Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Great Barrington Select Board and Finance Committee met on June 16, 2026, to deliberate and make recommendations on articles for the upcoming special town meeting. The agenda included citizen petitions for lifeguards, a skate park monitor, the co-responder program, parking enforcement, veteran property leases, and Housatonic Water Works legal fees; additional funding for the Southern Berkshire Ambulance Squad; and appropriations to address the Morais construction contract litigation. Presentations from service providers and town staff were followed by extensive board discussion about the town's free cash reserves, reliance on one-time funds, and long-term fiscal sustainability.
Chief Kevin requested $86,899 beyond the $327,000 already approved, citing a contractual 7.5% escalation for a three-year term. After debate about fiscal constraints and service continuity, the Finance Committee passed a positive recommendation (4–1). The Select Board also gave a positive recommendation (4–1).
Town Manager Hartman and Town Counsel David Doneski presented the findings of a forensic audit detailing hundreds of thousands in unauthorized payments to a contractor. The board discussed options: setting aside free cash (Article 2, $1 million), borrowing in the event of a judgment, or proceeding to court. The Finance Committee recommended against Article 2 (negative vote). The Select Board’s deliberation on Article 2 included failed amendments and no final positive recommendation, leaving the article without a board endorsement. For Article 3 ($200,000 from the stabilization fund for legal and consultant services), both the Finance Committee and the Select Board gave positive recommendations, after the Select Board withdrew an amendment to reduce the amount.
The boards underscored the need for a multi-year financial plan and urged procurement reforms to prevent recurrence of the contract oversight failures documented in the forensic audit.
Pursuant to MPL 7C30A section 20F after notifying the chair of the public body. Any person may make a video or audio recording of an open session of a meeting of a public body or may transmit the meeting for any medium. Beginning of the meeting, the chair shall inform other attendees of any such recordings. This meeting is being recorded by the Burchar, CTSP and the town of Great Variant. Any member of the public wishing to speak at the meeting must receive permission of the chair. The listing of agenda items or those reasonably anticipated by the chair, which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed, but in fact we discussed another items not listed, may be brought up for discussion. The extent permitted by law. So how we're going to run tonight, we're going to start with Article 1, the Citizens Petition, Article 1, and we'll have a presentation, no more than 10 minutes, then we'll ask questions. We then will do article four citizens petition. I can't 10 minutes. We'll add, then we'll do questions. And then we'll have town staff come up to answer a question for Article 2 and 3. We've already discussed that at length. So now it's mostly questions. So we'll start with Article 1. Good afternoon, it's not work. Did not occur. And I'm not sure that there is someone from each of the groups here, but there's someone who will leave several of the groups here to speak about why they're particularly grouped. Should have a recommendation from the select board and finance committee with respect to the appropriation. They can speak the total 10 minutes, so on it. Why don't we do first yourself first? No, she's not one of my hello everyone. Eric Jaffey, Perk Street and Wisatonic. I'm the board chair of Berkshire South. First off, I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of our citizens' petition and request for funding this evening. I could probably go on for about 30 minutes listing all the reasons, large and small, why lifeguards are a need to have and not a nice to have at Lake Mansfield, but I know we have a lot to get through. So instead, I'll just list a few facts for your consideration. One Berkshire South has run the lifeguarding program at Lake Mansfield for the past 20 years without any major incidents or drownings. It's something we're very proud of. The chance to show up for our community and allow people to safely enjoy the lake. This would have been our 21st summer. Two, these zero incidents are not because there's no risk at the lake. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Our safety record is due to the careful, proactive precautionary measures and rapid response of our impeccably trained life groups. Three, we know that when waterfronts are unguarded, people drown. And we have the unfortunate and devastating data to back that up. Last summer alone, we saw one death at Beckett Quarry and another at Lake Buell, plus two more incidents in the summer of 2024. The one common factor, no one was on duty to save them. And four, the people have already spoken and voted to fund the lifeguards. They view it as a service worth paying for.