2024 Year in Review: Lanesborough's Elmer Becomes King
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The town became home to royalty in 2024.
King Elmer, an American elm at the corner of Route 7 and Summer Street, became a statewide celebrity in July. The more than 100-foot tall tree was deemed the largest of its species by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.
The king is believed to be more than 250 years old and is 107 feet tall with an average canopy spread of 95.5 feet. It scored 331.88 points with the state based on a 201-inch circumference, which is a 64-inch diameter (5-foot-4 through the middle of the tree.)
King Elmer took the place of the former champion elm in Old Deerfield Village that was cut down.
In terms of government, the town saw a new Select Board member this year and continued to work on a public safety proposal that is palatable to residents.
Deborah Maynard was voted into a three-year term during the town's June election. She outpolled Joseph Trybus 181-87 to fill the seat vacated by longtime board member John Goerlach.
Goerlach declined to run again after serving Lanesborough for 18 years, being first elected in 2006. He was recognized at the following Select Board meeting.
"You've been an influence and a mentor to me as I joined the board and I'll never forget that," Chair Michael Murphy told him. "I value the friendship we've developed as well as the professional relationship."
Voters at town meeting approved a home-rule petition to expand the Select Board from three members to five; this charter change must be approved by the Legislature.
After voters shot down a proposed $5.9 million public safety complex at the 2023 annual town meeting, the Public Safety Building Committee continued to work on a proposal hoping for a better chance of gaining a "yes" vote from residents.
In March, a fire station was scrapped from the proposal because of budget concerns.
A survey was distributed and residents voiced support for three public safety building options: just a police station, a combined police and emergency medical services complex, and a facility with police, EMS, and the Fire Department.
Architect Brian Humes then worked with the Fire Department on a needs assessment and it was determined that the department would require a building of more than 19,000 square feet, costing around $20 million alone.
By August, the panel had agreed on three alternating designs: one for just a police station that is a redesign of a nearly decade-old proposal, one for a combined police and emergency medical services station, and a standalone EMS facility with room for expansion.
Planners thought they could supplement the cost with a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan and in October, the Select Board voted to work with RCAP Solutions as a consultant in the financing application for the USDA funding.
It is estimated that the town would only see about $60,000 in USDA grants but could finance it through a loan with the federal department.
Toward the end of the year, conversation about the shuttered Berkshire Mall resurfaced as officials asked to see movement on the property — markedly the payment of taxes.
In November, 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.
Principal Jay Jones envisions the town taxes paid by February 2025, though he told the Select Board that it could be sooner.
Murphy observed that the owners, who want the Baker Hill Road District dissolved, were "holding $211,00 over our heads to get what you want."
This year saw the birth of a new tradition: Lanesborough Day.
In July, the inaugural Lanesborough Day celebrated the small town and offered a chance for residents to get together under the new pavilion. Bill Laston Memorial Park was filled with food, music, activities, and more.
The Community Development Committee (formerly the Economic Development Committee) led the effort after the Select Board approved its rebrand earlier this year. Town Administrator Gina Dario took inspiration from gatherings in nearby communities and those of Lanesborough's past.
The pavilion was funded through a $54,500 state grant from the state's Destination Development Capital Program and a total of $100,000 from free cash approved at two town meetings.
The town also saw a new business that honors a fallen local hero. Jake's Java opened at 20 Williamstown Road in June in honor of Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob Galliher.
Galliher, 24, was killed on Nov. 29, 2023, when the CV-22 Osprey he was on crashed off the coast of Japan during a joint military exercise.
He and his wife, Ivy, met in 2019 while he was attending survival training in Spokane, Wash., Galliher frequented a local coffee shop Ivy worked at.
They fell in love "one cup at a time" and married. In 2021, they began a family, and the following year, Galliher accepted an assignment to the Yokota Air Force Base in Tokyo.
The couple discussed moving back to the Berkshires once Galliher's commitment to the Air Force had ended to open a family-run coffee shop. Then tragedy struck, but Galliher's mother, Kim Krautter, kept the dream alive.
And finally, town residents regained a shortcut to Dalton when Gulf Road reopened in May.
The seasonal dirt road closed because of flooding caused by what was initially thought to be from a beaver dam that was located on the Pittsfield stretch. However, is seemed to be logs blocking a culvert.
The road often serves as a shortcut between Lanesborough and Dalton and avoids the retail-related traffic at Allendale Plaza and Berkshire Crossing in Pittsfield. It runs about 1.7 miles from Route 8 near the Connector Road in Lanesborough, through Pittsfield, and around the Boulders Reserve, and comes out in Dalton, where it turns into High Street.
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