Stockbridge Select Board Approves $50,000 for Ambulance Service, Closes Town Meeting Warrant

LENOX — April 2, 2026 — Stockbridge Select Board approves $50,000 for struggling ambulance service and closes town meeting warrant. The board voted unanimously April 2 to allocate $25,000 from free cash to the Southern Berkshire Voluntary Ambulance Service for Furnace District 911 coverage and added a second $25,000 article to the annual town meeting warrant for an emergency ambulance purchase, after a representative told the board the organization "can't fail — there is no backup" and had covered Stockbridge's Furnace District for 12 years without seeking reimbursement. The board also tabled a proposed Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40, Section 6N private-road repair bylaw — sought by Wheatley Drive residents — until summer, with plans to develop abutter-consent thresholds, cost caps, and other parameters before bringing the article to a future annual town meeting. Additional unanimous votes approved a revised regional building-inspection fee schedule, a $14,406 free cash appropriation for state-mandated dog kennel upgrades, a $12,904 opioid settlement fund appropriation, and a $1,000 per-election stipend added to the town clerk's compensation. The board struck a proposed warrant article that would have eliminated the Stockbridge Bowl Stewardship Committee from the general bylaws and voted 2-to-1 to retain the committee's $2,500 professional services budget line. Staff reassignments moved Tammy Potts to town clerk and Erica Olson to town accountant, with both vacated positions to be posted for recruitment.