Williamstown Briefs: Cell Tower Decision Delayed
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The School Committee did not make a decision regarding two prospective locations, both of which have been opposed by nearby residents, in hopes that the ZBA would render a decision for them on Thursday. However, the ZBA approved continuing the application until its Jan. 19 meeting.
The board also allowed the company, Florida Tower Partners, to withdraw their application to build the tower on the Peter Phelps's Oblong Road property. That site was ruled out by the company after encountering wetlands and endangered species issues..
Finance Committee Gears Up For Budget Season
Upstairs of Town Hall on Thursday, the Finance Committee got a jump start on the budget season. The committee will not begin approving budgets for another month or so but began meeting to prepare.
The committee set out items to research that includes making a recommendations on the tax percent of the Community Preservation Act, long-term capital planning, changing the meals tax percentage and implementation of the payment in lieu of taxes program. The board did not take a stand on any of those issues on Thursday.
The committee discussed the merit of the Community Preservation Act but overall decided it was not in their purview to weigh-in on its existence. However, they did believe that they could research the pros and cons of changing the percentage because it helps the town's finances.
The group also set out a goal to plan capital expenses well into the future and that could include renovating the Police station, which members said is currently not building code compliant.
The group will also look at implementing a PILOT on the non-profit organizations, which are tax exempt. The largest, Williams College, has a new administration and the committee members said that opens the door for the discussion, members said. The committee will look at how PILOTs are crafted and later decide if they should ask the non-profits to pay the voluntary fee.
The committee also approved transferring $20,000 to the veteran's affair budget line. The town, as well as many other neighboring towns, has seen a massive increase in benefit claims this year.
The town appropriated $35,103 for the veterans but Town Manager Peter Fohlin predicts the total expenses to be about $74,000. Fohlin expects a shortfall of about $40,000 and asked for $20,000 knowing that he would likely return to the finance committee for more later.
School Committee To Examine Regionalization
The Mount Greylock Regional High School Committee decided not to approve on Tuesday an application for a state grant to plan an incorporation of the two elementary schools into the district.
The $30,000 grant would pave the way to bring the three schools under one larger School Committee. However, committee members said the grant may commit them to regionalization when they do not know if they would support it and questioned if the grant required implementation.
Member Jack Hickey suggested applying for a similar grant through the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission for a feasibility study. The committee also took no action on that but said after the applications were filled out by Superintendent of Schools Rose Ellis, they would call a special meeting to either approve or reject each application before the mid-January deadline.
The schools, Lanesborough Elementary and Williamstown Elementary, already share some services and administrators but bringing them into one district would allow the larger governing body to negotiate contracts as one.
