School Committee Chairman Don Fitzgerald gives detailed outline of proposed school budget.

The vote on new parking regulation changes was close enough to require a hand count. It failed by five votes.

LENOX, Mass. — The annual town meeting, held Thursday night, covered routine financial details while also sparking debates over the public school appropriations budget and two proposed parking changes.

Out of 24 warrant articles, 22 saw a vote. Articles 24 and 25, dealing with a citizen-proposed town ban on single-use plastic bags and Styrofoam containers, were passed over in favor of giving the citizens more time for community input, and the Environmental Committee more time to mold the bylaw language specifically to Lenox.

Article 4 outlined town treasury appropriations for FY16 operating costs — and it was here that many residents felt compelled to speak out as the various department accounts were read, seeking explanation for any significant changes, which the town manager easily supplied — save for one.

The School Committee — but not the Finance Committee — approved a Lenox Public School budget proposal of $11,815,093, up from $11.4 million in the previous fiscal year.

Finance Committee member Elliott Morss noted that four out of six committee members were against the school budget appropriation.

"School choice has more than doubled since 2006. That's all I need to know, as an economist, to think that we really have to look at this and make sure we're doing the right thing," Morss said. "We [the Finance Committee] haven't seen any real analysis and conclusions and recommendations of what we should do about these [changing] demographics."

School choice transfers were up but there were only 19 children born in Lenox last year, according to demographic studies. Morss and others felt that fattening up the school budget before doing the proper research was not a cost-effective strategy, yet when asked if he had an alternate recommendation, Morss hedged.

"The fact that we are not recommending anything in particular — in this particular budgetary item — does not preclude us from saying we're not happy with what we're seeing."

Someone did have a recommendation, however.

Resident David Naseman questioned School Committee Chairman Don Fitzgerald on nearly every line of the budget — asking astute questions but thinking too far out of the box and losing the majority of those assembled before Hugh Cowhig (moderator for 42 years and laying down his gavel at the end of this term) halted the minutiae and simply asked the gentleman if he had any specific recommendations.

His response was to make a motion to eliminate the $11.8 million school budget entirely and reconfigure it to just under $80,000.

The motion was put to a vote with a resounding "naye" response.

After clearing all concerns over appropriations, all other articles were unanimously adopted except for Articles 18 and 21, which dealt with new parking regulations.

Resident and business owner Jay Baver spoke against paving the grassy area adjacent to St. Ann's Church and overlooking the park.

"Ore Bed Park is a gem for the town of Lenox and it was designed for children," he said. "There is truly a problem with parking in Lenox, but paving over green space in a residential neighborhood is a poor solution."

He was concerned that creating a municipal lot in that area would be misunderstood by tourists who would use it for reasons other than visiting the Park — potentially leading to more accidents involving the high volume of children and families.

Baver called the article's proposal a Band-Aid and suggested that the town enter into negotiations with St. Ann's to use its cemetery parking lot instead.

"[It is] underutilized during the summer and outside of their annual picnic, I have never seen it full," he insisted.

His argument seemed convinced enough people and Article 18, dealing with long-term leases on Ore Bed Road for parking, failed.

Article 21, the proposed parking regulation changes, also failed by a slim margin. The article would have removed parking and loading requirements from the Village Center commercial district.

Town Manager Christopher Ketchen said he is proud of the town's commitment to excellence.

According to Planning Board Chairman Kameron Spaulding, this would allow new businesses to use old buildings for new purposes — creating more business in downtown Lenox — without having to spend time and money applying for a variance.

Residents Jim Harwood and Jeff Lynch were both in favor of the article, with Lynch assuring the town that it would "remove a barrier to entry" that would only benefit Lenox.

Voters, however, were wary of making it too easy to allow competing businesses to open up shop without having to follow the standards that current businesses are required to follow. Spaulding assured them there was still protocol in place, but fellow Planning Board member Kate McNulty-Vaughan suggested that the townspeople be given more time to look over the bylaw and consult their lawyers, if necessary.

Out of 145 voters at the meeting, 70 voted in favor while 75 voted against Article 21.

In effect, the total $27.1 million fiscal plan was approved, with Town Manager Christopher Ketchen sounding optimistic about the future, in spite of challenges from demographics and infrastructure that he and town leadership are meeting head on.

"We need to develop succession strategies [for those retiring];"said Ketchen, "we need to work on our regionalization efforts, as we continue to do with towns like Lee and Stockbridge ... and we need to focus on knowledge retention."

"Moving forward, we're aware that this is a challenge that we're facing and we have a good plan in place, and there's funding available in the budget to meet this challenge moving forward."

Selectmen Chairman Channing Gibson quoted his address in the Town Report, which spoke warmly of Lenox and its residents:

"We have faith in the generosity — of spirit, time, and treasure — that lies at the core of our community — and believe that, together, we can face whatever the future holds. All that is required is honest, open communication and unfailing respect, perhaps even tenderness, for one another."

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