Mount Greylock School Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Greene talks about the process that led to Friday's groundbreaking.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — It was all smiles and laughter at Friday's ceremonial groundbreaking for the renovation and addition at Mount Greylock Regional School.
But it was worth remembering the sometimes bumpy road that brought the district to what School Building Committee Chairman Mark Schiek characterized as, "one big milestone on the project path we're on together."
School Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Greene told the crowd gathered for Friday's ceremony that there were many people to thank for helping Mount Greylock reach that milestone — including folks who would have chosen a different project path or no path at all.
"I'm grateful to our elected officials in both towns for their willingness to listen, for their willingness to ask the hard questions and to challenge us to provide clarity to the voters," Greene said.
Voters in both the regional school district's member towns approved the $64 million building project earlier this year.
"I'm grateful to voters for making informed decisions, whichever position they took," Greene said.
On Friday, with renovation work on the existing building well under way and foundation work on the new academic wing planned to begin shortly, officials from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, state Sen. Benjamin Downing, D-Pittsfield, and state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams, joined town and school officials for the groundbreaking.
One of those school officials was Mount Greylock Superintendent Douglas Dias, who told the crowd that after his past experiences with school building projects in other districts, he swore never to work in one that was embarking on a project.
"But that was before MSBA and before I saw the commitment of the groups we've seen here," said Dias, who is starting his second year at Mount Greylock. "The strength of the communities and collaboration with the towns and partners like Williams College have helped us provide … a state-of-the-art facility worthy of our children's education."
Downing echoed that sentiment.
"You can see the values of a community from where they invest their money," the senator said. "I know there is more that needs to be done. … But today we're here to celebrate us coming together to take one of many critical steps.
"When a kid sets foot in this building, when a parent sets foot in this building, when a teacher sets foot in this building, they will know their work is valued."
Downing and Cariddi have been committed advocates of the Mount Greylock project at the state level. And the MSBA is contributing about $32 million toward the project.
On Friday, MSBA Executive Director Jack McCarthy thanked the legislators for their efforts and recognized two of the driving forces for the project at the local level: Greene and Paula Consolini, who co-chairs the School Building Committee.
"In two weeks, it will be four years ago that I met Carrie and Paula," McCarthy said. "They came to a meeting in Boston. They weren't on the agenda. They just knew we were meeting and hopefully wanted to have a chance to talk to us.
"And so, they started explaining that they had a project they wanted to build. After they got a couple of sentences in, I said, 'Look, the best thing would be for me to come out and see the project.' So, four years ago in November — Gailanne [Cariddi] joined me in that tour — we were out touring the facility. [Now-retired Superintendent] Rose Ellis surprised me with a room full of people at the end of the tour that I wasn't expecting, which was all good."
And from that initial MSBA board meeting at which Greene and Consolini took the initiative, eventually came an invitation from the authority for Mount Greylock to enter its process.
"I want to thank Carrie and Paula for doing what they did," McCarthy said. "It spoke to me in my heart — the passion they had for this project."
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Williamstown Affordable Housing Trust Hears Objections to Summer Street Proposal
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Neighbors concerned about a proposed subdivision off Summer Street last week raised the specter of a lawsuit against the town and/or Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity.
"If I'm not mistaken, I think this is kind of a new thing for Williamstown, an affordable housing subdivision of this size that's plunked down in the middle, or the midst of houses in a mature neighborhood," Summer Street resident Christopher Bolton told the Affordable Housing Trust board, reading from a prepared statement, last Wednesday. "I think all of us, the Trust, Habitat, the community, have a vested interest in giving this project the best chance of success that it can have. We all remember subdivisions that have been blocked by neighbors who have become frustrated with the developers and resorted to adversarial legal processes.
"But most of us in the neighborhood would welcome this at the right scale if the Trust and Northern Berkshire Habitat would communicate with us and compromise with us and try to address some of our concerns."
Bolton and other residents of the neighborhood were invited to speak to the board of the trust, which in 2015 purchased the Summer Street lot along with a parcel at the corner of Cole Avenue and Maple Street with the intent of developing new affordable housing on the vacant lots.
Currently, Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity, which built two homes at the Cole/Maple property, is developing plans to build up to five single-family homes on the 1.75-acre Summer Street lot. Earlier this month, many of the same would-be neighbors raised objections to the scale of the proposed subdivision and its impact on the neighborhood in front of the Planning Board.
The Affordable Housing Trust board heard many of the same arguments at its meeting. It also heard from some voices not heard at the Planning Board session.
And the trustees agreed that the developer needs to engage in a three-way conversation with the abutters and the trust, which still owns the land, to develop a plan that is more acceptable to all parties.
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.
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The donors, who wish to remain anonymous, say the gift reflects their desire to not only support Williams but also President Maud S. Mandel's strategic vision and plan for the college.
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Neighbors of a proposed subdivision off Summer Street last week asked the Planning Board to take a critical look at the project, which the residents say is out of scale to the neighborhood. click for more
The Select Board and Planning Board this week clashed over a proposal that would add to the town charter a mechanism to ensure compliance with the foundation of town government. click for more