BERNARDSTON — The Selectboard will hold a Town Meeting Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Bernardston Senior Center to review and vote on several articles.
The most notable item on the agenda is article six, giving the town permission to collect a 3% local sales tax on cannabis or cannabis products sold by any retailers that will operate within the town. This comes in anticipation of Heirloom Collective opening a retail facility in Bernardston, which currently only has a cultivation facility. As is typical with cannabis retailers in Massachusetts, a 17% sales tax will go to the state while 3% will go to the town.
The town meeting warrant also includes several “housekeeping items,” as Louis Bordeaux, town coordinator, described them.
Article one asks the Selectboard to decide on whether it will allow the negotiation of payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements going forward, which are payments to local governments to help offset any losses in property taxes due to non-taxable lands or properties.
Article two proposes that the town enter a PILOT agreement for a solar project on Fox Hill, meaning that while the land will still be taxable, the solar panels will not be taxed as the town will receive PILOT money instead. The panels cover about 7½ acres of land.
Article three proposes that the town transfer funds from its stabilization account to purchase two used trucks and necessary upgrades for the Highway Department.
Article four addresses a clerical error in which funds need to be transferred between the Selectboard donation and newsletter revolving accounts.
Similarly, article five refers to the proposed transfer of funds from the recycling revolving fund to pay invoices from the Franklin County Solid Waste Management District from the 2021 fiscal year.
The Town Meeting schedule and videos of Selectboard meetings can be found on the town of Bernardston website.