Page 10 - BusinessWest February 7, 2022

Community Spotlight
Lee Moves Ahead with Key Municipal Projects
By Mark Morris
As the pandemic enters its third year of disrupting life as we knew it, the busi- ness community in Lee continues to manage the disruptions of COVID-19 and its variants with a good degree of success. Colleen Henry attributes that to one reason.
“When someone sells their home at $20,000 to $30,000 dollars over asking price, every house in that neighborhood increases in value. We can’t control the market, but we were able to lower the tax rate.”
“The local people here in Lee are strong sup- porters of our businesses,” said Henry, executive director of the Lee Chamber of Commerce.
Along with Lenox and Stockbridge, Lee is part of the Tri Town Health Department, which has maintained a mask mandate for all indoor spac- es. One upside of the mask requirement is that
it enables businesses, as well as town offices, to
remain open without interruption.
That’s important, said interim Town Adminis-
trator Christopher Brittain, who has been on the job for only four months, yet has a full list of proj- ects in the queue for this year and beyond.
Lee received an allocation of $1.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, which will be spread out among several projects in town. Among them are replacing water lines in
a couple of areas and upgrading the municipal website to make it easier for people to conduct town business online.
All three towns in the Tri Town Health Depart- ment will contribute some of their ARPA money to fund the creation of a new food-inspector position in the department, a position certified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as part of a national standards program.
“Obviously, we have inspectors now,” Brittain said. “The new position gives us someone to pro- vide guidance with federal programs and reduce issues with food service and retail food vendors.”
Outside of ARPA funds, Brittain discussed sev- eral projects in the works, including paving on Main Street, with $1 million in funding approved at the last town meeting to continue that project into the summer.
One significant project Brittain hopes to see
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10 FEBRUARY 7, 2022
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
BusinessWest
Lee at a glance
YEAR INCORPORATED: 1777
POPULATION: 5,788
AREA: 27 square miles
COUNTY: Berkshire
RESIDENTIAL TAX RATE: $13.65
COMMERCIAL TAX RATE: $13.65
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME: $41,566
MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME: $49,630
TYPE OF GOVERNMENT: Representative Town Meeting
LARGEST EMPLOYERS: Lee Premium Outlets; Onyx Specialty Papers; the Landing at Laurel Lake; Oak n’ Spruce Resort; Big Y
* Latest information available