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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Lenox Select Board Meeting December 17, 2025: Appointments, National Grid Excavation, Hiring, and Complaint Response

Selectboard & Town Boards — Wednesday, December 17, 2025

BodyLenox, Massachusetts

SessionSelectboard & Town Boards

DateWednesday, December 17, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 14:22

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:00

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Wednesday, December 17th regular select board meeting.

0:05

I will call the tour.

0:07

We have a few announcements from the chair.

0:09

First is that Carrie Sullivan, our town clerk.

0:12

The official time for her is this Friday.

0:14

We would very much like to thank her for 10 years of dedicated public service in the town of Lennox.

0:19

And we welcome Paul Manningly as new town clerk.

0:22

The menorah lighting event in Lilac Park will happen on Sunday, December 21st at 4 30 p.m.

0:28

And the ice skate rank at the LCC is open this weekend, which is very exciting.

0:35

Friday, but hopefully Saturday, Sunday will be lovely.

0:38

The town office holiday hours uh for the holidays are as follows.

0:42

Um, Christmas Eve, 1224.

0:44

The town hall will close at noon.

0:46

Uh it will be closed on the 25th and 26th on 1231 New Year's Eve.

0:51

Uh they will close at noon and they'll be closed again on New Year's Day.

Unassigned speaker

0:56

Can

Speaker 2

0:56

I just a little something?

0:58

Um I was at Carrie's retirement luncheon that we had for her um last Friday.

1:03

And I just want to say that Carrie is just about the living embodiment of your excellent public servant.

1:12

I mean, really, she is a number one town clerk of the Berkshares.

1:18

Um that woman has great customer service skills and is really the spine of this town.

1:26

Um, you know, we might be the brains here, but she is the spine, and she keeps everything functioning, runs all of you know, everything that comes into making the town meeting run with getting the uh warrant completed and getting that posted and posting all the weekly meetings and serving everyone who comes into town hall.

1:46

She has just been a treasure to this town.

1:49

And I really want to sincerely thank her from the select board.

1:53

Um I've had the pleasure of working with her for the last six years.

1:56

She has just been an outstanding partner for this town.

Speaker 1

2:01

Well said.

2:02

Well said, yeah.

2:03

Anyone else have anything they'd like to share?

Unassigned speaker

2:07

No,

Speaker 1

2:07

then we will move into the uh citizens open forum.

2:10

If anyone here is uh interested in speaking to oh, I should acknowledge that we are reporting loud.

2:15

Yes.

2:15

Yes, Clarence Mandown and CT, I remember CTCTSB.

2:20

No one for Citizens Open Forum, then we will move to approval of minutes from December 3rd and 10th.

Speaker 3

2:27

We'll make a motion to approve the minutes for uh

Unassigned speaker

2:31

the

Speaker 3

2:31

third and a tenth for those who are at each meeting.

2:34

Compared to it separately.

2:35

We'll do the third first.

Speaker 2

2:36

I have to abstain.

2:37

Oh,

Speaker 3

2:37

so we can't approve it, can

Speaker 2

2:38

we?

2:38

Oh, that's right.

Unassigned speaker

2:40

No,

Speaker 4

2:40

but

Speaker 3

2:41

I

Speaker 4

2:41

I miss one of those.

Speaker 2

2:42

And I missed one.

2:43

No,

Speaker 4

2:43

you can do it by whatever members are present who were present at that meeting.

2:46

Delightful.

Speaker 2

2:47

Okay.

Speaker 1

2:47

Then

Speaker 3

2:48

we have a motion to approve the minutes of December 3rd.

2:51

All in favor?

2:52

All right.

Speaker 2

2:52

We have

Speaker 3

2:53

stain.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████████████████████████████████49%

Procedural█████████████████████23%

Pending Litigation██████████████15%

Youth Programs████████████13%

Summary of Proceedings

Lenox Select Board Meeting December 17, 2025

The Lenox Select Board held its regular meeting on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, addressing a range of administrative and operational items including appointments, a public hearing continuation for National Grid, a new hire for the community center, amendments to a public health agreement, and a response to an Open Meeting Law complaint.

Announcements

The board thanked retiring Town Clerk Carrie Sullivan for 10 years of service and welcomed Paul Manningly as the new town clerk.
A menorah lighting event in Lilac Park is scheduled for Sunday, December 21 at 4:30 p.m.
The ice skating rink at the Lenox Community Center (LCC) opens this weekend.
Town office holiday hours: closed at noon on December 24 and December 31, fully closed December 25–26 and January 1.

Consent Calendar

Approved the minutes of December 3 (with one abstention) and December 10 (with one abstention).
Appointed Francis Valley to the Historical Commission, filling a vacancy until 2028.
Appointed Daniel Schenker to the Zoning Board of Appeals as a full member (formerly an alternate), filling a vacancy until 2027.
Approved the 2026 annual local license renewal for Audi BMW Lenox.
Approved a special one-day all-alcoholic beverage license request.
Accepted donations to the Fire Department, Ambulance, and Police Department.

Public Hearing (Continued from December 3)

National Grid petitioned to excavate public highways at Cliffwood Street and Main Street to install underground electric conduits and fixtures in accordance with plan number 31215410.
The National Grid representative stated that the contractor would be able to tunnel under the tree lot and driveway, avoiding trenching in the road. The board clarified that the original map was misleading because it showed work on town property, not the road itself.
The board closed the public hearing and approved the petition with the condition that no road opening occur and that all work be completed off the roadway, as updated on December 17, 2025 in coordination with the DPW superintendent.

General Business

Hiring of Youth Program Coordinator: The Town Manager announced the hiring of Jonathan Yato as Youth Program Coordinator at the LCC. Yato has experience at the Boys & Girls Club of the Capital Region and Dalton CRA. The board approved the appointment.
Amendment to Public Health Collaborative Agreement: The board reviewed and approved minor changes to Exhibit C of the Southern Berkshire Public Health Collaborative Intermunicipal Agreement. The changes add the total number of communities served (now 12) and update service offerings. The board commended the collaborative for its work, including immunization clinics and lock box postings.
Response to Open Meeting Law Complaint: The board discussed a complaint filed by Patrick Higgins on December 8, 2025, alleging that the agenda for December 3 did not list all businesses to be considered. The town assessed that the complaint was unfounded because the official posting location is the town hall bulletin board (not the website), and the full list was posted there. The board voted to authorize Assistant Town Clerk Paul Manningly to respond on behalf of the town; if the complainant disagrees, the matter would be referred to legal counsel.

Key Outcomes

Approved minutes from December 3 and December 10.
Approved consent agenda items including appointments and license renewals.
Approved National Grid’s excavation petition with modifications.
Approved the hiring of Jonathan Yato as Youth Program Coordinator.
Approved amendments to the Southern Berkshire Public Health Collaborative Intermunicipal Agreement.
Approved a response to the Open Meeting Law complaint from Patrick Higgins.
Next regular meeting scheduled for January 7, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Wednesday, December 17th regular select board meeting. I will call the tour. We have a few announcements from the chair. First is that Carrie Sullivan, our town clerk. The official time for her is this Friday. We would very much like to thank her for 10 years of dedicated public service in the town of Lennox. And we welcome Paul Manningly as new town clerk. The menorah lighting event in Lilac Park will happen on Sunday, December 21st at 4 30 p.m. And the ice skate rank at the LCC is open this weekend, which is very exciting. Friday, but hopefully Saturday, Sunday will be lovely. The town office holiday hours uh for the holidays are as follows. Um, Christmas Eve, 1224. The town hall will close at noon. Uh it will be closed on the 25th and 26th on 1231 New Year's Eve. Uh they will close at noon and they'll be closed again on New Year's Day. Can I just a little something? Um I was at Carrie's retirement luncheon that we had for her um last Friday. And I just want to say that Carrie is just about the living embodiment of your excellent public servant. I mean, really, she is a number one town clerk of the Berkshares. Um that woman has great customer service skills and is really the spine of this town. Um, you know, we might be the brains here, but she is the spine, and she keeps everything functioning, runs all of you know, everything that comes into making the town meeting run with getting the uh warrant completed and getting that posted and posting all the weekly meetings and serving everyone who comes into town hall. She has just been a treasure to this town. And I really want to sincerely thank her from the select board. Um I've had the pleasure of working with her for the last six years. She has just been an outstanding partner for this town. Well said. Well said, yeah. Anyone else have anything they'd like to share? No, then we will move into the uh citizens open forum. If anyone here is uh interested in speaking to oh, I should acknowledge that we are reporting loud. Yes. Yes, Clarence Mandown and CT, I remember CTCTSB. No one for Citizens Open Forum, then we will move to approval of minutes from December 3rd and 10th. We'll make a motion to approve the minutes for uh the third and a tenth for those who are at each meeting. Compared to it separately. We'll do the third first. I have to abstain. Oh, so we can't approve it, can we? Oh, that's right. No, but I I miss one of those. And I missed one.

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