[HISTORY: Accepted at the 5-8-1989 Annual Town Meeting as Ballot Question No. 1.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Charter — See Charter.
Town Manager — See Ch. 29.
Streets and ways — See Ch. 153.
Trees — See Ch. 163.
Cemetery Commission — See Ch. 214.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Town voted to petition the General Court for passage of legislation establishing a Department of Public Works in the Town of Great Barrington at the 2-27-1989 STM, Art. 1.
There is hereby established in the Town of Great Barrington a Department of Public Works, which shall have all the powers and duties now vested by the General Laws and Town bylaws in the Highway Department, Sewer Department, Cemetery Department, Parks Department and the office of Tree Warden. Upon acceptance of this act by said Town, as hereinafter provided, the aforesaid departments are hereby abolished and their powers and duties shall be transferred to and shall be under the direction of the Department of Public Works.
No contracts or liabilities of said departments in force on the date of acceptance of this act shall be affected by such abolition and transfer, and the Department of Public Works shall in all respects be the lawful successor of the departments so abolished. All employees of those departments shall immediately upon the effective date of this act, be transferred to the Department of Public Works and shall not lose under this change or transfer any rating, seniority, retirement or pension rights or any other rights or privileges under any provision of law whatsoever.
[Amended 5-6-2002 ATM, Art. 21]
The Department of Public Works shall be supervised by a Superintendent of Public Works appointed by the Town Manager, who shall be Commissioners of Public Works. Said Superintendent shall preferably hold a degree in civil engineering and be a professional engineer registered in the commonwealth, or shall posses equivalent qualifications as determined by the Town Manager. He or she shall be responsible for the operational and administrative functions of the Department of Public Works in accordance with a job description to be developed by the Town Manager. The salary and term of office of said Superintendent shall be determined by the Town Manager subject to appropriation by the Town Meeting. Said Superintendent shall hold office subject to the will of the Town Manager.
[1]
Editor's Note: This section was changed pursuant to the Charter (Ch. 184, Acts of 1992) to provide that the Superintendent shall be appointed by the Town Manager rather than by the Selectmen and that the Town Manager is also responsible for developing the job description for the Superintendent and for setting the salary and term of office. See Section 6C, Subsection 3 of the Charter.
All equipment owned by the Town of Great Barrington and under the control of the Highway, Sewer, Cemetery or Parks Departments or the Tree Warden shall, upon acceptance of this act, be under the control and supervision of the Department of Public Works.
Upon acceptance of this act by the Town, the Town Manager shall prepare and provide job descriptions for the employees of the Department of Public Works.
[Amended 5-17-2004 ATM, Art. 21; 5-5-2014 ATM, Art. 22]
There is hereby established in the Town of Great Barrington, effective upon acceptance of this act by the Town, a Cemetery Commission and a Recreation Commission. The Parks and Recreation Commission shall consist of up to nine members and the Cemetery Commission shall consist of up to four members appointed by the Town Manager for terms of from one year to three years, with staggered terms. (Members of the Cemetery Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission elected on the date of acceptance of this act, and elected incumbents whose terms do not expire until subsequent elections, shall be appointed members of said Commissions and shall serve until the expiration of their elected terms.) The Cemetery Commission shall control all business matters pertaining to the Town's cemeteries, other than maintenance, and shall control the care and expenditure of perpetual care funds as provided in Chapter 35 of the Acts of 1934, and the Recreation Commission shall be responsible for formulating and administering the Town's recreational program.
Notwithstanding the provisions of § 35-1 of this act, the incumbent Tree Warden on the date this act is accepted by the Town of Great Barrington shall continue to perform all the functions of said office under the direction of the Superintendent of Public Works.
This act shall constitute a general bylaw of the Town of Great Barrington, and any further changes in the composition or administration of the Department of Public Works shall be accomplished by amendments to said bylaw in the manner provided in the Great Barrington Code.
A. 
This act shall be submitted for acceptance by the voters of the Town of Great Barrington at the Annual Town Meeting to be held in the year 1989, or at any regular or special Town Election thereafter. Said submission shall be in the form of the following question, which shall be placed upon the official ballot to be used for the election of Town officers at said 1989 Annual Town Meeting, or upon the official ballot of any regular or special Town Election held thereafter:
"Shall an act passed by the General Court in the year 1989, entitled 'An Act Establishing a Department of Public Works in the Town of Great Barrington,' be accepted?"
B. 
If a majority of the votes in answer to said question is in the affirmative, this act shall take effect, but not otherwise except as provided hereafter.
C. 
If this act is rejected when so submitted, it may be again submitted in the same manner at the Annual Town Meeting next following its rejection, and if accepted shall take effect as heretofore provided. If this act is again rejected after having been submitted for the second time, it shall not be submitted again and shall not take effect.