Lanesborough to Mall Owners: Pay Your Taxes

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Select Board would like to see movement on the Berkshire Mall — markedly the payment of taxes.  

Earlier this month, the Lanesborough Fire and Water District filed a suit for more than $105,000 in back taxes and interest. JMJ Holdings, which purchased the mall last year, owes about $211,000 to the town.

The owners say they are plagued by the costs of stabilizing a rundown property that should not have gotten to its current state and cite "inhibitive" taxation from the Baker Hill Road District.

"Because you have not paid fiscal '24, all those real estate taxes that are due to the town, they are affecting our free cash certification," Selectwoman Deborah Maynard said.

"Our free cash is lowered by the amount of money that you owe the town in real estate taxes so it does really hurt the town when you don't pay your taxes and you don't pay them on time."

She said the mall also hasn't paid the first two quarters of FY25, making it six payments behind, and the tax collector is beginning the process of putting the property into tax title.

Chairman Michael Murphy observed that the owners, who want the BHRD dissolved, were "holding $211,00 over our heads to get what you want."

"We are about six or seven million dollars into this property so I think, I believe, and I know we will be able to handle a $211,000 tax bill," Jones said.

He noted the JMJ did pay $800,000 in the first year of ownership.

Jones said the taxes fell behind because of all the work that needed to be done to the vacant mall, as "it will never function right unless it's totally gutted."  On top of the $4 million purchase investment, he reported spending almost another million to get it in shape for use.

"We will be paying our taxes and we will be doing that shortly but it will be for the town of Lanesborough," he said.

"As far as we're concerned, the Baker Hill Road District is a separate situation and we would like to come back to the town a second time and suggest something different in terms of the taxes when we have our other partner on board."

Jones said JMJ has been in talks with another company for the past year on partnering transforming the former mall into senior housing and assistive living. 

"The Baker Hill Road District, throughout the life of the project that we see, it's just not fiscally feasible," Grogan said.

"We want to get the assessed value of this property up by putting a lot of money into it. We dream of 400 to 500 units and that all depends on what the feasibility study can support. We're not just looking at a standard run-of-the-mill senior care facility. We're looking at independent living, skilled nursing, memory care, palliative care, hospice care, and that's all being fed into this analysis as well as additional complexities such as exploring affordable housing although that is not the primary means of what we're for for this project."

He said the owners do not feel represented by William Prendergast, chair of the BHRD, and questioned his election and the length of his term.

"We're really trying to make as many strides as we can to get this to a financeable property and utilizing this to its highest and best use but we want the town to recognize how inhibitive the Baker Hill Road District is," Grogan said, later adding that they are trying to turn it into a win-win for everyone.

There was some back and forth between the two bodies about the authority of the Select Board in making choices about the district. Siegars attempted to contribute to the conversation on Monday but was told that it was between the Select Board and the mall owners. In his email Tuesday, he noted that town meeting in 2023 "resoundingly defeated a citizen petition to dissolve the road district."

"I'm not saying pro-Baker Hill or anti but I can tell you for the town, the Baker Hill Road District helps us because they are, for a lack of a better word, the taxing entity who, when you pay your bill, they give money to the town to pay for two officers, they give the money to pave, maintain the road," Selectman Timothy Sorrell said, asking how they can trust the mall owners when they aren't paying taxes.

He suggested that the town look into the governance of the BHRD and Murphy suggested that the owners identify a person they would like to represent them on it. The prudential committee is made up of two members appointed by the town and one by the property owners.

The feasibility study is expected to take another two months.  The Select Board reiterated its wish to be informed about how the town can help move development along and get the property functioning again.

"The point is and the real concern is, we want you to be comfortable, we want to bring these jobs and the situation here," Jones said.

Prospect Meadow Farm Opens New Vocational Barn

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:40AM / Thursday, June 18, 2026

A charcuterie board at the event displays fare from some of the regional producers.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Prospect Meadow Farm last week officially opened a new barn to sell plants and other goods it produces.

Prospect Meadow Farm Berkshires is an expansion of ServiceNet's first farm in Hatfield that has provided meaningful agricultural work, fair wages, and personal and professional growth to hundreds of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities since opening in 2011. 

The Berkshires farm opened on Crane Avenue two years ago and has now introduced a new vocational and unwinding space for the more than 25 farmhands who get paid a minimum wage.

"This is a facility for our folks who work on the farm to learn additional skills and do additional work," said Vice President of Vocational Services Shawn Robinson at the Friday event. "So we have a food packaging space, we've got a walk-in cooler space, we've got a floral design space, we've got a farm store room for staff, lunch room, and then a meditation room that we're standing in now, which is when you're having those hard moments and you need to get away from everything.

"This is going to be a peaceful place you can find and sort of find some comfort, and then hopefully get back to work."

The barn was built by funds from the state Executive Office of Economic Development and the state Department of Agricultural Resources that equated to around $600,000, with ServiceNet contributing around the same amount. The structure took over a year to build.

The state's Department of Developmental Services Commissioner Sarah Peterson spoke on how meaningful this farm and ServiceNet is to her and that this place is important to those who need it.

"Places like this are so crucial because they create opportunities for people living with disabilities that aren't plentiful," she said. "People living with developmental and intellectual disabilities have an unemployment rate over 25 percent five times the rate for people without disabilities, even more jarring is under appointment, which is at 80 percent. That means that four out of every five people with disabilities earn below market rate wages and have limited upward mobility.

"The building itself is really impressive, but what you're really seeing here is the result of vision. It's about opportunity, it's about community, and it's founded in the belief that every person deserves the chance to learn and work and contribute to thrive under the leadership of ServiceNet."

One aspect of the barn will be the market where produce from the farm and other local growers will be sold as well as keeping the tradition of Jodi's Seasonal, which previously occupied the location, alive with plant sales. The market will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"Everything you see in terms of the tomatoes, the fresh produce, that's all done with the hands of our farm hands here, individuals with disabilities who get out every single morning, get in those greenhouses, put their hands in the dirt, and make all of this happen, and this is just the start," said Robinson. "This farm is a little over a year old at this point, but give it another two years, and we hope to be growing enough food to share throughout the Berkshires."

Robinson said the farm is focused on local food security, recently partnering with the Hatfield Council on Aging and planning to work toward making enough food to partner with places in the Berkshires.

He said the barn serves the Hatfield farm and what the employees here needed.

"We've been able to learn the needs of the farm hands who work there and so we have learned that they need a comfortable break space for those times where it's hard to be out in the fields, we've learned that a quiet space for when you're going through something you need to be away from people are key, and then also we have a small farm store in Hatfield, but we've seen increasing interest in retail work from our participants, so we thought it was time for a larger-scale farm store," he said.

Robinson noted that Prospect Meadow Farm has helped the individuals working there feel valued and head.