Lanesborough Seeking $2.5M From State for Public Safety BuildingBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:06AM / Friday, August 15, 2025 | |
 Chair Deborah Maynard speaks during the meeting. |
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The town is seeking an additional $2.5 million from the state to support its public safety facility initiatives.
On Monday, the Select Board agreed to send a request to state Sen. Paul Mark and state Rep. John Barrett III for the additional funds. In 2022, the effort was allocated $1 million in state bonds.
Now, the town must work to fill funding gaps in the $7.4 million combined police/EMS proposal.
"We, through our deliberations, learned the reason that most of these facilities are successful is because everybody in the community, whether it's the mayor, the city council, or the select board, is behind the decision 100 percent," said Mark Siegars, chair of the Public Safety Complex Information and Outreach Committee.
Select Board member Michael Murphy, who motioned to support the request, noted that the idea originated directly from the state representative.
"I attended a meeting with [Town Administrator Gina Dario] and Representative Barrett, and we discussed this among many other things, and I think it's really important to point out that Representative Barrett is the one who said, 'You need to ask for more money. Nobody is asking for more money. You need to ask me. You need to ask Senator Mark, and one of the reasons you need to ask Senator Mark is because there's only 40-something of him and there's 300 of me,'" he reported.
Siegars and other committee members presented the Select Board with a draft of frequently asked questions sheet and a couple of asks: the town's signature on a request for $2.5 million in additional state funds and a future public information session at Town Hall. The FAQ sheet will inform the public and the state.
"We have to listen to people, and we have to actually talk to them, not lecture them, not tell them what's right or wrong," he said.
Planners report that building a permanent space would cost the average taxpayer around $130 annually. For the median Lanesborough home valued $345,000, it would cost about $11 per month.
Siegars explained this is "the net difference between what we're already paying for temporary space and what permanent space would cost." The goal is to pay for about half of the $7.4 million with grants, and the additional $2.5 million would fulfill that.
"I have had a chance to read this draft and I'm very impressed. It simplifies your bullet points of why it's so important," Murphy said about the FAQ sheet.
"I'm extremely disappointed that at the last annual town meeting, the money that was proposed to help you professionally promote this process was shot down. Very disappointed in that, but I think you've done the best you can to simplify it, to answer people's questions, and I'm very impressed with what you put together on a few pages."
Siegars replied that the committee "takes its mission very seriously and very it brings a very professional attitude to it."
"Just like in Select Board meetings, public comment, and committee meetings, everybody has their own style and their own voice," he said.
"… the committee has functioned very, very professionally and to its credit, is why this has just got to the point that it is, and we expect that kind of performance going forward."
The Public Safety Complex Information and Outreach Committee will have a table at Lanesborough Day on Aug. 23 as a part of its outreach.
At the end of Monday's meeting, the Select Board went into executive session to discuss the "reputation, character, physical or mental health, rather than professional competence" of an individual after a heated public comment last month from Preston Repenning.
Dario said there were no votes taken in the executive session, which was called by Chair Deborah Maynard to discuss whether Repenning should remain a town representative.
Repenning, a member of the Age Friendly Park Committee and the information committee for the public safety building, aired grievances about the Select Board's leadership and town issues during the July meeting. He read a statement alleging that Maynard planned a "coup d'etat" to secure the title, and by the end of the statement, the police chief was instructed to escort him out.
Maynard, whom he addressed, asked that the board take up removing him from representing Lanesborough on committees at its next meeting. The town's policy states the Select Board "may remove members who are disruptive or do not focus on serving the public in a positive manner."
During public comment on Monday, Repenning said he takes nothing back.
"In fact, I stand by it even more firmly, and I have consulted counsel in three states, and you were in violation of my First Amendment rights under the Constitution of the United States by asking me to leave a public meeting. Then you said, 'Don't let the door hit him on the way out,'" he said.
"This is actionable. I'm not going to do it. I've worked tirelessly for five years to help this town, and I have witnesses on witnesses on witnesses."
He then asked, "You want to come after me?" and yelled, "Do it," while standing in front of Maynard.
Finance Committee member David Parks, speaking on his own accord, explained that he does not condone the conduct of the speaker but interprets the town's policy to allow removal if a committee member was disruptive during a meeting of that body, not during public comment.
"The way I interpret that is pertaining to conduct during the committee meetings of which they are a member, not during a public comment period or at annual town meeting," he said.
"There are plenty of examples, as we know, of people speaking passionately and with colorful language at annual town meetings, Select Board meetings, Finance Committee meetings, etc., and it's my knowledge, none of these folks were removed or excluded from committees."
The town's policy stipulates:
"As a general rule, many members should follow the town policies and procedures as a guideline for how they conduct themselves with one another. This includes being respectful of one another's opinions and working as a collaborative group as service to the citizens of the town of Lanesborough. The Select Board may remove members who are disruptive or do not focus on serving the public in a positive manner."
Maynard opened the meeting with information about public participation under the Open Meeting Law.
"If, after a clear warning, a person continues to be disruptive, the chair may order the person to leave the meeting," she reads.
"If the person does not leave, the chair may authorize a constable or other officer to remove the person."
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