Lenox Select Board Regular Meeting — January 14, 2026

The Lenox Select Board held its regular business meeting on Wednesday, January 14, 2026. The board approved routine consent items, authorized the sale of GO bonds and BANs, handled liquor-license matters, set a short-term rental registration fee, discussed whether to pursue the state's seasonal communities designation, and received a high-level FY2027 budget outlook. No agenda or minutes were included in the source material, and no residents spoke during Citizens Open Forum.

Announcements

• A board member announced that the Affordable Housing Trust is developing a new Housing Production Plan. The trust will hold housing visioning sessions on Saturday, January 24 at 10:00 a.m. and Monday, January 26 at 6:00 p.m., likely at the Lenox Community Center; the location will be confirmed and posted on the town website and shared through the Lenox Chamber of Commerce and Visit Lenox Instagram.

Consent Calendar

• Approved, without opposition, the minutes of the December 17, 2025 meeting.
• Accepted donations of $25 and $100 to the Fire Department and $50 and $100 to the Police Department.
• Ratified Town Manager Jay's appointment of Jeffrey Simmons as a town-wide facilities assistant. The position is funded by shifting existing budgeted funds, has no additional cost, and may reduce contract cleaning services.
• Approved a one-day all-alcoholic-beverages license requested by Sarah Goodbillet of the Lenox Chamber of Commerce for Thursday, January 22, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Bedford Hall, 104 Walker Street.

Debt Financing Authorization

• The board approved the sale of the town's general obligation (GO) bonds and bond anticipation notes (BANs) dated January 21, 2026.
• Town Manager Jay said the GO bond package is approximately $30 million, including about $27 million for the public safety complex and smaller projects such as $3 million for downtown roads/sidewalks and about $1.2 million for the Homeswood Terrace water utility project. Standard & Poor's has reaffirmed the town's AAA/SP-1+ rating. The GO bond is expected to be a 30-year borrowing at about 3.74%, with payments extending to about 2053.
• A separate $12 million BAN is for the wastewater treatment plant project, one-year financing at 2.4%. The total project is $45 million, including a $12 million grant; the town has to borrow $35 million upfront, and this is one round of BAN financing.
• Board members discussed interest-rate and refinancing options, the favorable rate environment compared with roughly 5% BANs previously, and the need to be fiscally conservative with new debt. The motion passed by voice vote with all in favor.

Liquor License Hearings and Actions

• Public hearing: transfer from LH Manager Northeast LLC dba Lifehouse Berkshires to Housatonic Hotel F&B LLC dba Berkshire Untold, with Jeffrey Borden as manager, for 194 Pittsfield Road. Applicant representative Jeff Lynch said the property owner created a single-purpose entity to hold the license and will hire a management company, with no changes to hours, offerings, entertainment, or outdoor service. The board closed the hearing and approved the transfer and manager change.
• Another hearing, for a license matter at 242 Pittsfield Road with proposed manager listed as Sophia Kristen, was opened and then continued to the next meeting because certified-mail notification to a large number of abutters was delayed. A board member noted that state law requiring certified letters to abutters is a hidden cost for small businesses; the motion to continue passed unanimously.

Seasonal Communities Designation

• Land use director/town planner Eamon, with Town Manager Jay, presented the state seasonal communities designation created by the 2024 Affordable Homes Act. Forty-three municipalities have been designated; Lenox was added in December. The designation is available because of Lenox's high rate of short-term rentals and second homes.
• Accepting the designation would require town meeting approval and two zoning changes: allowing tiny homes in all single-family residential zones and allowing development on undersized lots. It would unlock optional tools, including year-round housing preservation, a regional housing trust, housing preference for essential public employees and artists, a residential property tax exemption above the ordinary cap, and access to a roughly $2 million state grant program for planning and technical assistance.
• Eamon said undersized-lot development could be limited to sewer/water-served areas; the designation could be revoked by town meeting; and draft state regulations are expected to be finalized in February.
• Board members expressed caution: one cited a Green Community program that added 15–20% to construction costs and discouraged developers; another raised density and rural-character concerns; another asked whether shifting more tax burden to second homeowners would hurt Lenox's appeal and wanted input from real-estate professionals. Several said they needed more information before supporting a town meeting article.
• Planning Board chairman Tom Delasco said the Planning Board sees little downside, noting current zoning has no minimum gross floor area, so a 400-square-foot tiny home could already be built on a conforming lot; a dedicated tiny-house bylaw would still need review.
• Affordable Housing Trust member Kate McNeil Vaughn said the designation is complex, with recordkeeping, optional choices, and references to other state laws, but probably benefits Lenox because housing is "wildly unaffordable" and the town wants to remain a real community with year-round families.
• The board did not vote to place the designation on the May town meeting warrant. It supported continued research and a regional DLTA grant application with Williamstown and Lee through the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, and it may revisit the designation at a later town meeting.

Short-Term Rental Registration Fee

• Land use director Eamon presented options for an annual short-term rental registration fee, authorized by the November town meeting bylaw. Nine Berkshire communities have fees; the transcript cites a range of about $75–200 and later about $75–250, with the average cited around $175.
• Lenox has about 175 short-term rentals based on Department of Revenue data and spends about $10,000 per year on Deckard monitoring software. The building department now conducts annual inspections of most short-term rentals at $100 per rental; Deckard reported an average nightly short-term rental rate in Lenox of about $400.
• Board members said the fee should cover software, staff time, and inspection-related work, and should be high enough to be reasonable. The board unanimously set the annual registration fee at $150, noting it can be adjusted after the first year as actual staff time is tracked.

FY2027 Budget Outlook

• Town Manager Jay gave a high-level FY2027 budget outlook. Department heads submitted requests in December, and roughly two-thirds of department reviews are complete. The budget uses a level-service approach: three years of line-item actuals are analyzed, and funds are shifted from underspent line items before new money is added.
• Key drivers: health insurance is planned at a 20% increase, adding about $128,000, with 18% modeled in some budget scenarios; new GO bond debt service will be about $2.1 million per year; and the $12 million wastewater BAN will cost about $500,000 next January. Cost-of-living increases are 2.5% for all staff, including police, fire, DPW, and nonunion employees. No retirements or new positions are anticipated.
• The town has about $5.5 million in free cash, much of it one-time Rest of River revenue. The FY27 plan may use $250,000 of Chapter 90 funds for paving instead of the usual $500,000 free-cash allocation, freeing money for reserves. Proposals include a new bridge stabilization fund for the Lenox Dale and New Lenox bridges and using 80% of interest earned on the $26 million Rest of River investment—estimated at $800,000 to $1.1 million per year—to mitigate debt service.
• Staff also discussed OPEB funding, Berkshire County Retirement Board funding near 100%, personnel-rule review, aggregated energy contracts, PFAS testing mandates, and sludge disposal costs as ongoing budget considerations. Jay described FY27 as a "tactical" budget year rather than an austere one.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the December 17 minutes and the four-item consent agenda by unanimous voice vote.
• Approved the sale of GO bonds and BANs dated January 21, 2026.
• Approved the liquor license transfer and manager change for Berkshire Untold at 194 Pittsfield Road.
• Continued the 242 Pittsfield Road liquor license matter to the next regular meeting.
• Set the annual short-term rental registration fee at $150.
• Directed staff to keep researching the seasonal communities designation and to proceed with the regional DLTA grant application; no town meeting warrant article was approved at this time.
• Adjourned; the next regular meeting is scheduled for January 28, 2026.