Adams to Hold Special Town Meeting Nov. 15

ADAMS, Mass. — Town meeting members will be asked to approve additional money for repairs and upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant at a special town meeting to be held at 6 p.m. on Nov. 15 at the Memorial Building

The warrant is open for citizen's petitions until 5 p.m. on Oct 19.

Town meeting gave the OK to just over $5 million for the plant in 2021. The plant was built in 1968 and had only a partial upgrade in 2006.

Town Accountant Crystal Wojcik said the additional amount needed is in the range of about $2 million. 

"After the bids went out, it came back and it turned out that the project was higher than expected," she said. "So we are going back to town meeting to ask for authorization for the additional amount of money." 

In other business, the board approved a facility use request for the Pumpkin Walk from Oct. 28 to 30. The board also set the hours for trick-or-treating, which will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Halloween. 

"Last year, I don't know how many pumpkins we had, but we had a lot of pumpkins all out on display," said Town Clerk Haley Meczywor on the Pumpkin Walk. "We put Little tea lights inside and we light them up, and there's jack-o'-lanterns all over the place at the Visitor Center. It's wonderful for the young children, and it's wonderful for the younger adults and the older adults. It's inter-generational so you can come on down with your whole family, and you get to enjoy and walk around and see all the neat carvings that everybody has done." 

The board also approved a facility use request from the Adams Lions Club for its annual Halloween parade on Oct. 30. The club will serve hot dogs to participants of the event free of charge. 

• The board approved adjustments to the activity use limitations for 1 Cook St., the former Hoosac Valley Coal and Grain site, which will soon be a park. Coughlin said site cleanup has allowed them to lessen the restrictions on the property. 

• The board ratified the position of Kevin Rayner as a planner for the town. Rayner started on Oct. 6.

• The board approved a prorated seasonal liquor license for Poseidon Coffee.

• The board ratified the position of operator Tristan Frieri.

• The board approved an entertainment license for the Firehouse Cafe.

Cheshire Rejects Override, Votes Reduced School Budget

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:32AM / Tuesday, August 13, 2024

The decision to vote on the budget by secret ballot on Monday night was overwhelming. An override to fund the school budget failed in Monday's election. 

CHESHIRE, Mass. — Voters on Monday rejected a Proposition 2 1/2 override and passed a motion that would level fund the town's fiscal 2025 school assessment.

 

They also voted down a debt exclusion to purchase a $67,000 police cruiser 228-267, but approved an exclusion for an $850,000 fire truck 296-200. An article to separate the positions of town tax collector and treasurer failed 230-261.

 

All four questions had passed at the annual town meeting.

 

Question 1 on the warrant would have added $150,534 to the town's levy limit to cover the town's $3 million portion of the $23 million Hoosac Valley Regional School budget.

 

The question failed 141-355. At the special town meeting following the vote, Selectmen Chair Shawn McGrath motioned to level fund the assessment at $2,948,462, the same assessment as last year, and that passed 47-20 on a secret ballot.

 

The failure of the school budget means the School Committee has the choice to make cuts or resubmit its budget to a districtwide vote. The budget passed in Adams, the other town in the two-town school district.

 

Hoosac Valley's Business Manager Erika Snyder said the school district will request a meeting of all voters in the school district, which would decide the budget by majority vote.