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Selectboard reviews LED streetlight plan, town report and budget items; sends warrant draft to attorney
Summary
At its April 13 meeting the Charlemont Selectboard discussed restarting an LED streetlight conversion before incentives expire, approved the Town Report dedication, learned that a capital request was withdrawn, and voted to send the Town Meeting warrant draft to the town attorney; several routine warrants and an invoice were also approved.
At the April 13 meeting, Charlemont officials discussed restarting a streetlight conversion with National Grid to switch sodium-vapor lamps to LEDs before available incentives expire in October. Board members raised dark-sky concerns and suggested piloting a few bulbs to evaluate brightness and color before a full rollout; Wilder Sparks offered technical input and Star Atkeson urged compliance with master-plan dark-sky recommendations.
Administrators reported the Housing and Redevelopment Authority currently has five units in the program, which staff expects to be complete in June 2026. The Selectboard approved the Town Report dedication as drafted and praised Kim Blakeslee for preparing the report. A capital request from Mohawk Trail Regional High School for Charlemont’s share ($8,908.88) of a mower and parking-lot lights was withdrawn after it was submitted too late for some towns.
On budget items, the assessor’s clerk will receive a $1.00 hourly raise and a Rowe late-bus line was reduced by $7,000 to $0; the board said it will review remaining budget items at the next finance committee meeting. The Selectboard set a $25 fine for uncollected dog waste and voted to send the Town Meeting warrant draft to the town attorney for formal review; Jared Bellows moved to send the draft and Kim Blakeslee seconded the motion.
The board also approved payroll and vendor warrants and a KP Law invoice after motions by Jared Bellows and second by Wilder Sparks; all such routine motions passed unanimously. The board adjourned the meeting after recording those approvals and a brief follow-up discussion regarding MLP DPU outreach.
