Remains of Woman Missing Since March Found in NYS

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The remains of a woman reported missing in March, Fae Morgana Barbone, have been found off the Taconic Crest Trail in New York State.
 
Barbone, 40, of Plymouth County, was reported missing just days before her car was found on March 19 at the Mount Berlin trailhead; it had been there for at least a week. Numerous searches were made on the Williamstown and New York sides of the trail by law enforcement — Williamstown's K-9 and drone were utilized — and volunteers including Berkshire Mountain Search & Rescue 
 
The Williamstown Police Department posted the news shortly after 1 p.m. on Tuesday on the department's Facebook page. 
 
"Williamstown Police are saddened to report being notified by New York State Police that a body was found just off the Taconic Crest Trail in New York State, not far from the Massachusetts border. It's been confirmed that the remains are those of Fae Morgana Barbone, the missing person last seen in the area in early March, which prompted extensive searches over several days by multiple agencies," the post stated. 
 
The case is now under the jurisdiction of the New York State Police in Brunswick and the Abington Police Department, which first took the missing persons report. 
 
According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, Barbone's car, a black 2019 Ford Festiva coupe with license plate 259TB, was reported on a street in Augusta, Maine, on March 7. She was caught on security camera footage at an ATM on March 6. There were also reports of her being sighted in other places but her car seems to have been in Williamstown since about March 10. 

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Williamstown Planning Board Asks for Seasonal Communities Designation, Talks Tiny Homes

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board this month voted unanimously to recommend that the Select Board ask town meeting to accept the provisions of the provisions of the commonwealth's Seasonal Communities law.
 
If town meeting members agree at the May 19 annual town meeting, the town would have the ability to take steps to allow or create workforce housing, and it would give the town the ability to compete for grants to support year-round housing.
 
The tradeoff is that, under the terms of the Seasonal Communities program, Williamstown would need to enact zoning bylaws that allow the construction of residential housing on undersized lots, provided it is not used as a seasonal home or short-term rental "of less than six months." And the town would be required to enact zoning that permits so-called "tiny houses" of 400 square feet or less in floor area — again, only to be used as year-round housing.
 
The town would have two years to enact the zoning changes through subsequent town meetings while enjoying the benefits of the Seasonal Communities program from Day 1 if adopted at the May meeting.
 
The Legislature enacted the Seasonal Communities program to help communities address housing needs when those municipalities meet certain characteristics, including when "excessive disparities between the area median income and the income required to purchase the municipality's median home price," according to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (formerly the Department of Housing and Community Development).
 
The Seasonal Communities program initially was targeted at towns on Cape Cod, where the inaccessibility of workforce housing has been a concern for decades. More recently, the EOHLC has designated some towns in Berkshire County as eligible for the Seasonal Communities designation.
 
The Planning Board at its March 10 meeting voted 4-0 (with Cory Campbell absent) to recommend the Select Board agree at its Monday, March 23, meeting to put the Seasonal Communities question on the annual town meeting warrant.
 
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