Berkshire Village Residents, Owners Agree Better Communication Needed
CHESHIRE, Mass. — Berkshire Village residents and one of the park's owners agreed on the need for better communication between management, ownership, and tenants.
Those issues were hashed out once again on Tuesday at a meeting of the Board of Selectmen, acting as the Rent Control Board.
Residents have repeatedly demonstrated that the mobile home park's unsafe and deteriorating conditions for nearly 10 years because of neglect by the previous owners. They have described ongoing issues with the septic systems, electrical services, and road conditions and say the owners are not moving fast enough.
New owners Crown Communities LLC, which contracts with M. Shapiro Real Estate to manage the property, say they're spending millions to upgrade the park right now.
According to the town's property card, Crown Communities purchased the park in December 2022 for $1.
"Since we have taken over the property, we have spent close to $2 million on this project alone," states a document to the board from Alex Cabot, managing partner of Berkshire Village MHC LLC (Ignite Communities).
"We have opened the spigots not just to fix the issues that we inherited, but to send a message to both the residents and the community as a whole that we are committed to the long-term viability and success of Berkshire Village as a source of quality affordable housing."
Heath Biddlecome, another managing partner who attended the meeting, emphasized that they have not requested any rent increases for the capital improvements.
Once the work is complete, he expects to come back with a petition, potentially to request a rent increase.
William Morreau, the secretary of the Berkshire Village Tenants Association, expressed concern about differing opinions and emphasized the need for productive, straightforward, and honest communication.
The discussion on Tuesday night, he said, felt like the owners and engineers were speaking a different language compared to the residents and wanted knowledgeable individuals, such as water and health inspectors, to be included in the conversation.
During the meeting, the lead engineer on the project, Justin Damore, explained that the septic system project is at 80 percent completion and anticipates four more weeks of work.
"We're on the last things. We're moving the gravity sewer lines, and we have 40 percent of the force mains complete. We will finish the 60 percent of the force mains, which will be going down Fourth and Second Avenue, over the next 14 days, starting Tuesday — God willing, and if the creek don't rise, literally," Damore said.
"Then from there, we will start connecting homes in pairs, probably two to three a day, while also completing extra tank inspections to make sure that we didn't miss anything with the extra infrastructure that may have been existing, that was reused, ie, some of the original septic tanks which are still in compliance."
It is unclear how many homes are going to be connected to the system because multiple mobile homes share a tank, which is a common practice in Massachusetts.
As the weather gets nicer, Damore said he frequently lives in the park in his RV during construction and that he would be glad to show residents how the system works.
Damore verified with both the state Department of Environmental Protection and the town that there are no active or pending violations, Cabot wrote to the Rent Control Board.
"This is not something that we installed. This is something that we inherited, and we are trying to fix. So this is something that we're doing out of cash flow, and it does take time, and it takes a lot of money to fix," Biddlecome said.
"We are pushing forward every single day to make this community better, but just to let them know, the board know, that this is stuff that was inherited, deferred maintenance from the previous owner for many years of neglect."
In a follow-up, Morreau said there are 24 failed septic systems currently in use, which are affecting 38 homes. He said the system drains very slowly, there are restrictions in pipes, tanks need repeated pumping, and raw sewage was leaking onto the ground.
"It really needs to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed now. We don't have time to keep waiting. People are living in really adverse conditions, and that shouldn't be true. That shouldn't be happening," he said.
In one specific case, a resident went three days with raw sewage in her toilet and bathtub because she couldn't get it to drain.
Eventually, Morreau said, the resident had to pay $760 out of pocket to have a plumber fix the system because of the company's unresponsiveness. After being scoped, it was shown that the pipe had collapsed, and that's the case for several other homes, he said.
Damore said new baffles will be put in, and every line will be scoped because they all need to pass MassDEP inspection. He added that road repairs will begin after the septic system is complete, so the park should have new roads "hopefully by the end of this year."
Morreau said residents understand that road work can't start until the septic is done but the owners could fill in the potholes and trenches so that residents can travel safely.
He also recommended that the property owners assess the aging water line infrastructure before finalizing the road repairs, saying there's evidence of leaks.
Tenants have also complained about lack of plowing in the winter, outdated electrical services, slow response times in addressing maintenance calls and difficulty reaching management.
Damore said an electrician will be putting in 32 new services (Morreau says 54 are needed) to accommodate the electrical load that will be on the new pump station and that National Grid has not noted anything out of compliance.
There have been multiple management companies and site managers since 2021, with each saying they need time to understand the situation, Morreau said.
Biddlecome acknowledged the communication breakdown and agreed to improve communication.
A follow-up meeting with the Rent Control Board will be scheduled once the ongoing septic and electrical work is complete or near completion to ensure awareness of the project's progress and potential solutions.
Tags: mobile home park, rent control,
