Dalton Policy Restricts New Membership for Green Committe

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
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DALTON, Mass — A town policy that does not allow family members to join the same committee blocked the addition of a Green Committee member.

Green Committee members Wendy E. Brown informed her peers at a meeting on Jan. 4 that her son expressed interest in joining the panel, however, a new town policy does not allow residents from the same family to join the same committee.

Town Manager Tom Hutcheson said this new policy is in place to avoid "the potential excessive weight of one opinion" and to get a broader range of opinions to best reflect the population.

Green Committee member David Wasielewski questioned why some other committees have family members on the same panel.

Hutcheson said committees that already have family members on the same panel prior to the new policy have been "grandfathered in." 

There are 4 vacant seats on the committee. Currently, the Green Committee only has three members. There has been little interest from members of the public in filling these vacancies.

The last member to join was Thomas Irwin who joined 17 months ago.

"The unfortunate thing here is that we have so few people on the committee that if somebody sneezes then the committee has no quorum, and we can't do anything," Irwin said.  

With that in mind, Irwin asked if this is something they could take to the Select Board to get a possible exception to this policy. 

Hutcheson preferred not to attempt this.

"I would much rather not do that. I would recommend against that, I'm afraid. I realized that the position that committee is in but it is, unfortunately, a bad precedent that I would not like to see repeated in other committees," Hutcheson said.

Another concern raised is that if someone resigns, then the Green Committee would no longer exist, Irwin said. 

Irwin felt because of this and with many boards struggling to fill their ranks, the town should reconsider this policy.

Hutcheson said he would look at where the town advertises for committee members to confirm the Green Committee is on that list.

The board mentioned possibly bringing Brown’s son, who is 22 years old, on,  having him on to help out. He would not be a voting member.

 

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Dalton Residents Eliminate Bittersweet at the Dalton CRA

DALTON, Mass. — Those passing by the house at Mill + Main, formally known as the Kittredge House, in Dalton may have noticed the rim of woods surrounding the property have undergone a facelift. 
 
Two concerned Dalton residents, Tom Irwin and Robert Collins set out to make a change. Through over 40 hours of effort, they cleared 5 large trailers of bittersweet and grapevine vines and roots, fallen trees and branches and cut down many small trees damaged by the vines.
 
"The Oriental Bittersweet was really taking over the area in front of our Mill + Main building," said Eric Payson, director of facilities for the CRA. "While it started as a barrier, mixing in with other planted vegetation for our events help on the lawn, it quickly got out of hand and started strangling some nice hardwoods."
 
Bittersweet, which birds spread unknowingly, strangles trees, and also grows over and smothers ground level bushes and plants. According to forester and environmental and landscaping consultant Robert Collins, oriental bittersweet has grown to such a problem that the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Wildlife Management has adopted a policy of applying herbicide to bittersweet growing in their wildlife management areas.
 
Collins and Irwin also chipped a large pile of cut trees and brush as well as discarded branches. 
 
"We are very grateful to be in a community where volunteers, such as Tom and Robert, are willing to roll up their sleeves and help out," said CRA Executive Director Alison Peters.
 
Many areas in Dalton, including backyards, need the same attention to avoid this invasive plant killing trees. Irwin and Colins urge residents to look carefully at their trees for a vine wrapped often in a corkscrew fashion around branches or a mat of vines growing over a bush that has clusters of orange and red berries in the Fall. To remove them pull the roots as well.
 
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