Newsletter #9: Town Meeting Warrant, Town Flag, and Bike Trails |
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Hi Williamstown, Spring is in the air! As much as I love winter, I am ready for some warm sun and green trees. Mark you calendars for May 1, 10:30 am for my next coffee date at Tunnel City on Spring St. Stop by to say hi, ask a question, or share your thoughts. Thursday, May 23rd at 7 pm we will gather at Mount Greylock High School for our annual Town Meeting. What's inside - mountain bikes, Town Warrant and Charter articles, the Town Flag, and Artist Meet Up at Provisions. |
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Mountain bike trails on Berlin Mountain? Bill McEwen, Purple Valley chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA), is working with local volunteers to potentially develop some single track trails in the Berlin Mountain area. He recently presented the vision for the bike trails to the Select Board. The club has been awarded a $17,500 grant from the International Mountain Bicycling Association to help defray design costs. The next step is to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the property owners, primarily Williams College and Town of Williamstown, and NEMBA to allow development of the bike trails. More information is available here. |
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May is Town Meeting Month! |
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At last week's Select Board meeting, we reviewed each of the warrant articles for Town Meeting. Most of the warrant articles were unanimously recommended by the Board. You can find the draft Warrant here in the Select Board's April 8th meeting packet. Once the Warrant is finalized, printed copies will be available at Town Hall. (The Town Warrant is a list of all articles - budget items, bylaw changes, etc. - that are voted on at Town Meeting.) |
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This will be a historic Town Meeting. We will be called on to make decisions to change the Town Charter that has been in place for 56 years! The Town Charter establishes how this select board-manager government is structured and how it should work. Since state law regulates local government, our charter required special state legislation, namely Chapter 55, Acts and Resolves of 1956. Changes to the charter also require state legislation, a cumbersome process, so changes occur rarely. In 1956 Williamstown adopted the current Charter. - excerpted from Charter Review Interim Report, August 2023. The Charter Review Committee recommended several changes to the Town Charter, Articles 30 to 34 inclusive. Article 30 - included clarification of who can administer oath for offices, clarification of elected terms, clarification of dual office restrictions for elected officials, and modification of Town Manager authority over boards, among others. Article 31 - proposes a recall provision that outlines the process to recall an elected official with more than 6 months remaining in their term. Article 32 - is intended to enforce charter compliance. It proposes to a give the responsibility to ensuring charter compliances to the Town Manager and Select Board. In effect, the Select Board would have some authority over other independently elected boards - Planning Board, Library Trustees, Housing Authority, Town Moderator and indirectly the Finance Committee that is appointed by the Moderator. This was the only Charter article not unanimously recommended. There may be more discussion at our next Board meeting on April 22. See the iBerkshires article here. Article 33 - recommends changes to the deadline to submit warrant articles and the budget preparation process. Article 34 - proposes that the Charter be reviewed every 10 years. I am deeply grateful to the Charter Review Committee that has been working on this project since September 2022. Thank you! - Joe Bergeron, Nate Budington, Andy Hogeland, Jeff Johnson, Mary Kennedy, Anne Skinner, Jeff Strait and Bob Menicocci! I'll highlight more Town Meeting warrant articles in my next email. |
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Town Flag The Select Board decided to remove the Town Flag from its location behind the conference table in the Community Meeting Room in Town Hall. As much as we appreciate the sentiments highlighted on the flag - culture, education, and nature and the visual attractiveness of the design; the central image of the 1753 house in middle of the flag highlights the town's history of colonialism without fully honoring our more complex past. |
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The future of the flag has not yet been determined. The flag was originally designed in 2015 by scenic designer Julianna Haubric, high school student Anya Sheldon, Williamstown Historical Museum Director Sarah Currie, Selectman Thomas Sheldon, and other collaborators in consultation with the Select Board. We are deeply grateful for and respect the integrity and thoughtfulness exhibited by the original design committee. |
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Artist Meet Up and Wine Tasting The Williamstown Cultural District is hosting an Artist Meet Up at Provisions on Water St. Thursday, April 18, 5-6:30pm
The event is open to artists who live or produce work in Williamstown. The Cultural District was established by the Massachusetts Cultural Council in 2014, and given the initiative to drive economic growth, strengthen our distinctive local character, and improve the quality of life of families throughout Williamstown. Please invite a creative friend and bring your ideas for our future! |
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As always, this newsletter represents my thoughts alone. It is not from the Town of Williamstown or the Select Board. Feel free to forward this email to others and to let me know what you think. You can reach me by responding to this note or email me at sboyd@williamstownma.gov You can also share thoughts with the whole Select Board at selectboard@williamstowma.gov And there is link below if you don't want to receive these emails. Hope to see you soon! Steph |
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Election: May 14, 2024 ELECTION DAY (no contested elections) Town Meeting: Thursday, May 23, 2024 TOWN MEETING Mount Greylock High School, 7 pm Select Board Look Ahead: Monday, April 22 Comprehensive Plan Update, DIRE Strategic Plan, CARES Select Board meetings are every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month, 7 pm, Town Hall, Zoom or willinet.org |
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