreau has worked as the Town Administrator since 1998 and is now looking to do something else.
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — After 13 years Town Administrator Paul Boudreau is calling it quits.

Boudreau accepted a job in the private sector but will stick around to help out part-time until the town replaces him. Boudreau said on Tuesday that he had been looking for a change for a while and started the job search earnestly about six months ago.

"It's time for a change of scenery," Boudreau said. "I feel good about my time here and I've accomplished quite a bit."

Boudreau took the job in 1998 right after bids for renovating the Elementary School came in too high and voters did not approve the extra amount. Town officials switched tactics and began looking at building a new school and put Boudreau in command.

"I shepherded that project to completion... That was probably the biggest thing," Boudreau said when asked what he though his biggest accomplishment has been. "And the Mall Road, that took more than a decade to make that happen."

In his 13 years Boudreau said his position has become much more complicated because of state and federal regulations but the town hasn't changed.The town still has the mixed personality of dense and almost urban living in some parts and country in others as it was when Boudreau first moved here in 1980.


"The town itself really hasn't changed much since I've been here. We're still sort of a suburb of Pittsfield," Boudreau, who grew up in Pittsfield, said.

Boudreau was a former Berkshire Regional Planning Commission employee who later went on to become the executive director of the Northwestern Connecticut Council of Governors before taking the town administrator position.

He is only the town's third administrator and the first one to stick around for a while. Now the Board of Selectmen are wondering if this is the time to re-think the town's government structure.

On Tuesday, the Selectmen voted to work with a consultant to examine the structure. The board talked about a possible switch to a town manager but how "strong" of one still needs to be determined.

While the Selectmen were given Boudreau's formal resignation letter Tuesday, they've known he was leaving prior to that and have begun considering their options.

Tags: departure,   town administrator,   

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Lanesborough Elm Tree Named Largest in State

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — King Elmer is living up to his name, now deemed the largest American Elm in the state.

Jim Neureuther, chair of the Tree and Forrest Committee, happily reported this to the Select Board on Monday.  The Department of Conservation and Recreation released an updated Champion Trees list on May 4 with the town's over 100-foot tall elm at the top.

"It's official, King Elmer is the largest American Elm tree in Massachusetts," Neureuther said.

Located at the corner of Route 7 and Summer St., the king is believed to be over 250 years old and is 107 feet tall with an average canopy spread of 95.5 feet.  It scored 331.88 points with the state based on a 201-inch circumference, which is a 64-inch diameter (5'4 through the middle of the tree.)

King Elmer dethroned the former champion elm in Old Deerfield Village that has been cut down.  In 2019, Neureuther traveled to Franklin County to see it only to find a stump, prompting him to submit the Lanesborough tree's official measurements.

He thought, "Wait a minute, we're moving up the ranks now."

The second-place elm scored 320 points, giving King Elmer a lead in the race barring the loss of a limb.

Earlier this year, the town was notified by the Arbor Day Foundation that it had been recognized as Tree City USA for 2023, a long-held designation.  

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