Williamstown Con Comm Clears Way for Solar Project

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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Steven Wiehe of Peabody's Weston and Sampson addresses Williamstown's Conservation Commission about the landfill solar project.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Conservation Commission on Thursday OK'd plans for a 1.9-megawatt solar project on the town's capped landfill.
 
The commission reviewed plans for the project with engineer Steven Wiehe of Peabody's Weston and Sampson.
 
Wiehe explained that the project will include about 6,000 solar photovoltaic panels on about 7 acres of the 12-acre site.
 
In order to avoid harming the liner that covers the landfill, the work will be done above ground, and the area with the panels will be covered by 4 inches of stone gravel, Wiehe said.
 
And to prevent the growth of vegetation through that gravel layer, the developers of the solar project asked the Con Comm for permission to treat the area — which borders a resource area — with an herbicide.
 
The commission took little time to approve the project but added the condition that the herbicide be applied with a hand sprayer on a spot basis.
 
The solar project, on which the town is a co-applicant, was approved by the Planning Board earlier in the week.
 
Wiehe told the Con Comm that developer Brightfields Development of Wellesley anticipates about a four-month window for start to finish of the project once all permitting is in place.
 
In other business on Thursday, the Con Comm reorganized itself. After serving as chairman for three years, Philip McKnight stepped down from the post, and Richard Schlesinger was elected to take his place. Sarah Gardner will serve as the body's vice chairman.

Tags: conservation commission,   landfill,   solar array,   

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WCMA: 'Cracking the Code on Numerology'

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) opens a new exhibition, "Cracking the Cosmic Code: Numerology in Medieval Art."
 
The exhibit opened on March 22.
 
According to a press release: 
 
The idea that numbers emanate sacred significance, and connect the past with the future, is prehistoric and global. Rooted in the Babylonian science of astrology, medieval Christian numerology taught that God created a well-ordered universe. Deciphering the universe's numerical patterns would reveal the Creator's grand plan for humanity, including individual fates. 
 
This unquestioned concept deeply pervaded European cultures through centuries. Theologians and lay people alike fervently interpreted the Bible literally and figuratively via number theory, because as King Solomon told God, "Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight" (Wisdom 11:22). 
 
"Cracking the Cosmic Code" explores medieval relationships among numbers, events, and works of art. The medieval and Renaissance art on display in this exhibition from the 5th to 17th centuries—including a 15th-century birth platter by Lippo d'Andrea from Florence; a 14th-century panel fragment with courtly scenes from Palace Curiel de los Ajos, Valladolid, Spain; and a 12th-century wall capital from the Monastery at Moutiers-Saint-Jean—reveal numerical patterns as they relate to architecture, literature, gender, and timekeeping. 
 
"There was no realm of thought that was not influenced by the all-consuming belief that all things were celestially ordered, from human life to stones, herbs, and metals," said WCMA Assistant Curator Elizabeth Sandoval, who curated the exhibition. "As Vincent Foster Hopper expounds, numbers were 'fundamental realities, alive with memories and eloquent with meaning.' These artworks tease out numerical patterns and their multiple possible meanings, in relation to gender, literature, and the celestial sphere. 
 
"The exhibition looks back while moving forward: It relies on the collection's strengths in Western medieval Christianity, but points to the future with goals of acquiring works from the global Middle Ages. It also nods to the history of the gallery as a medieval period room at this pivotal time in WCMA's history before the momentous move to a new building," Sandoval said.
 
Cracking the Cosmic Code runs through Dec. 22.
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