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An artist's rendering of the proposed development at 330 Cole Ave. from Cole Avenue looking east.
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The current proposed view from the north end of the Cole Avenue bridge with the Hoosic River in the foreground.
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An overview of the current plan for 330 Cole Ave. The two buildings in the top left corner have been moved further from the river than in a previous iteration.

Williamstown's Cole Avenue Housing Developers Hold Forum

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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Julie Sniezek, left, of Guntlow and Associates and architect Kerry Dietz discuss the evolution of the plan for 330 Cole Ave.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The development team looking to build 46 units of affordable housing on Cole Avenue was back at Town Hall on Thursday to talk about how the project has evolved and to take input from the community.
 
Once again, they heard specific suggestions about how the 330 Cole Ave. property should be developed as well as concerns about whether it should be used for a subsidized housing project.
 
The president of Berkshire Housing Development Corp., the principal of Springfield's Dietz and Company Architects and representatives of local engineering firm Guntlow and Associates explained their current thinking for the 4.8-acre town-owned site commonly known as the Photech site.
 
As previously announced, the developers hope to put about 20 apartments in the existing Photech mill building, known as the "cube" and build townhouses on the rest of the property to get to 46 units of one-, two- and three-bedroom housing.
 
What has changed since the developers' last presentation is the layout of the two buildings on the west side of the property. In response to concerns raised at a January forum about flooding at the site, the design team has moved the building closest to the Hoosic River, in the northwest quadrant of the site, farther south.
 
And rather than separating the row houses with a pedestrian greenway, the current configuration has a parking lot for the townhouses and drive for access to the rest of the property, which eliminates the need for a separate drive on the site to provide access for emergency vehicles.
 
"We were hesitant to break up the buildings with parking, but we thought it was in the best interest in terms of the flood plain," said Julie Sniezek of Guntlow. "We have more room because we eliminated the fire access. We're able to put the buildings a little higher than they were originally."
 
Sniezek and Charlie LaBatt of Guntlow told an audience of about 10 that the firm had pored over historical data about flooding on the site and is confident that the current projected height of all residences — about 604 feet above sea level — is above the highest recorded water line of the Hoosic during a flood event.
 
LaBatt said that during Hurricane Irene, which flooded the abandoned property, the water reached between 601 and 602 feet above sea level.
 
"There aren't any living units at that elevation," LaBatt said. "The first floor of the cube is 604 or 605 [feet]."
 
Mill Street resident Kevin Kennefick, who in the past has raised issues about the site's propensity to flood, on Thursday said he thought the developers were doing a good job with the hand they were dealt. But he renewed his call for the town to reconsider whether developing the property is in the best interest of the surrounding neighborhood.
 
"Obviously, you're trying to jam as much we can into this little piece of earth next to the most jam-packed neighborhood in town, "Kennefick said. "That's a town thing, not a developer thing.
 
"I think you guys are doing a good job trying to make the site work. The problem is with the town and the decisions the town is making.
 
"I'd like to ask the town: What are you going to do for people on Mill Street."
 
Kennefick said he was more sanguine when the town was in talks with the Eby Group about putting an assisted living facility on the site nearly 10 years ago.
 
"The Eby Group would have brought jobs," Kennefick said. "People need jobs."
 
Two members of the Board of Selectmen, Andrew Hogeland and Anne O'Connor, attended Thursday's forum. Just one current member was on the five-person board in 2014 when the panel selected Berkshire Housing and Boston's Women's Institute for Housing and Economic Development as the lead developers for 330 Cole Ave.
 
Kennefick, an owner-occupant whose home abuts the Photech site, was not the only one raising concerns about the impact on the neighborhood at Thursday's forum. Resident Jack Nogueira, who owns rental property on Mill Street and nearby Arnold Street, questioned whether the developers had thought of creating a physical partition between the site and the existing residents.
 
"I'm not against the project," Nogueira said. "Developing that piece of land sounds good. But echoing what [Kennefick] said, it's a crowded neighborhood. There is a limited view from any of those houses. That open space has been free space for people to look out their windows. Are these people going to be looking at [the new townhouses'] roofs? At second-story windows?
 
"The idea that this will be an open thing doesn't sit well with me."
 
Elton Ogden of Berkshire Housing said the design is still a work in progress, and designers have not considered whether to put fencing or planting along the southern edge of 330 Cole Ave. to create a separation from the Mill Street neighborhood.
 
"I think it's a good idea to get as much input and get the thoughts of the neighbors about what's the best way to do this," Ogden said. "On one hand, people might like a grassed area or people might want a physical separation. Ultimately, we'll do what's best for the existing residents and future residents."
 
As for the overall impact of new residential development at the site, Ogden, who has been in the affordable housing business for 30 years, said a high-quality residential development will improve the quality of life for abutters.
 
"My experience with having done this type of substantial, high-quality housing developments in areas that maybe suffered from some disinvestment is they really have the effect that neighbors take some pride," Ogden said. "They don't have a vacant, blighted building next to them anymore. Typically, it stimulates some investment by owners of existing housing. There's data to back that up."
 
Both Kennefick and Nogueira expressed doubts about whether the cash-strapped residents of the Mill Street and Arnold Street neighborhood would be able to afford investment. Nogueira further argued that new affordable housing in the neighborhood would create vacancies in the existing rental housing.
 
Nogueira noted that Thursday's meeting drew hardly any actual residents of the neighborhood, and Kennefick offered his home and the nearby former Women's Exchange building, which he owns, as potential sites for future forums.
 
The development team reacted enthusiastically to that idea. But Town Hall likely will see its share of 330 Cole Ave. discussions any way in the coming months.
 
Ogden said Thursday that the development team hopes to prepare an application for federal low-income housing tax credits in time for the next round of applications in February 2017, In order to do that, the group needs to have its local zoning approval in hand, he said. That means the Photech project likely will be in front of the town's Zoning Board of Appeals this summer or in the early fall to begin the approval process.

Tags: affordable housing,   housing development,   Photech,   

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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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