Letter: Support Puddester & Kapiloff for Planning Board

Letters to the EditorPrint Story | Email Story

To the Editor:

This letter is in support of Susan Puddester and Chris Kapiloff for positions on the Williamstown Planning Board.

As longtime residents of Williamstown experienced in town governance, we are very concerned about the future of our community. We are confronted with a declining population, and without growth in our tax base, it will be increasingly difficult to meet the financial needs of our schools and other critical municipal operations.

Williamstown recently completed an in-depth economic development plan that articulated the need to attract people and businesses. We need to make it clear to potential investors that the town will work with them to maximize their chance of success. Investors have a lot of communities to choose from, and we have a lot to offer. We need to articulate our strengths and demonstrate that investing here is a good personal and business decision. We risk turning away potential investment in our town if we put unreasonable roadblocks in the way of reasonable development.



Fortunately, at its meeting on April 28, the Planning Board got closer to a compromise regarding the development of the Waubeeka Golf Course, a compromise that should have been achieved many months ago. A positive decision that meets the needs of both town and applicant will send the right message to other potential investors.

Please join us on May 10 in voting for Planning Board candidates Susan Puddester and Chris Kapiloff. They have an understanding of the challenges we face as a community and will bring insight and balance critical to the deliberations of the Planning Board.

Jane Allen, Jack Madden & David Rempell
Williamstown, Mass.

All three signers are former members of the Williamstown Board of Selectmen


Tags: election 2016,   endorsement,   Planning Board,   waubeeka,   


If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Williams Seeking Town Approval for New Indoor Practice Facility

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board last week gave Williams College the first approval it needs to build a 55,000-square foot indoor athletic facility on the north side of its campus.
 
Over the strenuous objection of a Southworth Street resident, the board found that the college's plan for a "multipurpose recreation center" or MRC off Stetson Road has adequate on-site parking to accommodate its use as an indoor practice facility to replace Towne Field House, which has been out of commission since last spring and was demolished this winter.
 
The college plans a pre-engineered metal that includes a 200-meter track ringing several tennis courts, storage for teams, restrooms, showers and a training room. The athletic surface also would be used as winter practice space for the school's softball and baseball teams, who, like tennis and indoor track, used to use the field house off Latham Street.
 
Since the planned structure is in the watershed of Eph's Pond, the college will be before the Conservation Commission with the project.
 
It also will be before the Zoning Board of Appeals, on Thursday, for a Development Plan Review and relief from the town bylaw limiting buildings to 35 feet in height. The new structure is designed to have a maximum height of 53 1/2 feet and an average roof height of 47 feet.
 
The additional height is needed for two reasons: to meet the NCAA requirement for clearance above center court on a competitive tennis surface (35 feet) and to include, on one side, a climbing wall, an element also lost when Towne Field House was razed.
 
The Planning Board had a few issues to resolve at its March 12 meeting. The most heavily discussed involved the parking determination for a use not listed in the town's zoning bylaws and a decision on whether access from town roads to the building site in the middle of Williams' campus was "functionally equivalent" to the access that would be required under the town's subdivision rules and regulations.
 
View Full Story

More Williamstown Stories