Williamstown Passes Articles at Special Town Meeting

By Stephen DravisWilliamstown Correspondent
02:37PM / Wednesday, February 27, 2013Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Two warrants were unanimously approved Tuesday night at as special town meeting.

Forty-four voters (from a checklist of 4,815) turned out at Town Hall to approve lifting two deed restrictions on properties formerly owned by the town but currently held by private entities.

The first warrant article dealt with the former home of the Williamstown Youth Center, which was a school building before it was conveyed to the former Williamstown Boys Club in 1966. A deed restriction placed on the 1966 transaction required that the building only be used as a boys club.

The WYC, which moved into its new building on the grounds of the elementary school last year, has a buyer in place for the Cole Avenue facility.

The second warrant article concerned the land purchased by Purple Moon LLC, better known as Countryside Landscaping, in 2003. The property on Simonds Road was sold to Countryside on the condition that it develop the property as a nursery, which it has done. Purple Moon asked the town to lift the restriction in light of its compliance with the terms of the sale.

Town Clerk Mary Courtney Kennedy said both articles passed in a matter of seconds with no debate.

Adam Filson was elected to serve as moderator for the meeting for the first warrant article because Moderator Mark Gold had a conflict. Gold served as moderator for the second article.

Tags: Real Estate, special town meeting, youth center,

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AG Clears Williamstown Select Board in Open Meeting Complaint

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
04:56PM / Wednesday, November 04, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Attorney General's Office on Wednesday cleared the Select Board in an Open Meeting Law complaint filed by iBerkshires.com while simultaneously confirming the supposition at the heart of the complaint.

The AGO found that the board did technically violate the OML when it moved to executive session on May 11, a misstep the board previously acknowledged in its response to the complaint.

The meeting in question was held behind closed doors to discuss the town's response to a proposal from Williams College to acquire the former town garage site at 59 Water St.

At the time of the May 11 meeting, the board had held no public discussion, let alone a vote, on whether to enter into negotiations with Williams, the lone respondent to a request for proposals issued by the town for the 1.27-acre parcel.

The board cited an exception to the Open Meeting Law that states executive sessions are appropriate if, "holding the discussion in open session may have a detrimental effect on the Board's negotiating position."

iBerkshires.com maintained in its complaint that the executive session was premature given the fact that the board on May 11 had no one to negotiate with as it had not agreed — publicly — to negotiate with the college.

The news organization cited the fact that the town's RFP clearly indicated a multi-step process in which the board first would decide whether to engage with any of the respondents (assuming multiple bids were made) and then enter into negotiation with one of the respondents.

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