Wildlife Weekend planned at Apex Orchards

SHELBURNE — Apex Orchards invites residents to meet a collection of insects while enjoying fall activities at Wildlife Weekend on Saturday, Oct. 5, and Sunday, Oct. 6.

The orchard will host numerous bug-themed activities. On Saturday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., the Fernald Club, the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s student-run entomology club, will present its collection of preserved insects. There will also be games and activities in the theme of woolly bear caterpillars, tractor-drawn wagon rides, live music from 2/3rds the Bird and food from Steve’s Weiner Wagon.

Festivities continue on Sunday with live music from 2/3rds the Bird, food from Steve’s Weiner Wagon, birds of prey with Tom Ricardi, tractor-drawn wagon rides and coffee from Stout Pigeon Coffee.

For more information, visit apexorchards.com.

Oct. 12: Firefighters’ fall breakfast

COLRAIN — The Colrain Fire Department’s annual pancake breakfast will be held from 7 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12.

Firefighters will be serving all-you-can-eat pancakes, eggs and sausage, and raffling off prizes from local businesses, craftspeople and restaurants.

The breakfast will be held at the Fire Station, 51 Main Road. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for children under 12 years old.

Make fall wreaths at Tyler Memorial Library on Oct. 19

CHARLEMONT — Celebrate fall and learn how to make your own seasonal decor at Tyler Memorial Library. A grapevine wreath-making workshop will be held at the library, 157 Main St., on Saturday, Oct. 19, at 12:30 p.m.

All supplies will be provided. For more information, call the library at 413-339-4335.

Early voting hours announced in Rowe

ROWE — From Oct. 19 to Oct. 31, registered voters can cast their votes early at Town Hall on Mondays through Thursdays from 9 to 11 a.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Town Hall is not open on Fridays or Sundays.

‘Live at the Met’ opera season begins

SHELBURNE FALLS — Memorial Hall Theater’s “Live at the Met” opera season is set to begin on Saturday, Oct. 5, with a performance of “Les Contes D’Hoffmann.”

“Les Contes D’Hoffmann,” sung in French with two intermissions, tells three tragic love stories, based on three short stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann, who is also the protagonist of the story.

The show begins at 1 p.m. at the theater, 51 Bridge St. Tickets are $22.

For more information, visit shelburnefallsmemorialhall.org.

Dogs declared nuisance after attacking neighbor

COLRAIN — The Selectboard has ordered that two dogs, named Biggie and Milo, living on Adamsville Road be contained to an enclosure and under supervision following an incident in which they escaped from their yard.

The Selectboard held a dog hearing last week after a neighbor reported that Biggie and Milo had gotten loose while she was walking her dog. The neighbor reported that Biggie charged at them, biting both her and her dog.

Owner Sara Boisvert apologized for the incident, saying that she and her loved ones have developed a plan for someone to be home to monitor the dogs. Additionally, a faulty latch on the gate has been repaired.

Animal Control Officer Kyle Dragon told the Selectboard that no other incidents involving Biggie and Milo have been reported, and the plan to keep the dogs contained and under supervision seems adequate.

Who should be responsible for Arms Library maintenance?

SHELBURNE — The Selectboard has asked the Arms Library board of trustees to do more research after receiving a request to end the 50-year lease for the library.

Five years ago, the town of Shelburne entered into a lease agreement with the library trustees, formally making the trustees the stewards of the town-owned library at 60 Bridge St. This was done to make the trustees eligible for grant funding to support roof repairs and renovations at the library. Now, the trustees want to return some of that responsibility to the town to give Library Director Laurie Wheeler more time to focus on books rather than buildings.

“We would like our library director to get back to paying more attention to customers and books, and less attention to maintenance issues,” trustee John Cornman said. “The town owns the building, basically, and we took the lease on to get that money so that the state could help us renovate the building, otherwise the town would’ve incurred a huge cost.”

Wheeler told the Selectboard that for the past few years, she’s been busy managing contractors. Being responsible for building maintenance has prevented her from completing some of her other duties, she added.

“It’s time-consuming, frankly, and she’s not a construction manager or maintenance manager; she’s a library director,” Cornman said. “It should be the town that is doing that work.”

Selectboard members wondered if ending the lease would be detrimental to future grant applications. Additionally, if the library is not responsible for maintenance, who will be? Chair Richard LaPierre said the town does not have a designated facilities manager and department heads are responsible for keeping track of their own facility needs. Board member Andrew Baker added that having a lease agreement that outlines who is responsible for paying for what comes in handy during budget season.

Discussions ended with the Selectboard and library trustees agreeing to hammer out further details. The trustees will look into other grant opportunities and whether keeping the lease would be beneficial, and if so, develop language for an amended lease that would shift building maintenance responsibilities off of the library director.

Naloxone stations coming to Shelburne

SHELBURNE — Two naloxone stations with free doses of the overdose reversal drug will soon be coming to town as part of regional efforts to reduce opioid deaths.

Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) Health Educator and Epidemiologist Maureen O’Reilly recently told the Selectboard that FRCOG received funding to install cabinets throughout the region and plans to put two in each town. Through conversations with the Shelburne Board of Health, it was determined that the two locations should be the Village Information Center at 75 Bridge St. and the Shelburne Fire Station at 18 Little Mohawk Road.

Selectboard members were unsure if they had jurisdiction over the Fire Station, as the Fire District is a separate entity that owns and operates its own facility. The board does have jurisdiction over the Village Information Center as it is owned by the town, but members still did not want to vote to declare it as a naloxone location without first hearing support from the volunteers that manage the center.

The board voted to support the installation of the naloxone boxes at locations the Board of Health sees fit, allowing health officials to pursue permission from the proper channels with the Selectboard’s blessing.

Streetlight purchase coming in under budget

SHELBURNE — After months of coordinating with Eversource, the town has come to an agreement to purchase a group of streetlights for $11,767.32, a few thousand dollars under the budget allocated at Town Meeting.

In May, voters agreed to spend $75,000 to buy the poles and replace their light bulbs with LEDs, estimated to save the town $6,600 per year in operating costs. Of that $75,000, $14,500 was earmarked for the purchase of the Eversource fixtures, while the rest would go to the LED upgrades.

Streetlight Committee Chair Jeff Boettner told the Selectboard last week that they have come to an agreement with Eversource and settled on the $11,767.32. With the board’s permission, he could go back to Eversource and begin the process of signing final documents. He also asked the Selectboard members how they felt about ordering the LEDs now, as equipment will take a while to arrive and if they wait until the paperwork is signed, the town will not be able to install the light bulbs before winter.

The board voted unanimously to approve the purchase, and told the Streetlight Committee to move forward with purchasing the LED equipment as well, as it has already been allocated and members feel confident the purchase of Eversource’s fixtures will go through.