Williamstown Housing Panel Seeks Adviser for Proposals

	The Affording Housing Committee is looking to develop plans for the old town garage site, left, and possibly PhotoTech, above, with the help of a consultant.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Affordable Housing Committee on Tuesday decided to start the process of securing a consultant to develop a request for proposals to build subsidized housing at the former town garage site.

In a meeting telecast on the town's community access television station, the AHC authorized Chairwoman Catherine Yamamoto to seek the advice of Rita Farrell at the Massachusetts Housing Partnership about the scope of services the committee should consider for a potential consultant.

The committee set a tentative meeting as early as Tuesday, July 2, to receive Yamamoto's report and move forward with finding a consultant.

One of the issues the committee is likely to consult about is the advantage of "bundling" an RFP for the garage site at 59 Water St. and another town-owned parcel, the former PhoTech mill property on Cole Avenue.

The committee spent some of its time on Tuesday discussing whether it should move forward with seeking property developers for both sites even though the PhoTech site still has unresolved soil contamination issues, not to mention the question of how to dispose of the "cube," the remnant of the former factory building.

"59 Water St. is in hand, and I wish PhoTech was in hand," committee member Cheryl Shanks said. "We'd have to start on [PhoTech] before we have it fully in hand, and I'm not personally sure we should go ahead and assume it's going to be in hand."

The committee had some sense Tuesday night how much work needs to be done to get the Cole Avenue property "in hand."

Unlike 59 Water St., where soil contamination has been remediated, the PhoTech site has an unknown degree of contamination, and consultants need to wait until the Hoosic River recedes enough to allow analysis of soil in the riverbank, Yamamoto said.

As for the cube, the committee has in hand a proposal from Westfield engineers Tighe & Bond to assist with preparing and overseeing the structure for demolition. The cost of those services — not the actual demolition — is pegged at more than $32,000, according to the proposal from Tighe & Bond.

"My sense is that this proposal for $32,800 is a lot of money," Yamamoto said. "And it doesn't accomplish what we need, really. My feeling is we ought to consider engaging a consultant who would help us in the RFP process, who would look at the site and help us with an RFP for these two sites and possibly others."

The committee took no action on the proposal for the PhoTech site.

But it did reiterate its commitment to pressing forward on a variety of fronts to address the town's affordable housing needs.

Yamamoto opened Tuesday's meeting by acknowledging last week's announcement of a partnership between Williams and several private non-profits to develop affordable housing on a nearly 4-acre parcel at the end of Southworth Street.

"In the 38 meetings of this committee in the 22 months since Tropical Storm Irene, we have stated repeatedly that a single site is not the solution to our housing needs," Yamamoto said, adding that the committee is grateful to the college for its pledge to continue land for housing.

"This committee pledges to work together with all town committees and all town residents."

That work continues on Thursday night, when Yamamoto and Affordable Housing Trust Chairman Stanley Parese will be invited guests at a meeting of the town's Conservation Commission, which has jurisdiction over two town-owned parcels of open land that have been considered for development to meet the affordable housing need.

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