BERNARDSTON — Apart from a total budget of $5,422,559, the Annual Town Meeting warrant includes several notable articles on new zoning bylaws that would apply to apartments, commercial developments and solar panel installations. Town Meeting is Wednesday, 7 p.m. at Pioneer Valley Regional School in Northfield.
The various budget articles come to a total of $5,422,559 — a 3-percent decrease from this year’s $5,584,757.
Finance Committee Chairwoman Jane Dutcher points out that there were two relatively large appropriations this year that are not needed next year — for the Turners Falls Road bridge and the deficit in the Pioneer Valley Regional School District’s lunch program, which together came to $121,263. Even discounting those one-time payments from this year’s amount, the new budget is still lower.
The town’s budget is expected to decrease further over the next month, as the Pioneer school district irons out its own budget to reflect its recent decision to close Leyden’s Pearl Rhodes Elementary School. The selectboards and finance committees of all four towns are recommending that their town meeting voters either pass over or vote against the school district’s currently proposed budget. The plan is that all four towns would revisit the school budget at special town meetings in June, by which time Pioneer will have finalized its financial plan for 2019-2020.
Bernardston’s Selectboard and Finance Committee are recommending against funding the Pioneer superintendent’s five-year contract. Town officials of all four towns of the district have expressed disappointment since the contract was signed in February, mostly on the grounds that the contract is overly generous, and that it will prevent Pioneer from pursuing meaningful merger options with nearby school districts. (Tentative discussions with Gill-Montague Regional School District are ongoing.)
Warwick has gotten a legal opinion that the contract can be undone if at least two of the district’s towns refuse to fund it, Warwick Town Coordinator David Young said. Bernardston has not consulted a lawyer, said Town Coordinator Lou Bordeaux.
Of the four Pioneer towns, only Warwick and Bernardston have warrant articles on the matter. Northfield’s warrant does not, and Leyden’s has not been finalized yet.
Four proposed zoning bylaw changes will be voted in four separate articles. An “accessory apartment” bylaw would allow homeowners to rent apartments that are either attached to or within their own homes. A commercial design bylaw would require that commercial developments be designed “with character that is in harmony with the town,” through regulations on landscaping and building design. A “low-impact development” bylaw would give the Planning Board greater control over water drainage in new developments. An article on solar panel installations is an update to the town’s current rules, Town Coordinator Bordeaux said.
Like many other Franklin County towns this year, Bernardston will be voting on changing the state flag and seal. The article is to adopt a resolution in support of the change and to request the support of State Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, and State Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton. Bernardston’s resolution highlights historical injustices against Native Americans in Massachusetts, and the representation of a Native American in the state’s flag and seal.
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-772-0261 ex 261.