Williamstown Selectmen Again Decline to Take Pipeline Stance
 The Board of Selectmen declined to vote on a resolution opposing the Kinder Morgan natural gas pipeline. |
But its members encouraged organizers to take the resolution to May's annual town meeting.
The three members of the board in attendance were clear that they did not necessarily disagree with petitioners Anne O'Connor and Shira Wohlberg.
However, Selectmen Hugh Daley and Andrew Hogeland questioned whether the board should be speaking for the entire town on issues of national and global importance, and Daley and Selectwoman Jane Patton indicated they don't feel sufficiently informed to speak for the town even if it was the kind of thing the board should address.
"I don't like spending our time on resolutions over which we have no control of the outcome," Daley said. "I'm happy to go on record and vote for things we're in charge of. To take a position on something like this strikes me as being a little presumptuous."
O'Connor and Wohlberg, who first approached the board on Jan. 12, reminded selectmen on Monday that since then there have been numerous public information sessions on the around the county, including sessions held by developer Kinder Morgan.
"What can we do to help you in the education process?" Wohlberg asked.
"I would say nothing," Patton answered. "My sense is that your education is going to be biased. And I'm OK with that. I have points of view about things, and I'm biased about them.
"I'm going about this in a way that when I look in the mirror, I'm comfortable that I've looked at both sides and my decision will be based on the information I've gathered."
Patton said that she was reading up on the hydraulic fracturing issue and seeking meetings with authorities on the subject.
Hogeland, who this fall argued against the board taking a position on a statewide bottle deposit initiative, stayed true to that philosophy.
"I don't mind doing things that are town centric," he said. "But the more it gets to be national policy and climate change, I have a hard time with three people saying the 5,000 people of Williamstown believe this."
Chairman Ronald Turbin and Selectman Thomas Sheldon did not attend Monday's meeting.
O'Connor said that with "pretty humble outreach efforts," the group had generated 100 signatures on a petition supporting the anti-pipeline resolution. The activists said a similar resolution has been passed in 40 towns and has the backing of members of Berkshire County's legislative delegation.
"If the select board doesn't act on this, we'll take it to town meeting," O'Connor said.
"I think that's great," Daley said.
"Either we have to become experts on this issue or we have to decide that however we feel about it as individuals reflects the opinion of the town.
"I don't have the band width to become an expert on this issue."
"That's why we've become the experts for you," Wohlberg said.
Wendy Penner of the town's COOL (Carbon Dioxide Lowering) Committee also spoke in support of the resolution and noted that two members of the board who joined a 3-0-2 vote in favor of the bottle bill resolution were absent on Monday night.
Wohlberg and O'Connor left the door open to taking another run at the board with the resolution but also inquired about what sorts of informational materials they can supply to town meeting voters at Williamstown Elementary School on May 19.
Much of Monday's meeting was spent hearing a report from David Irwin of Pittsfield's Adelson & Co., which conducted an audit of the town's fiscal 2014 finances.
Irwin gave the town high marks.
"The town's finances are in good order," he said.
"There are no issues with the audit, no audit adjustments to your internal accounting system. It was a very good audit. That's [Town Manager] Peter [Fohlin]."
Irwin praised the town for its collection rate, which was 98 percent for the period of the audit, and noticed that Williamstown currently has a modest debt and has the capacity to borrow "something like $30 million," given its land valuation.
The board also heard a presentation from one of the co-creators and the current manager of destinationwilliamstown.org.
Manager Sandra Thomas explained the mission of the information site.
"This is a site for the community and intended for the community to participate," Thomas said. "We define the community as North County, Southern Vermont and neighboring towns ... focusing on Williamstown as the epicenter.
"For people visiting Williamstown, we want to encourage them to stay longer. We wanted to convey to them everything going on."
The creators of the calendar-driven website are discussing its long-term sustainability with the Williamstown Chamber of Commerce, of which Thomas currently is interim executive director.
"Everyone needs to take ownership [of the site] because, as everyone knows, we want the town to have it be theirs," co-creator Carole Stegeman said. "We're all willing to put a lot of energy in it, but if people want it, we have to keep it sustainable."
In other business, the board in its capacity as the town's liquor licensing authority approved Greta Kipp as manager of the license at the Williams Inn.
"I've worked in the hotel industry for about 10 years," Kipp said. "Prior to that, I had six years in the Army. I studied international relations and finance in college.
"I have experience in housekeeping, marketing, sales and finance in the hospitality industry. This will be my first job overseeing this department."
The board also approved the appointment of Patricia Leach to the Historical Commission and accepted with regret the resignations of Judy Ensign (Northern Berkshire Cultural Council) and Bob Kavanaugh (Municipal Scholarship Committee).
Tags: appointments, audit, gas pipeline, resolution, town meeting 2016,
