WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A planned mountain bike trail cleared a hurdle last week when the Select Board OK'd a memorandum of understanding with the New England Mountain Bike Association.

 

NEMBA Purple Valley Chapter representative Bill MacEwen was back before the board on April 22 to ask for its signoff to allow the club to continue developing a planned 20- to 40-mile network on the west side of town and into New York State.

 

That ambitious plan is still years down the road, MacEwen told the board.

 

"The first step is what we call the proof of concept," he said. "That is a very small loop. It might technically be a two-loop trail. It's a proof of concept for a couple of reasons. One is so we can start very, very small and learn about everything from soil condition to what it's like to organize our group of volunteers. And, then, importantly, it allows the community to have a mountain bike trail in Williamstown very quickly.

 

"The design for this trail has been completed. We have already submitted this initial design to [Williams College] and the town as well, I believe. It's very, very small and very basic. That's what we consider Phase 0. From there, the grant we were awarded from the International Mountain Bike Association is really where we will develop our network plan."

 

MacEwen characterized the plan as incremental. According to a timeline NEMBA showed the board, it hopes to do the "proof of concept" trail in spring 2025 and hopes to open phase one of the network by the following fall. 

 

Williams and the Town of Williamstown are two of the landowners that NEMBA plans to work with on building the trail. The list also includes Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation, the Berkshire Natural Resource Council and the State of New York.

 

Under the MOU developed between the town and NEMBA, the non-profit will be responsible for fund-raising to build the trails and responsible for maintenance. NEMBA also will provide signage and will encourage trail users to park in "distributed parking lots" rather than clustering in one location.

 

"Distributed parking means other parking spaces where you can park and ride to the network," MacEwen said. "Rather than concentrating all the parking at the Berlin trail head, that will provide other options for people to get there."

 

MacEwen told the board that he had consulted with local hiking enthusiasts, who were supportive of the idea of sharing the woods with the mountain bike trail.

 

The three members of the board to attend last week's meeting — Jeffrey Johnson, Randal Fippinger and Stephanie Boyd — voted, 3-0, to approve the MOU.

 

While he had the podium, MacEwen also shared with the board the results of a survey NEMBA did to gauge interest in a renovated skate park. The board in February voted 5-0 to sign an MOU with the Acton, Mass., non-profit, which wants to raise funds for that $750,000 project.

 

"We received 75 responses, and, encouragingly, there was a huge increase in people's expectation that they will use the park more frequently," MacEwen said. "With the current park, 22 percent reported using the park on a weekly basis. With a renovated park — and we showed them a concept of that — 77 percent expected they would use the park at least once a week.

 

"So this is a huge increase in the frequency of use, and that's exactly what we were hoping for."

 

The town will have a chance to provide some financial support to the skate park initiative at the annual town meeting on Thursday, May 23.

 

Article 25 on the meeting warrant would authorize the release of $75,000 in Community Preservation Act funds toward the skate park.

 

In other business, the Select Board approved a change in license for Mezze Bistro and Bar that will allow the addition of five hotel units and a private dining room on the second floor of the 777 Cold Spring Road location.

 

The board also reviewed a letter from the Conservation Commission withdrawing its planned town meeting article that sought to transfer control of the Spruces Park land to the Con Comm and heard a presentation from town planner about the recently adopted comprehensive plan.

 

The board discussed forming a committee with members of the Select Board and Planning Board to focus on implementation of the plan. Johnson said such a body could be a topic for discussion at the Select Board's annual retreat, scheduled for June 5 at 8:30 a.m. at the Williams Inn.