Page 14 - BusinessWest August 4, 2021
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 a shortcut everyone in town likes to use.”
In the northern part of Great Barrington, a pri-
vate water company serves the village of Housa- tonic that has been struggling with insufficient water pressure. While Great Barrington doesn’t regulate or own the system, the town is involved to make sure residents there receive clean water and to make sure there is plenty of pressure for firefighters when they need it. Pruhenski said
he and the Select Board are looking at several options, including a merger with the town’s water system.
“Everyone was forced to jump out of their comfort zone, and I believe that made us all better for it.”
“We were working on this during the pan- demic because it has an impact on so many resi- dents,” he noted.
After a transportation service for seniors abruptly closed, town officials took the lead to quickly revive the regional van service that now provides transportation to elderly and disabled residents in Great Barrington and five neighbor- ing towns.
Meanwhile, in the spring of 2020, the town launched a project to paint the downtown cross- walks as a way to recognize diversity in town. Pruhenski said the reaction by residents was more encouraging than he could have expected.
“We just did our little project, and the tim- ing happened to be perfect that the rainbow was
being used as a symbol of hope at the height of the pandemic,” he recalled. “After we painted our first crosswalks, people were encouraged to come out- side to see them and take pictures with them. It’s been a fun project that’s made everyone happy.”
For 2021, the town added more rainbow crosswalks, and now the entire downtown corri- dor has replaced its white crosswalks with rainbows.
“People from other communities are call- ing us because they want rainbow crosswalks in their town,” Pruhenski said. “They are asking us how we did it and where we bought the paint. This project has been so rewarding during such a challenging time.”
For several years, Great Barrington has been pursuing projects to encourage environmental sustainability. One big step was to ban plastic water bottles in town. In return, the town has built three public water stations to make up for the bottle ban.
Another sustainability effort involves the Housatonic Community Center, a popular gym built shortly after World War II. Pruhenski said the center is used a great deal in the winter, so the
Great Barrington used its Shared Streets grant to develop an outdoor dining area on Railroad Street.
town has bulked up on insulation and added LED lighting. He hopes to see big savings in energy use and operating costs for the facility.
Great Barrington also has the distinction of hosting the first retail cannabis store in Berkshire
Great Barrington
Continued on page 46
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