Spruces Owners Sue Williamstown, State

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
04:07AM / Tuesday, November 15, 2011Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The owners of the Spruces Mobile Home Park have filed a lawsuit to force local and state officials to discuss utility problems in the park.

Morgan Management, the park's owners, have filed a lawsuit against the town and the state attorney general in hopes of sorting out the park's responsibility for electricity on the west side of the park after multiple residents have gone to Housing Court to force the company to turn the electricity back on. The company's electrician had previously ruled that the electrical infrastructure to about 80 homes on the west side of the park was too damaged by the flooding from Hurricane Irene to re-energize those homes.

"People shouldn't get too alarmed when I say they filed a suit. They're asking the court to rationalize what's happening on the west end of the park and Morgan's only alternative is to get in front of a judge to get rationalize it," Town Manager Peter Fohlin told the Board of Selectmen on Monday night. "Their major concern is that park tenants were going to the Housing Court one here, one there, in sort of a helter skelter fashion and Morgan Management is asking the court to bring all of those questions together."

Recently, residents filed complaints in Housing Court in Pittsfield to get the company to restore power to many homes on the west side. An agreement was reached that forced the company to restore power to some of the units — four of which have been energized.

Attorney General Martha Coakley's office had previously initiated discussion with the company and town officials hope that the office takes over the legal issues there.

"I'd rather see the attorney general use her hammer to deal with it rather than us using our fly swatter," Fohlin said. "I hope Williamstown doesn't have to be the gorilla in this situation. I hope the Attorney General takes that on."

Fohlin said the town does not have a clear sense of what will happen to most of the trailers. Currently, 50 homes have been given permits for reoccupancy and 25 units have received demolition permits. A total of 84 homes now have electricity but not all of those will become reoccupied, Fohlin said. However, the fate of more than 100 homes is still uncertain.

"We have been told that Morgan Management intends to remove all of their trailers," Fohlin said.

According to Selectwoman Jane Allen, the company owns about 11 or so of the trailers. Chairman Thomas Sheldon asked if the town has any recourse in removing homes that may be abandoned or posed a health threat but Fohlin said that question has not been examined yet. The hope is that the attorney general will take charge of that and Morgan Management would be responsible for removing the abandoned trailers instead of Williamstown taxpayers, Fohlin said.

Meanwhile, organizations are banding together to help build more affordable housing in town. Sheldon said he hopes those groups and individuals — including the Affordable Housing Committee and Higher Ground — share resources and engage all members of the community during upcoming public meetings.

"We here will support that effort," Sheldon said on behalf of the board. "We have a shortage and that shortage was exasperated by Hurricane Irene.
Morgan Management Complaint
Commonwealth's Answer
Tags: Irene, Spruces,

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Lots of cheap housing in North Adams that would be great for stable renters/purchasers. Williamstown has a shortage of such housing but North Adams has a glut. Does 4 miles make that much of a difference?
from: North Adams	on: 11-15-2011 12:29PM I Agree (17) - I Disagree (1)

Makes sense to me. Unfortunately, I'm sure there'd be a lot of people in Williamstown who'd be overjoyed to see that, too.
from: the_Bird	on: 11-16-2011 11:01AM I Agree (2) - I Disagree (7)

"WHAT A MESS"...I KNOW ALL ABOUT IT...I LIVED THERE BUT THE CONFUSION MADE ME RUN AWAY OMG
from: J MUMFORD	on: 11-17-2011 04:00PM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (2)

Sue the Town and State? are you kidding me? Maybe the Residents should file a law suit against the owners for not establishing emergency evacuation plans ahead of time, developing a better drainage system, providing a notification system, establishing a plan with medical services based on specific medical conditions of residents, establishing evacuation points and requiring as a private park that all residents sign a form stating that due to the proximity to the river and the historical floods that have occurred you may be required to evacuate your residents. In today's world of terrorism and natural disasters one would think that every person, business and community would establish some form of emergency management to handle the obvious. The emergency services that day and beyond did wonderful and truly went above and beyond to aid the residents. Thank god there was not another major area of town impacted to this magnitude!
from: Really?	on: 11-18-2011 04:47PM I Agree (3) - I Disagree (1)

My sister added an addition(a room and a porch) to her mobile home in the Spruces. In order to get a building permit the town required that the addition be above flood stage which added considerably to the cost. So there is now a condemmed mobile home with an undamaged addition. The town should,at the very least,review their regulations to reflect some common sense.
from: sister	on: 11-19-2011 03:42PM I Agree (1) - I Disagree (5)

yeah, they should ensure everything put back is also out of the flood plane. Then the entire property would be good and wouldn't require public funds (or at least as much of them) to fix.
from: @sister	on: 11-22-2011 11:35AM I Agree (1) - I Disagree (0)

Coggins Classic Golf Tournament Helps Bennington Project Independence

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:37PM / Saturday, September 05, 2026

This was the tournament's fifth year; it combined with the independence project's annual golf outing this year.

BENNINGTON, Vt. — Thirty teams hit the green for this year's Coggins Classical Golf tournament, helping Coggins Auto raise money for Bennington Project Independence.

Coggins Auto Marketing Director Valerie Harrington said the fifth annual tournament, which was held on Aug. 28, continued a tradition of community-driven giving.

Harrington first helped organize the tournament in 2022. She hoped to raise $10,000, which would allow the auto group to leverage a $10,000 Toyota match program.

The tournament has successfully raised more than $50,000 the last two years, with last year's beneficiary the Cancer Center Community Crusaders.

This year, it raised more than $50,000 alone, including meeting the Toyota match the third year in a row.

Harrington said she wanted to help the nonprofits in the area, especially those that might get overlooked.

"The idea of it was especially for those nonprofits that are pretty small and don't have really the funds or the means or understanding of how to put on a golf tournament, and to give them an opportunity to get at least $20,000 in funds that year, which is huge for a lot of them, and it's really grown since then," she said.

"There's a lot of nonprofits that are big and big and loud and you know about them, but there are so many more that are like people don't even realize they exist. But what they do is super critical and important to the people in our community."

Local nonprofits submit an application each year explaining their mission and what they need to succeed. Coggins employees narrow the submissions to their top three choices and then let the community decide who they should pick.

Bennington has more than 100 nonprofits, and it can be hard to keep track of them all, but with the tournament, Coggins is able to have many people learn and see the needs in their community and nonprofits they haven't heard about.

"Even if they don't win, they've got in front of thousands of people who read their story and know what they need and know what they do to just spread awareness," Harrington said. "And then by having the community vote on it, then we know for sure what we're doing is what the community wants the most at that given time ...

"The community is saying, 'Hey, we want this nonprofit. We like what they're trying to do. Let's give them help because it's the decision of hundreds to thousands of people rather than just a handful of us.'"

Bennington Project Independence is an adult day service for individuals and families facing the challenges of aging or disability. This year the organization is combining its 13th annual golf tournament with Coggins.

"I think they've affected a lot of people's lives and helped a lot of families because it's an adult day facility for not just the elderly but also special needs," Harrington said. "So what they do every day to keep those folks' lives enriched while giving the family a break or allowing them to go to work and do these things. It's really important."

The 2027 tournament submissions will open in March of 2027.

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