Letter: Vote Dan Caplinger for Williamstown School Committee

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To the Editor:

My name is Dan Caplinger, and I'm running for re-election to the Williamstown Elementary School Committee. I've served on the committee since 2012 and became its chair in June 2015. I've also served in related roles on other local school committees, including the superintendency union committee between Lanesborough and Williamstown and committees concerning Mount Greylock regionalization and the selection of the current Tri-District superintendent.

Throughout my time on the committee, I have strived to learn about and listen to all of the views our community has expressed about the elementary school. I've sought to find common ground to move us toward our common goal: to provide our children with the highest-quality education possible. My efforts haven't always been immediately successful, but setbacks have only made me try harder.

I have brought together members of the school community who disagree strongly and urged them to listen to each other. At the same time, I've also understood that not everyone is able to defend their rights and opinions in a public forum, and I've honored that by doing my best to represent them and their needs as well.

Please support me with your vote on May 10. Please give me the opportunity to keep working for the 450 children at Williamstown Elementary School.

Dan Caplinger
Williamstown, Mass.

 

 


Tags: election 2016,   school committee,   town elections,   


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Williamstown Housing Trust Commits $80K to Support Cable Mills Phase 3

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The board of the town's Affordable Housing Trust last week agreed in principle to commit $80,000 more in town funds to support the third phase of the Cable Mills housing development on Water Street.
 
Developer David Traggorth asked the trustees to make the contribution from its coffers to help unlock an additional $5.4 million in state funds for the planned 54-unit apartment building at the south end of the Cable Mills site.
 
In 2022, the annual town meeting approved a $400,000 outlay of Community Preservation Act funds to support the third and final phase of the Cable Mills development, which started with the restoration and conversion of the former mill building and continued with the construction of condominiums along the Green River.
 
The town's CPA funds are part of the funding mix because 28 of Phase 3's 54 units (52 percent) will be designated as affordable housing for residents making up to 60 percent of the area median income.
 
Traggorth said he hopes by this August to have shovels in the ground on Phase 3, which has been delayed due to spiraling construction costs that forced the developer to redo the financial plan for the apartment building.
 
He showed the trustees a spreadsheet that demonstrated how the overall cost of the project has gone up by about $6 million from the 2022 budget.
 
"Most of that is driven by construction costs," he said. "Some of it is caused by the increase in interest rates. If it costs us more to borrow, we can't borrow as much."
 
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