Williamstown Names Bicycle/Pedestrian Path
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The multimodal path from Syndicate Road to the Spruces Park finally has a name.
The Select Board on Monday voted 5-0 to dub the 2.4-mile trail the Mohican Recreational Path, to "recognize and and honor the indigenous people who first settled this area."
"We're anxious to get this done so we can move on to the next steps of doing the public opening piece," Town Manager Robert Menicocci told the board.
Menicocci added that naming the path will help the town build a public awareness campaign around the expected behavior on the trail, including the use of leashes for dogs.
The name itself is a long-discussed replacement for the "Mohawk Trail" name that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation attached to the project during construction. Once construction was complete and the path was deeded to the town this year, Menicocci asked the board and, by extension, the community at large, for help in finding a name.
Ultimately, that conversation included a discussion with representatives from the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians.
The board Monday briefly considered whether it should allow for one more round of community response to the suggested name before holding a vote.
"I actually love the name," Select Board Chair Jeffrey Johnson said. "I love that it came from consultation with the Stockbridge-Munsee tribal council. I'm OK with it, but I also want to hear from others."
After member Stephanie Boyd pointed out that a version of the name that incorporated the Mohican people was included in coverage of the board's July meeting, Randal Fippinger moved to hold the final vote on Monday. It passed without further discussion.
Most of the discussion on Monday concerned the question of whether the town should implement the residential tax exemption for property taxes.
Boyd, who said she has been thinking about the RTE for a year, gave her second detailed presentation to her colleagues, attempting to answer the questions they raised on July 24.
The discussion, which consumed about 75 minutes of a 2 hour, 15 minute meeting, included objections from two former Select Board members and pushback from two current members.
The board will face a decision point on the RTE at its annual tax classification hearing, scheduled for Sept. 11. But Boyd on Monday indicated she would be happy to see the board keep the idea under study for at least another year even if it makes no change to the current tax policy for fiscal 2024.
The decisions the board did make on Monday were far less contentious.
In addition to naming the pedestrian and bicycle path, the board voted 5-0 to allow a one-day alcohol permit for a wine tasting at Friday's grand opening for the Roam Gallery on Water Street, to allow Menicocci to attend the International City/County Management Association annual conference in Texas next month and to appoint Hugh Daley to one of two town seats on the board of the Hoosac Water Quality District.
Johnson noted that Williamstown has one other spot to fill on the joint board with North Adams and that he hoped a resident would step forward and apply in time to be appointed at the next Select Board meeting on Sept. 11.
Fippinger asked Daley to explain for the audience watching Monday's meeting on the town's community access television station, WilliNet, what such an appointment entails.
"It's an extremely well run [intermunicipal] organization that needs two representatives from each community to go through the budget and make sure things are going well … and communicate about it to various boards," Daley said. "It doesn't require you to know how to treat sewage. That is professionally done by the crews that run the facility."
Daley said the board meets monthly on the third Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Any town resident interested in that position or another town appointment can fill out one of the town's Government Engagement forms.
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