Letter: Vote on May 11

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To the Editor:

I am excited to endorse Albert Cummings for Select Board. I have known Albert for decades. I've watched him grow his business from building small additions and renovations to award winning residential and commercial masterpieces. Similarly, I have seen his music career evolve from playing the banjo on Community Auditions, to singing and playing guitar around a campfire, to sharing a stage with some of the greatest blues artists who ever walked the earth. Albert's success in these areas come from a strong work ethic, great people skills, a willingness to always learn new ideas while not casting aside those ideas that are time tested and proven, and the attitude that a job worth doing is worth doing right. These are skills and attributes that will serve our town well.

Albert approaches people, ideas, issues, and opportunities with an open mind. He possesses an uncanny ability to engage with people, put them at ease, and allow them to be heard and has the experience of making tough decisions.

I encourage everyone to vote on May 11.

Jay Merselis
Williamstown, Mass.

 

 


Tags: election 2021,   

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Williamstown Planning Board Asks for Seasonal Communities Designation, Talks Tiny Homes

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board this month voted unanimously to recommend that the Select Board ask town meeting to accept the provisions of the provisions of the commonwealth's Seasonal Communities law.
 
If town meeting members agree at the May 19 annual town meeting, the town would have the ability to take steps to allow or create workforce housing, and it would give the town the ability to compete for grants to support year-round housing.
 
The tradeoff is that, under the terms of the Seasonal Communities program, Williamstown would need to enact zoning bylaws that allow the construction of residential housing on undersized lots, provided it is not used as a seasonal home or short-term rental "of less than six months." And the town would be required to enact zoning that permits so-called "tiny houses" of 400 square feet or less in floor area — again, only to be used as year-round housing.
 
The town would have two years to enact the zoning changes through subsequent town meetings while enjoying the benefits of the Seasonal Communities program from Day 1 if adopted at the May meeting.
 
The Legislature enacted the Seasonal Communities program to help communities address housing needs when those municipalities meet certain characteristics, including when "excessive disparities between the area median income and the income required to purchase the municipality's median home price," according to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (formerly the Department of Housing and Community Development).
 
The Seasonal Communities program initially was targeted at towns on Cape Cod, where the inaccessibility of workforce housing has been a concern for decades. More recently, the EOHLC has designated some towns in Berkshire County as eligible for the Seasonal Communities designation.
 
The Planning Board at its March 10 meeting voted 4-0 (with Cory Campbell absent) to recommend the Select Board agree at its Monday, March 23, meeting to put the Seasonal Communities question on the annual town meeting warrant.
 
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