Hearthway Tenants Bring Concerns to Williamstown Board of Health
A sign notes Highland Woods is a 'smoke-free' property.
Highland Woods resident Jane Stevens told the board that she has lived in the senior housing development since it opened 10 years ago and that smoking inside the apartment building has been a persistent problem.
"When I signed the paperwork, it emphatically stated there would be no smoking," Stevens said. "You walk into the foyer, you can smell smoke. You can smell it in the elevators. You can smell it in the hallways. You can smell it, sometimes, in my apartment."
Stevens noted that among the residents at Highland Woods are people with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart disease — all conditions that can be exacerbated by secondhand smoke.
After years of advocating for the health of residents at the facility, which was supported by town funds during its development, Stevens said she was coming to the board for help.
"I've been filling out incident reports for 10 years, to no avail," she said.
Highland Woods, built on land donated by Williams College, was part of the town's response after the loss of the private senior mobile home park, the Spruces, because of persistent flooding. It was developed and managed by Berkshire Housing Development Corp., which was renamed Hearthway in 2024.
Stevens thanked the town's health inspector for visiting the Church Street property to smell the problem for herself and acknowledged that enforcement of a smoking ban cannot be easy.
Board member James Parkinson encouraged Stevens to document her complaints.
"If it's on record somewhere, that's something that can be acted on legally," Parkinson said.
Stevens explained that the record already exists.
"I've been at meetings where there have been 20 people who heard what I have said and what Hearthway said," Stevens told the board. "I have sent emails. I have sent texts. [Health Inspector Ruth] Russell knows. I wrote to her last week.
"There are piles of incident reports. Most people have given up because we've gotten no response. I have not given up."
Stevens invited members of the Board of Health to attend a tenants meeting called by Hearthway's CEO for Friday, June 5, to discuss the issue.
Secondhand smoke continues to be a major topic for board discussion.
Will Raymond, who drafted a 2025 bylaw banning smoking within 25 feet of all apartment buildings or condominiums in town, was back before the board to press for enforcement of the measure, which cleared a review by the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office in December of last year.
Raymond said it was his understanding that Russell, the town's health agent, was being advised by town counsel not to knock on doors and ask to inspect apartments where smoking is alleged to continue. But he said he found a memo from the municipal law firm that serves the town advising that town inspections can be carried out with the consent of an occupant or with an administrative search warrant if consent is not given.
"I do not believe knocking on the door constitutes an unlawful search," Raymond said.
Board Chair Devan Bartels thanked Stevens and Raymond for sharing their concerns at the Tuesday morning meeting.
"I don't want you to interpret the pace of [the town's response] with complete inaction," Bartels told Raymond. "The town bylaw that was passed was an unprecedented move.
"Ruth [Russell] is one person charged with a lot of different health enforcement roles. The time she can get there to smell an infraction does not always line up with the infraction. We are going to be meeting and refining our policy moving forward."
On a different tenant-landlord front, a resident of 330 Cole Ave., another town-supported affordable housing project managed by Hearthway, was at Tuesday's meeting to discuss issues of excessive moisture and mold in her unit.
Russell told the board that she inspected the unit occupied by Rosa Dumont and her family, took readings with a moisture meter and issued Hearthway an order to correct on April 15. On the board's plate on Tuesday was a request to give an extension for compliance with that order.
"I've heard from the tenant that after the letter was received by the owners they hadn't seen a lot of action," Russell told the board at its May 26 meeting. "It was mentioned that some of the windows were caulked up, but they were waiting to see what the next step would be."
Dumont told the board that problems in the unit in question have forced her and her family to temporarily relocate for repairs twice since they moved to 330 Cole Ave. in November 2022.
"Maintenance has come in," Dumont said. "They have sealed all the windows. That was about a month and a half ago. Some of the windows already are starting to crack. I have pictures of that as well.
"We have done our part as tenants. We have sent numerous emails, documentation. Since the end of October, we have been in constant contact with [Hearthway] trying to figure out what's going on. This has caused a lot of stress for my family. Considering past issues where we had to leave our home, it leaves a level of uncertainty. I feel, as a tenant, we have done our part with documentation."
Dumont asked the board not to give the property manager an extension to comply with Russell's order.
Hearthway's director of real estate development told the board about the steps the company has taken to address issues in Dumont's unit, including mold remediation.
Matt Krupke told the board that an environmental consultant hired by Hearthway in 2025 to inspect the unit found, "no finding of mold or moisture from their perspective," a finding that was repeated in March of this year.
"Since that time, we've completed several work orders and agreed to remove the tub surround in the bathroom," Krupke said. "Right now we are lining up subcontractors to do that work and setting up a hotel stay for that time. … It's a complex issue. We have had a lot of contractors in there to figure this out, and we're doing our best to resolve it."
Bartels asked Krupke about a timeline for the bathroom work. He said Hearthway has the materials and hopes to have plumbers lined up, "within the next few weeks."
After Krupke mentioned that there was moisture in the bedroom as well as the bathroom, Parkinson pressed the Hearthway officials on what underlying issues are present in the unit.
Later, Hearthway's representatives suggested they could open an exploratory area in the external wall to make sure it is insulated properly, a suggestion that Dumont supported.
"I think that is a great idea," she said. "That should have been the idea all along, to open it up and see for yourself."
The board opted to give Hearthway a two-week extension of the original order to correct.
"In two weeks, our goal is to hear back on potential dehumidification … replace the bathtub surround … and open an exploratory section of the wall for inspection," Russell summarized the Board's intent.
After Krupke said it might be hard to get contractors to complete work in that timeframe, Parkinson said the board would accept signed engagement letters from contractors as proof of progress by the property manager.
In other business on Tuesday, the board voted to finalize its ordinance on nitrous oxide sales after agreeing to technical changes recommended by town counsel, discussed plans to put a health needs assessment before residents this fall and heard a suggestion from member Marzio Gusmaroli, that Williamstown consider joining the Berkshire County Mosquito Control Project.
Tags: board of health, mold, smoking regulations,
