Cheshire Mulls Marijuana Consumption Bylaw

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
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CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen is considering a bylaw covering the public consumption of cannabis. 

Police Officer Aaron Goodell brought this to the town administrator after receiving an increase of calls about juveniles in possession of marijuana vapes at Hoosac Valley High School.

Chair Shawn McGrath wondered at last week's meeting if they should consider adding an alcohol bylaw or incorporate both substances into one bylaw. 

The board had an initial draft based on Dalton's bylaws regarding public consumption.

The draft mentioned any public consumption of marijuana was prohibited with a penalty of $300 for each offense and the bylaw may be enforced through any lawful means.

The board members had many questions and suggested that they table the discussion until Goodell could attend a meeting to answer their questions.

In other business, the board was informed that the free cash certifications would bring in $677,991 from the general fund, $204,394 from the Water Enterprise Fund, and $32,071 from the Transfer Station Enterprise Fund.

Town Administrator Jennifer Morse also brought up the state Department of Transportation's Municipal Pavement Program. The state is planning to improve Route 116 in Cheshire and Savoy in fiscal 2028. Morse said the town will not be responsible for the project.


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Hoosac Valley Seeks to Prevent 'Volatile' Assessments

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass.— The "volatile" shifts in Hoosac Valley Regional School District's town assessments year to year is hard for smaller towns to absorb; however, a proposed change to the regional agreement would fix that. 
 
During the Select Board meeting last week, Superintendent Aaron Dean presented the proposed change to the regional agreement that would set assessments based on a five-year rolling average rather than the annual student enrollment.
 
"The long-term goal is to make the assessment process a little bit more viable for people from year-to-year," he said. 
 
An ad hoc committee was convened to review the district's agreement, during which concerns arose about the rapid fluctuations in assessments.
 
"I think you have to look short term, and you have to look long term. The goal is to kind of level it off and make planning easier and flatten that curve in terms of how it's going to impact both communities," Dean said. 
 
Every year, it is a little more difficult for one community because they are feeling disproportionately impacted compared to the other, he said. 
 
"The transient nature of this population right now is like nothing I've ever seen," Dean said. 
 
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