Williamstown Board Signs Off on Utility Infrastructure, Conservation Restriction
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board on Monday approved one request from Berkshire Gas to install equipment in the town's right-of-way and put off another request pending more information from the utility.
Berkshire Gas was before the board looking for an OK to install a telemetering station on Church Street near the elementary school and a regulator station on North Street (Route 7) near the Clark Art Institute's satellite parking lot.
A senior engineering technician from Berkshire Gas attended the meeting to speak on behalf of the former request, but no one from the utility attended to support the North Street proposal.
"There was supposed to be someone else to talk about the regulator station," Wes Scalise told the board.
Town Manager Robert Menicocci and Department of Public Works Director Craig Clough told the board that the proposed 5-foot tall structure generated some safety concerns on the part of Town Hall.
"As you come around what is a relatively blind corner, you have a parking lot there during peak time that has a lot of traffic going in and out," Menicocci told the board. "We wanted to get a sense of the size [of the proposed installation] and whether any work was done to analyze what sight lines are like when people are pulling out of that lot."
Clough told the board that when he met with Berkshire Gas on the application, he suggested that the regulator station should be installed as far from the curb as possible and, if the Clark was amenable, out of the town's right-of-way entirely if possible.
"Does it have to be in the town right-of-way, or, if a property owner preferred it it could be an easement on their property?" Select Board Chair Peter Beck asked.
"That would be preferable — to have it out of the town's right-of-way. … Setting it back would be better for people pulling out of the old McClelland Press property. But I don't know if they've had discussions with the Clark yet."
Neither did Scalise, who answered some of the board's general questions about the size of the proposed regulator station but made it clear that his job was to present the telemetering station (Church Street) proposal.
The board decided to hold off on a decision about the North Street application and asked Scalise to pass along to his colleagues that it was advisable to discuss the question with the Clark before coming back to the Select Board at a later date.
Scalise was successful in his application to place a telemetering station, which he said is required under the regulations of the commonwealth's Department of Public Utilities.
Scalise presented the board with a couple of options for a location for the 2-foot-by-5-foot telemetering station. The panel opted for a location that sets the new infrastructure farther from the road and obstructed from view by a line of trees.
"One [option] seems to be in line with the existing above-ground sheds, and the other seems more adjacent and closer to the road," Church Street resident Chris Winters told the board prior to its vote. "From a neighborhood perspective, the in-line version, which puts the structure further back from the road so the existing sheds shield this piece of infrastructure — that's my preference as a homeowner."
The board voted 4-0, with member Stephanie Boyd absent, to approve the layout labeled "Location A" in the Berkshire Gas presentation.
The board also voted unanimously to approve a proposed conservation restriction on roughly 7 acres of farm land on Luce Road.
After hearing the same presentation that led to an affirmative vote by the Conservation Commission last week, the Select Board members agreed that the proposed CR was in the town's interest.
"As chair of the Agricultural Commission, I wanted to add that this is an important farm in town because it is one of the few that has a succession plan," Sarah Gardner told the board of Chenail Brothers Dairy Farm, which uses the plot in question. "Most of the farms in town don't have a succession plan."
Dan Gura of Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation, which will hold the conservation restriction on behalf of the land's current and future owners, explained that the CR that Williamstown approved has one minor change from the standard language for restrictions in Massachusetts.
"Added in the allowed uses is an accessibility provision for the landowner," Gura said. "If the landowner needs a mobility device that's motorized, they can use it."
In other business, the Select Board reappointed Daniel Gura — not the WRLF employee — to the board of the Affordable Housing Trust and added a new member to that body, Debra Chaulk.
Chaulk told the board that she moved to town in 2018 and has been very involved with non-profits that serve lower-income residents, including the Williamstown Food Pantry.
"I think about all these people I serve food to at the Berkshire Food Project who have tents in their backpacks because they don't have a place to stay at night," Chaulk said. "I think we can do better.
"I've been lucky. I have a roof over my head and don't want for shelter. I think not having shelter is the worst thing that can happen to you. I'd like to do my part in making sure we have options for people in this area."
Menicocci gave the board his bimonthly report with updates on two recreational offerings on Stetson Road.
One, the fitness pad that the town christened last year, has been the site of well-attended weekly instructional classes that continue in the summer months on Wednesdays at 7:30 a.m. The other, a skate park that received Community Preservation Act funding at May's annual town meeting, is well on the road to completion.
"Site work has been underway since mid-June or so," Menicocci said. "In that time, initial grading was done. The DPW did a lot of preliminary work, which made the project more affordable to us. As of last week … some contouring has taken place. Some forms as well as some of the steel work is in place.
"We anticipate work to continue to the end of August or so. It's exciting to see that come together."
Menicocci also told the board that the town's Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday to finalize budget transfers from the fiscal year that ended on June 30. Menicocci said town spending was nearly in line with the budget approved at the 2025 annual town meeting.
"There's been a very focal mandate from the Fin Comm to be very lean and responsible in how we budget and not to hoard and over-budget things," he said. "Every year, we sweat it out to the bitter end. This year, we're very proud of the staff here. They're very much on top of their budgets. It looks like we'll come in with about $45,000 of breathing room.
"We know there are pressures on taxpayers in town, and I want folks to know the team is working hard to be very fastidious in their budget."
Tags: berkshire gas, conserved land,
