Williamstown Board Advises Resolution Against Plastic Bags, Containers

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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The Selectmen recommended a citizen's petition on instituting a plastics ban be submitted as a resolution instead.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Selectmen are encouraging the backers of a polystyrene ban to consider social rather than legislative pressure.

The ad hoc group Greening Williamstown is hoping to place a bylaw before town meeting that would ban the use of plastics — including plastic bags, food containers and silverware.

The Selectmen expressed concern Monday over enforcement issues and overlegislation — either by the board or by citizen's petition.

"Who would grant the exemptions and do the enforcement?" asked Selectman Hugh Daley, referencing other bylaws he'd seen.

Anne O'Connor, speaking on behalf the campaign's leader Brad Verter, told the Selectmen she could answer questions on the proposed bylaw or refer concerns to Verter.

Verter, she said, had been contacting local businesses and institutions to see how a ban might affect them.

A number of towns have imposed full or partial bans on plastics, O'Connor noted.

Great Barrington last year banned plastic bags; Pittsfield's Green Commission last week endorsed a proposed ordinance to ban polystyrene.

But Daley urged the group to consider a resolution rather than legislation.

"So you get on people's register by saying you passed a resolution," he said. "We're not banning these things, we're just letting you know we don't want these things in our community."

Rather than enforcement, he said having businesses and institutions show by stickers or other initiatives that they were complying with the endeavor would also let consumers make a choice.

O'Connor said she liked the idea of stickers and of the community actively embracing a green lifestyle.

Town Manager Peter Fohlin was taken aback by one part of the proposed bylaw that would institute a 10 cent fee on a single-use plastic bags.

"That is to give the merchant a bit of money to cover," O'Connor said.

Fohlin thought the attorney general could consider such a fee as a tax.  

"And the town doesn't have the authority to tax," he said. "This starts to get really complicated when you get into those kind of actions."

Daley and Selectman Thomas Sheldon encouraged education and reaching out to businesses and nonprofits to investigate alternatives to polystyrene.


"I think you'll find that the resistance is not because they enjoy Styrofoam," Daley said. "It's because they've got too many things to do otherwise than look for new ways to solve something that's already working."

Fohlin noted that it wasn't a crazy idea for a town this size and one that is well-acquainted with all its business owners.

"If you can get them engaged as much we all are in this room, we've got a fighting chance — without a fight," he said.

Anne O'Connor asked the Selectmen to place a resolution against a natural gas pipeline on the warrant; the board thought it should be added by petition.

O'Connor was actually at the meeting to request the board place a petition against the proposed Kinder Morgan natural gas pipeline on the warrant. She had approached the board previously in an attempt to gain its endorsement of the resolution.

The board thought it would be more democratic for her to get the signatures of the 10 or so registered voters to place it as a citizen's petition.

The board also approved and signed off on bonding of $3,292,961 to covering borrowing of $1,102,961 for the Cable Mills redevelopment and $2,190,000 to refinance the balance of the debt for the new Williamstown Elementary School.

Town Treasurer Janet Saddler said the town was able to achieve a rate of 1.61 by combining the two borrowings, something that would not be possible for the Cable Mills bond alone.

"It made sense to combine the two loans and share the issuance cost," Saddler said. "We also moved up in bond rating from AA2 to AA1, which is exceptional."

Both loans will be for 10-year terms and will stand separately. Saddler said the town will save $143,000 over the life of the school borrowing. The initial rate had been 4.02.

Town meeting had authorized a grant of $1.5 million to Cable Mills to support its affordable housing component. The $1,102,961 is the balance obligated, after funds from the Community Preservation Act already spent, including an amendment at last year's town meeting.

The payments on the Cable Mills loan will continue to come from CPA funds, as authorized by town meeting. Saddler said the first payment, in fiscal 2016, will be $112,000 in principal and $18,000 in interest. The annual amount will decline until the final payment.

The bonding was approved after a very lengthy motion read by Secretary to the Selectmen Debra Turnbull and signatures on numerous documents.

In other business:

The board set a public hearing for the installation of a 4,000 gallon propane tank at 140 Hopper Road for Monday, April 13, at 7:05 p.m.

Chairman Ronald Turbin reminded viewers that nominations were still being accepted for the annual Faith Scarborough Award, given to a resident whose efforts have benefited the town.

Nominations may be emailed to Town Moderator Adam Filson or submitted in a sealed envelope to the town manager's office.

The 3rd annual PopCares 5K benefit race was approved for May 30.

Daley asked residents and businesses to fill out a survey for the town's Economic Development Committee. The survey can be found here. Paper copies can also be returned with tax payments.


Tags: bonding,   bylaws,   Cable Mills,   citizens petition,   gas pipeline,   polystyrene ,   resolution,   town meeting warrant,   

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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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