Monthly Archives: May 2016

IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE GOVERNOR’S ANNOUNCEMENT of a change in posture by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) for its Last Mile program, things seem to be moving in a positive — and more vigorous — direction.

Here’s a synopsis of what has taken place in the past 30 days:

On Wednesday, April 27, the Hawley Selectboard sent a letter to Governor Baker stating that Hawley:

• would be pursuing a wireless option;
• had decided “. . . not to pursue a fiber alternative due to excessive cost”; and that,
• “. . . it is difficult to proceed until we have some clarity from the State regarding the future of the Massachusetts Broadband program and the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI), both as a whole and as these  apply to Hawley.”

Hawley’s letter to the Governor went on to say that “. . . we urge the State to do everything possible to expedite the process of making already promised funding available, especially to those towns who are ready to commit to a direction that has been approved by MBI. Additionally, we are concerned regarding the impact that the Broadband Wireless Access Study (BWA) may have on existing schedules and plans.  We request reassurance of and action toward the State’s continued financial commitment.” [The text of this letter can be reviewed HERE.]

On Tuesday, May 10, Governor Baker met with a group of Broadband representatives from Western Massachusetts and  Continue reading →

AS THEY PREPARE FOR THEIR NEXT GRANT-GIVING SEASON, the members of the Charlemont/Hawley Cultural Council are requesting feedback from the the greater Hawley-Charlemont community. Their questions include:

1. Would you change anything in our guidelines (we emphasize funding local organizations/events and educational projects)?
2. Are there any artists and/or groups you would like us to know about?
3. Would you like us to organize any special events in the community?
4. What are YOUR favoriite cultural events in our AREA?
5. And then there’s the final question. Would you like to attend the reception the Council is planning for grant recipients?
    

Want an easy way to answer? Simply CLICK ON THIS LINK and a specially-formatted email box will open up. It contains all of the questions and spaces for your answers. When you’re done answering, send it like any other email message.

FROM: MELANIE POUDRIER
To: Hawley Website Visitors
Subject: Doane Cemetery Clean-Up

Thank you to all who helped with the Doane Cemetery clean-up on April 30. Check it out. It looks spectacular!!.

♦ Rich Cook and Sarah Ohmann ♦ Greg and Ben Cox and Sue Draves ♦ Georgette Defriesse ♦ Cinni Donovan (also for coffee and muffins) ♦ Dick and Mary Gelinas ♦ Jane Grant ♦ Paul Lacinski and Amy Klippenstein of Side Hill Farm (also for water and yogurt) ♦ Rick Kean and Anne Hamilton-Kean ♦ Jerry McCarthy ♦ Ray and Melanie Poudrier ♦ Lark Thwing ♦ John Sears ♦ And thanks to Serra Root for providing bottled water for the tired and thirsty.
Here Are Some Photo’s (Click to Enlarge)

VOTERS AT MONDAY’S ANNUAL TOWN MEETING (May 9) took Hawley’s new budget format in stride as they completed the actions required of them on 22 warrant items in just over two hours. Unlike previous years, when budget line items were presented separately, this time around the entire budget was handled as a single warrant item.

This did not mean that the budget had to be voted on as one lump sum. Voters were still free to “drill down” and consider each line item individually, and, under the direction of Acting Moderator Scott Purinton, did so often as the evening progressed.  Even so, there were very few questions from the floor about the format or how the budget pieces fit together.

(Note: this image was created by combining three different sections of the warrant document.)
Annual Town Meeting Warrant – 2016 [.pdf file]

During the course of the meeting, a few minor changes were made to the Town budget for FY ’17.  Download the final version here:

T-o-H2017Budget-Final.pdf

WALK-IN CLINIC SCHEDULED FOR JUNE — Regional Public Health Nurse Lisa White, RN, BS, has scheduled the next walk-in clinic at Charlemont Federated Church for June 14 from 10:30 am until noon.  Services provided will include:

♦ Help with Self-Management of Medication / Health Issues
♦ Blood Pressure Screening
♦ Blood Glucose Screening
♦ Health Information
♦ Needle/Sharps disposal
♦ Mercury Thermometer disposal

These services are contracted on behalf of Hawley residents by the Hawley Board of Health, and are provided by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments.

Download a flier HERE.