Williamstown Sets Vote for Easements to Allow Bridge Replacement

By Stephen DravisWilliamstown Correspondent
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The Hopper Road bridge is slated to be replaced by the state of Massachusetts.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Selectmen on Monday approved the warrant for a special town meeting to approve three temporary easements that will pave the way for replacement of the Hopper Road Bridge.
 
As explained by Town Manager Peter Fohlin at last week's regular board meeting, the town needs to obtain the easement on a private property near the bridge to facilitate the work planned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
 
The town also needs to authorize temporary easements on town-owned land at the site, Fohlin explained on Monday evening at a special meeting attended by three members of the board.
 
The easements need to be in place before work on the bridge can be put out to bid, which is why a special town meeting is needed to obtain the easement rather than waiting until May's annual town meeting.
 
So the easements will be put before the town's voters on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. in the Selectman's Meeting Room at Town Hall.
 
Voters also will be asked to authorize spending $1,500 from the town's unreserved fund balance to "defray any associated right of way expenses connected with the project."
 
Those expenses include an appraisal of the 725 square feet of private land in question, compensation to the landowner for the use of the property and any legal fees or filing costs associated with the easements, Fohlin said Monday in a meeting telecast on the town's public access television station, WilliNet.

Tags: bridge project,   special town meeting,   

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Mount Greylock School Committee Votes Slight Increase to Proposed Assessments

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to slightly increase the assessment to the district's member towns from the figures in the draft budget presented by the administration.
 
The School Committee opted to lower the use of Mount Greylock's reserve account by $70,000 and, instead, increase by that amount the share of the fiscal year 2025 operating budget shared proportionally by Lanesborough and Williamstown taxpayers.
 
The budget prepared by the administration and presented to the School Committee at its annual public hearing on Thursday included $665,000 from the district's Excess and Deficiency account, the equivalent of a municipal free cash balance, an accrual of lower-than-anticipated expenses and higher-than-anticipated revenue in any given year.
 
That represented a 90 percent jump from the $350,000 allocated from E&D for fiscal year 2024, which ends on June 30. And, coupled with more robust use of the district's tuition revenue account (7 percent more in FY25) and School Choice revenue (3 percent more), the draw down on E&D is seen as a stopgap measure to mitigate a spike in FY25 expenses and an unsustainable budgeting strategy long term, administrators say.
 
The budget passed by the School Committee on Thursday continues to rely more heavily on reserves than in years past, but to a lesser extent than originally proposed.
 
Specifically, the budget the panel approved includes a total assessment to Williamstown of $13,775,336 (including capital and operating costs) and a total assessment to Lanesborough of $6,425,373.
 
As a percentage increase from the FY24 assessments, that translates to a 3.90 percent increase to Williamstown and a 3.38 percent increase to Lanesborough.
 
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