New Hope Church Grows Into New Space

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The New Hope United Methodist Church's congregation has grown significantly over the past year, necessitating the need for a new transition space to accommodate the growing numbers.

“Our growing congregation needs a larger transitional space while we continue to move forward with plans for a more permanent site,” said Pastor Dan Randall.

New Hope UMC – created from a merger of the former First United Methodist Churches of North Adams and Williamstown in January 2011 – will begin meeting Sept. 27 at Images Cinema on Spring Street for its Sunday gatherings until a more permanent home is found. The congregation currently worships at 4 Water St.

The church’s offices will be relocated to the former North Adams parsonage located at 550 West Main St. in North Adams. The space will also be used for small group gatherings, administrative meetings and community events.



A farewell worship celebration for the 4 Water St. location will be held Sept. 20 at 10 a.m.

“We want to give thanks and remember this as a significant part of our congregation’s journey while joyfully looking forward toward a growing future,” Randall said.

New Hope UMC, serving Northern Berkshire County, holds worship gatherings every first, third and fourth Sunday at 10 a.m. Childcare is provided. The congregation gathers throughout the community on the second Sunday of the month. For more information, visit: www.new-hopeumc.org.

 


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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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