HooRWA to Host Annual Meeting and Talk on Forest Conservation

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Hoosic River Watershed Association (HooRWA) will hold its annual meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. at Williams College's Wege Auditorium. 
 
The event, sponsored by the Williams College Environmental Studies Program and the Zilkha Center for the Environment, will include a review of HooRWA's 2024 activities and board elections.
 
Following the meeting, at 7:15 p.m., Vermont forester and author Ethan Tapper will deliver a talk titled "What Does It Mean to Love a Forest?" Drawing from his bestselling book, "How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World," Tapper will discuss how humans can play an active role in healing ecosystems. His presentation will explore the challenges of environmental stewardship and the need for pragmatic conservation efforts. A Q&A session will follow.
 
The event is free and open to the public.
 
Wege Auditorium is on the ground floor of the Williams College Chemistry building in the Unified Science Center and is most easily accessed by entering the Morley Scientific Laboratory through the atrium, going up the ramp or the stairs. turning right, and going straight along the corridor almost to the end. Wege Auditorium is TCL Room 123, on the right just before the end of that corridor.
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Williamstown Planners Eye Consultant Help on Mixed-Use Proposal

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board has decided to seek more input before moving ahead with a proposal that would encourage more mixed-use development in the town's business zones.
 
For months, the board had acknowledged that a lot of work needed to go into putting a full-fledged zoning overlay district proposal before town meeting but was optimistic the task could be completed in time for May's annual meeting.
 
But last Tuesday, the town planner suggested that the board could benefit from the work of consultants which the town could hire if it receives a couple of grants from the commonwealth.
 
One of those grants could help fund a study to look at what sorts of business development might be possible if the town code is changed to encourage the construction of buildings that combine commercial and residential uses in its Limited Business and Planned Business zoning districts.
 
"[The town has] done housing needs assessments a couple of times, what about a market needs assessment?" Community Development Director Andrew Groff asked the board rhetorically at its monthly meeting. "That undergirds the whole rezoning program. And then you build the form-based [zoning] on top of that."
 
Groff told the board that he started thinking about the need for studies to support the mixed-use zoning initiative after conversations with officials from the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission and preliminary talks with the type of consultant who might be able to help the town get the data it could use.
 
The planner also suggested that the creation of overlay districts could be done in phases.
 
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