WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — For more than a decade, town officials have been grappling with how the Village Beautiful can spur economic development.

 

Last week, the Select Board heard about a major impediment the town can do nothing about.

 

"Berkshire Gas had reached out to me last week," Town Manager Robert Menicocci told the board during his report at the twice-monthly meeting. "I did meet with them, and they're reaching out to let us know they're out of capacity for Northern Berkshire.

 

"The pipeline that comes up through North Adams and feeds into us is at its maximum capacity. So there will be no additional installations for the very foreseeable and, probably, distant future."

 

That means that soon no more new residential or commercial hookups for natural gas will be available in town. And new development is exactly what Williamstown has been hoping to spur, particularly in its population center.

 

Economic development was the focus of an intensive, yearlong town study in 2015. It has been at the heart of many of the initiatives of the town's Planning Board in recent years. And it has been a rallying cry of the Finance Committee, which has consistently told residents that without "new growth" in the property tax base, the spiraling tax burden will continue to be split among existing taxpayers.

 

As recently as Aug. 24, during the Select Board's annual tax classification hearing, Town Assessor Christopher Lamarre told the panel why growing the tax base is the only way to avoid either cuts to town services or a Proposition 2 1/2 override vote.