Williamstown Finalizes Torrey Woods Road Utility Pole Plan

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board Monday OK'd a plan for new utility poles on Torrey Woods Road after hearing that the residents who originally raised questions were satisfied with the final configuration.
 
In a special, single-item meeting, the board wrapped up a public hearing that began in July.
 
Last Monday, at the first continuation of the hearing, the board left with a sense that the property owners on both sides of the road that would be impacted were close to an agreement.
 
This week, National Grid's Nicholas DeRosa was back before the board.
 
"At the meeting last week, we discussed a possible third option to shift Pole 2 away from the guard rail and shift Pole 1 further east," DeRosa said. "After looking at that in the field, we determined the first solution, the original plan, would be the best course of action."
 
The new poles are necessary to continue utility service to 88 Torrey Woods Road, a lot where a new home is under construction. The owners of neighboring 150 Torrey Woods Road brought their concern that Pole 1 was set to be installed directly in front of their home.
 
Chair Stephanie Boyd confirmed that the residents of 150 Torrey were part of the site visit DeRosa made last week and mentioned that the agreed upon plan is a little east of the house.
 
"I ran into Kristy Edmunds [one of the 150 Torrey owners], and she told me she was good with this plan," Boyd told her colleagues. "Plan No. 1 in the meeting packet from last week is the one we are going with."
 
Boyd, Peter Beck and Matthew Neely, who attended the special meeting, voted, 3-0, to approve that plan.
 
"I want to thank Nick DeRosa from National grid and all the homeowners who were thoughtful and respectful about their concerns and their neighbors' concerns," Boyd said. "I think the process worked well."
 

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Williamstown Community Preservation Panel Weighs Hike in Tax Surcharge

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Community Preservation Committee is considering whether to ask town meeting to increase the property tax surcharge that property owners currently pay under the provisions of the Community Preservation Act.
 
Members of the committee have argued that by raising the surcharge to the maximum allowed under the CPA, the town would be eligible for significantly more "matching" funds from the commonwealth to support CPA-eligible projects in community housing, historic preservation and open space and recreation.
 
When the town adopted the provisions of the CPA in 2002 and ever since, it set the surcharge at 2 percent of a property's tax with $100,000 of the property's valuation exempted.
 
For example, the median-priced single-family home in the current fiscal year has a value of $453,500 and a tax bill of $6,440, before factoring the assessment from the fire district, a separate taxing authority.
 
For the purposes of the CPA, that same median-priced home would be valued at $353,500, and its theoretical tax bill would be $5,020.
 
That home's CPA surcharge would be about $100 (2 percent of $5,020).
 
If the CPA surcharge was 3 percent in FY26, that median-priced home's surcharge would be about $151 (3 percent of $5,020).
 
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