A significant portion of the Appointments & Ordinance Committee’s November 11 meeting was devoted to a proposed ordinance that would require vacated rental units in Greenfield to be inspected by the Board of Health before they can be rented out to a new tenant. Under the proposed ordinance, if the BOH finds the unit to…
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What happened with the library vote…
The motion to authorize the borrowing authority for the new library project was on the floor for discussion by the Council, and it became clear that Councilor Sund was going to vote no. Without his vote, the motion lacked the two-thirds majority required to pass it. A no vote by the Council would have permanently…
A few preliminary answers on tree management in Greenfield
While the tree work I saw last week on Smith Street seems not to have been anything the town was doing, it got me interested in how tree management works in Greenfield. Via the DPW’s page on the town website, I found my way to the Greenfield Tree Committee. The Tree Committee is not an…
Looks like some trees are coming down on Smith Street.
Update: I talked to the Greenfield DPW, and this work is apparently not anything f they are doing. They said they currently have one tree in Smith Street that is tagged for removal, but they need to have a tree hearing first. I noticed this morning that there is what looks to be (judging by…
Doug Mayo talks about privatization of town services
I sat down for coffee last week with Precinct 8 Councilor Doug Mayo to discuss his proposed ordinance regarding privatization of municipal services such as garbage and recycling collection and disposal. The proposed ordinance, which is currently still with the Appointments & Ordinances Committee of the City Council, does not aim to prevent the privatization…
No response from Council member Isaac Mass about GCET vote
I reached out to Town Councilor Isaac Mass earlier this week to ask why he believes that a special election would be required to change GCET’s status to an Enterprise Fund. As of today, I have heard nothing back from him, despite a follow-up email sent yesterday. This issue may have been rendered moot in…
DPW public forum, or more than you ever wanted to know about waste removal in Greenfield
Last night at Greenfield High School, Department of Public Works Director Don Ouellette hosted a public forum on waste disposal. There were two topics on the agenda: The proposal to build an anaerobic digester for the disposal of wastewater sludge The future of solid waste removal in Greenfield. There were probably 30-40 people in attendance,…
Live-blogging the DPW public forum
I’m trying something new with this evening’s DPW public forum. Instead of live-tweeting the meeting and annoying all my non-Greenfield Twitter/Facebook followers, I will be live-blogging it here (assuming everything works as it should). This post should auto-update as I start. Stay tuned!
The town’s lawyer says GCET should be both an Enterprise Fund and a Municipal Light Plant.
I posted earlier about enterprise fund versus Municipal Light Plant status for GCET. In response, Town Councilor Otis Wheeler mentioned that the town’s legal counsel is advising that GCET needs to remain an MLP, but that it can also be changed to an Enterprise Fund. The advice (which can be found on page 33 of…
It seems like GCET should have been an Enterprise Fund from the start.
While I have not yet had a chance to sift through how Municipal Light Plants work and why GCET was created as one, the other question I have been meaning to look into is what an Enterprise Fund is and what is required to create one. Enterprise funds are established under Section 53F1/2 of Massachusetts…