Sandra Thomas Stepping Down As Head of Images

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Images Cinema's longtime executive director, Sandra Thomas, will be resigning from her position at the nonprofit cinema as soon as a replacement director can be found.

After 12 years on the job, a time that has seen Images grow in budget, membership and programming, Thomas said she is ready to turn her attention to other interests.

She plans to stay in the area and continue her involvement with the Williamstown Film Festival, as well as pursue her passion for local food initiatives in Berkshire County.

"I also look forward to going to the movies and supporting Images," she said.
Thomas said she felt it was a good time to pull herself away from a job she loves.

"The decision to step down as executive director was a difficult one to make but one that is right for me at this point in time," she said. "Membership is at an all-time high, the staff is strong and knowledgeable, the community's enthusiasm is palpable, and someone new coming in can take the cinema to the next level."

Thomas also feels proud of other important recent accomplishments under her directorship: the renovation of the theater, the switch to digital projection, and the addition of the marquee on Spring Street.

John Strachan, president of Images' board of directors, said he is sorry to see Thomas go.

"In many ways, Sandra has come to stand for Images," he said. "We wish we could keep her forever, but we are at least thankful that she will stay in the area and continue her good work for the community and for all of North Country."

The Images board of directors is actively searching for a new executive director and hopes to have someone in place before the end of June.


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Williamstown Affordable Housing Trust Hears Objections to Summer Street Proposal

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Neighbors concerned about a proposed subdivision off Summer Street last week raised the specter of a lawsuit against the town and/or Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity.
 
"If I'm not mistaken, I think this is kind of a new thing for Williamstown, an affordable housing subdivision of this size that's plunked down in the middle, or the midst of houses in a mature neighborhood," Summer Street resident Christopher Bolton told the Affordable Housing Trust board, reading from a prepared statement, last Wednesday. "I think all of us, the Trust, Habitat, the community, have a vested interest in giving this project the best chance of success that it can have. We all remember subdivisions that have been blocked by neighbors who have become frustrated with the developers and resorted to adversarial legal processes.
 
"But most of us in the neighborhood would welcome this at the right scale if the Trust and Northern Berkshire Habitat would communicate with us and compromise with us and try to address some of our concerns."
 
Bolton and other residents of the neighborhood were invited to speak to the board of the trust, which in 2015 purchased the Summer Street lot along with a parcel at the corner of Cole Avenue and Maple Street with the intent of developing new affordable housing on the vacant lots.
 
Currently, Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity, which built two homes at the Cole/Maple property, is developing plans to build up to five single-family homes on the 1.75-acre Summer Street lot. Earlier this month, many of the same would-be neighbors raised objections to the scale of the proposed subdivision and its impact on the neighborhood in front of the Planning Board.
 
The Affordable Housing Trust board heard many of the same arguments at its meeting. It also heard from some voices not heard at the Planning Board session.
 
And the trustees agreed that the developer needs to engage in a three-way conversation with the abutters and the trust, which still owns the land, to develop a plan that is more acceptable to all parties.
 
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