BUCKLAND — Voters at Annual Town Meeting made quick work of budget articles Saturday before lingering on several that included animal control ordinances, joining a regional mosquito control district and citizen’s petitions regarding street lighting and film production.
Residents gathered for over three hours for what Moderator Phoebe Walker called “the Congress of the town of Buckland,” held in the Mohawk Trail Regional School parking lot during sunny and, at times, windy weather.
The town’s operating budget for fiscal year 2022 was set at just under $2 million, a 6 percent increase. Voters also approved $2.8 million for Buckland’s share of the Mohawk Trail Regional School District budget, plus $111,754 for Franklin County Technical School.
In addition, voters agreed to fund building improvements to the Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School and Mohawk Trail Regional School, which include heating system and parking lot upgrades.
Residents also approved in a two-thirds vote transferring $150,000 from the Stabilization Fund toward the design and construction of a new swimming pool at the Buckland Recreation Area. The pool, which closed in 2016, is expected to cost $1.2 million to replace along with building a new pool house.
All monetary articles, including those for debt and capital expenses, passed without discussion and many unanimously.
The town clerk will remain an elected position after residents rejected, by a vote of 39 to 33, a proposal to make it an appointed one, so people outside the town could be hired by the Selectboard.
Resident John Gould said in opposition, “This article is asking us to surrender our vote.”
Voters also overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to amend the town’s bylaw concerning how approvals are made regarding the filming of movies and television shows — two months after the TV show “Dexter” was in production for two weeks in Shelburne Falls.
Two movies have been shot in Shelburne Falls: “Labor Day,” released in 2013; and “The Judge,” in 2014.
The original article, proposed through a citizen’s petition, called for such approval to be done at an Annual or Special Town Meeting, but was amended to a public hearing by the Selectboard at which a non-binding vote of those attending would be taken.
Sharin Alpert, who petitioned the article, said while there were people who told her they enjoyed watching or participating in the filmmaking for “Dexter,” others expressed irritation they were “inconvenienced on a daily basis.”
She noted businesses who were compensated were pleased with the arrangement, while those that were not said they lost income. Another issue raised was what she described as the town’s lack of transparency.
“I did hear some people say they didn’t like the idea of our sweet little town being associated in the public eye with serial killers or that we as a town were endorsing a portrayal of serial killers as just quirky individuals with a bad habit,” Alpert said.
Resident John Holden said the bylaw’s passage would make it very unlikely that Buckland would be used as a filming location. He noted filming could still take place on the Shelburne side of the village, which would mean no compensation to the town or its businesses.
“And you’ll still be fully inconvenienced,” he said.
In other business, voters:
■Agreed by a vote of 42 to 15 to join the Pioneer Valley Mosquito Control District, which started in 2017 and includes, with Buckland’s approval, 18 towns in Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties. The Board of Health backed the article.
■Raised the tax for short-term rentals such as bed and breakfasts from 5 percent to 6 percent, the maximum allowed by state law.
■Adopted, by a vote of 42 to 15, new bylaws regarding animal control, with an amendment made at the meeting that struck one rule that any dog walked in the village commercial area would have to be leashed after an appeal by one resident.
■Rejected an article put on the warrant by a citizen’s petition that would have amended the town’s bylaws to change public street light standards in spite of arguments made by supporters about the impact bright lights have on the night sky, people’s health and wildlife. The change would have required the town to provide all existing public LED street lights with house-side shields and to dim street lights to 50 percent at all times. The article didn’t specify how the town would pay for those changes.
Reach Joan Livingston
at 413-772-0261, ext. 250 or jlivingston@recorder.com.
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