Williamstown Voters Asked to Fund Affordable Housing Project
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| Selectman Richard Steege displays the photo he was presented. |
Representatives from Church Corner LLC, the nonprofit citizen's group managing the project, and the Affordable Housing Committee updated the Selectmen on Monday on the information to be presented to voters.
Town meeting overwhelmingly approved $800,000 last year for the project from Community Preservation Act funds. The funds are to be used for open space, preservation and affordable housing development.
The group, Church Corners LLC, still does not have a purchase-and-sale agreement with the Diocese of Springfield, which had an agreement in principle last year to sell the property for $480,000. Total cost for purchasing the property and transforming it into housing is estimated at $1.8 million. The balance would be made up through a loan from Williamstown Savings Bank.
The diocese is reluctant to formalize a sales agreement until funding for the project is assured, Stephen N. Pagnotta, president of the Church Corner, told the Selectmen on Monday night.
"We are attaining funding and moving forward with developers, getting permits ... then [we can] go back to them and obtain a purchase-and-sales agreement," he said. "We have sent out bid specs to interested developers and a number have experessed interest. We think at least two will present bids."
 Stephen Pagnotta, at the microphone, explains some of the details of affordable housing project planned for the former St. Raphael's Church; Affordable Housing Committee Chairman Charles Bonenti is at left. |
The group, formed last year after the town Affordable Housing Committee was awarded the first round of funding, has created an question-and-answer sheet for town meeting that Selectmen reviewed on Monday. The questions were formulated in part after an informal neighborhood meeting sponsored by Church Corner, said Charles Bonenti, chairman of the Affordable Housing Committee.
Diagrams showing how the one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments would be laid out in the buildings will also be set up at town meeting. Plans call for six apartments in the church and two in the rectory.
The property on the corner of Cole Avenue and Church Street is one of a number of church properties for sale in Berkshire County after a round of consolidations. The Parish of Sts. Raphael & Patrick is now located in St. Patrick's Church.
"We hope to put shovel in the ground sometime this fall," said Pagnotta.
Bonenti, who has regularly attended the Church Corner meetings, said the group had done a lot of research and work on the designs for the project.
"The group has come out with an amazing amount of effort and expertise," he said. "The people who made up this committee have really just devoted a lot of time, talent and expertise to this project without any cost to the town."
Also on the warrant for affordable housing funds is $167,539 for the Cable Mills project. Town meeting will be held Tuesday, May 19, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Elementary School.
In other business:
■ The board unanimously agreed to sign a resolution endorsing the proposed 75-mile Berkshire Bikeway that will stretch from the Vermont to the Connecticut border and agreeing to participate in discussions with the 11 communities through which it will run, collaborate with those communities and agree to joint application for bike path funding. (Selectman Thomas Costley was not in attendance.)
Some of that money will come from the $4 million acquired by U.S. Rep. John W. Olver in the 2005 transportation bill.
"It is important," said Chairwoman Jane Allen. "[The Berkshire Bike Path Council] will need this; this is what Congressman Olver will be looking for."
■ Approved outside service on the deck for Water Street Grill with conditions that it be limited to 24 patrons, that there be no music and that service end at 9 p.m.
■ Town Manager Peter Fohlin's annual contract was extended again for another year, with no change in compensation. The board "enthusiastically" and unanimously approved the extension.
■ Selectman Richard Steege, whose three-year term expires, was presented with a "diploma" by Allen certifying his service and a framed picture of the 2009 Board of Selectmen. Steege declined to run for re-election.
"I have enjoyed thses three years and my successor will also," said Steege. "It has been very rare to be on a board where everyone gets along so well. But it's also a learning experience every single time I come. It's something I wish more people had an opportunity to share."
