Select Board Reviews Transit Overhaul Plan
Select Board · Meeting of August 24, 2026
Great Barrington debates turning its South County Connector into a formal town department. Town Manager Liz Hartsgrove told the Select Board the transit service has grown larger in staffing than the Police Department while still operating as a pilot program, and proposed a restructured department reporting directly to her office, funded partly by a $600,000 state grant for fiscal 2027. Board members Phil, Ben, Steve and Garfield questioned recent service cuts, a previously undisclosed $180,000 in staff costs and future fares; no vote was taken.
Separately, the board unanimously approved a letter to the Department of Public Utilities over Housatonic Water Works Co.'s stalled filtration plant and roughly $100,000 owed to the Great Barrington Fire District, and put up to $84,000 in seasonal-communities grant funds toward a housing production plan and South Main Street pedestrian safety engineering. "We're in the brine," Hartsgrove said of the service's dependence on state grant funding.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 3,479 words
Source: the Select Board meeting of August 24, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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