Williamstown Community Chest 98th Annual Meeting

10:17AM / Wednesday, April 02, 2025Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williamstown Community Chest announced its 98th annual meeting on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 at 8:30 a.m. at The Williams Inn, 101 Spring Street.

The meeting's agenda includes election of Community Chest board members and officers, a brief review of highlights of the year, a report on the results of the 2024-2025 annual fundraising campaign, and an update on new initiatives.

Karen Baumbach, executive director of Ecu-Health Care, and Christopher McLaughlin, executive director of Elder Services of Berkshire County will share perspectives on "Navigating Health Care Infrastructure." Ecu-Health Care and Elder Services are two of the nineteen member agencies receiving annual financial support from the proceeds of the Chest's community fundraising campaign.

There is no charge for attending the event. A continental breakfast will be available for all attendees.

Seating is limited and persons interested in attending should contact the Community Chest office, 458-2443 or info@WilliamstownCommunityChest.org

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Williamstown Planners Eye Consultant Help on Mixed-Use Proposal

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:48AM / Thursday, February 19, 2026

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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