Mount Washington, MA

Meeting Notice and Agenda for Board of Health Meeting

Date:                    December 10, 2021
Time:                     5:30 PM
Location:              Town Hall

1. Agenda: Review and Approval of Minutes of November 12, 2021
2. Current Title 5 Update
   1. 206 East Street
   2. 354 East Street
3. Public Health Collaborative report
   1. Proposed Fees
4. COVID Update
   1. Current Data
   2. Governor’s Order
   3. Mask Mandate
5. Regulations for the Keeping of Animals
6. Setting of next meeting

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR INVASIVE SPECIES FORUM

December 15, at 6:30 pm at Town Hall – All are encouraged to attend!

Zoom info forthcoming

The Town of Mount Washington is threatened by invasive flora and fauna.  Our Conservation Commission urges everyone to attend this forum and learn what we can do to protect our cherished forests and wetlands, preserve our property values, and protect our health.

Speaker is Bridghe McCracken – Founder of Helia Land Design

Bridghe runs a 109-acre nursery in the Berkshires and has 20 years of horticultural experience conducting workshop series, educating landscape professionals, homeowners, and land managers on sustainable land stewardship, native plant design and propagation.   Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with this expert advice.

Mount Washington Residents:

We Need Your Input!

Natural hazards & climate change pose a risk to people and property, examples of which are flooding, severe storms, invasives, freeze/thaw cycles, drought and heat waves. The Town of Mount Washington is developing a Hazard Mitigation & Climate Adaptation Plan to identify and mitigate damages from severe storms. We need your knowledge of the Town and want to hear your concerns.

Here’s how you can help:

1. Fill out our short survey. It will only take a few minutes. It can be filled out online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/MtWashington. Paper copies of the survey can also be found at the Town Hall and Transfer Station.
2. Keep an eye out for announcements of this project on the Town Website and Facebook pages. A public presentation on the findings of the project will be given during the winter and spring – we hope you attend.

Hazard mitigation is an action taken to reduce harm: it is pro-active, rather than reactive, and is taken to solve a problem on a permanent, long-term basis. If you have information that you would like to share, contact the Town’s consultant, Courteny Morehouse at cmorehouse@berkshireplanning.org.

Notice from the Mount Washington Board of Health

Effective October 16, 2021

IN REGARD TO EVENTS OR CATERED GATHERINGS

Any event organizer, caterer or individual sponsor who will be responsible for a catered event or will require a separate waste facility (portable toilet system) must submit a plan and the appropriate permit applications to the Mount Washington Board of Health at least 21 days BEFORE the event in order to ensure compliance with the appropriate regulations. The Board will review the plan and issue the required permits.

Failure to comply with timely submission may result in a late fee of $100.00 for each permit required.

In order to help us all to stay connected during power outages, severe storms or another type of emergency, it is wise to make sure that we have someone in town who we can contact for help.

We are asking everyone to consider setting up an ”Emergency Buddy”. This can be a relative, a neighbor or a friend with whom you can get in touch. This way at least two households stay connected. It does not have to be a long, involved conversation. Something along the lines of “I just wanted to make sure you are ok” can make a huge difference to someone who may be feeling anxious or isolated.

This is not just for seniors – it is for all of us. Everyone will benefit from the act of reaching out to someone else during these stressful times.

We have extraordinary technology available to us, but there are times when it is simply not accessible. A personal connection can make all the difference.

Of course, for a life-threatening emergency, 911 is your first contact. But if the situation is something that can remedied without emergency services, your “Emergency Buddy” can be an important link in keeping our community safer.

Questions?  Call Brian Tobin at 413-528-3204 briantobin@townofmtwashington.com.

The Town of Mount Washington wants to keep everyone up to date on important Town-related information. For that purpose, we regularly send out pertinent information by email.  If you are a resident or property owner and would like to be included in those emails, please contact Elisabeth Lem at elem@townofmtwashington.com.  If we have your contact information, but you have not received messages in the past, please check your spam/junk folder and label the message received thru Mailchimp as “not junk”.

The Town also maintains an emergency telephone outreach service, with 113 contacts listed.  The service is only used for emergencies and important alerts.  If you are not currently receiving these calls but would like to be added, please send an email to Brian Tobin at briantobin@townofmtwashington.com, or call him at 413-528-3204.  Each contact may include up to five telephone numbers.

N O T I C E and R E M I N D E R

TO ALL PROPERTY OWNERS AND GUESTS IN MOUNT WASHINGTON

USING OUR ROADS ON FOOT OR BICYCLE REQUIRES CAUTION. Our roads are narrow, have little or no room on the sides and frequently have low visibility around curves. Running, walking, or riding in low-light environments REQUIRES reflective clothing and/or lights. Moving rapidly from sunlight to shadow can make you difficult to see.

STAY AWARE AND STAY SAFE!