Williamstown Select Board Wears Many Hats at Monday Meeting
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board on Monday evening has two different meetings scheduled for two different locations, but, in reality, the first of those sessions was actually four meetings in one.
At its regular twice-monthly meeting on the first floor of Town Hall, the board took action in its capacity as the town's alcohol license commission, road commission, parks commission and, yes, Select Board.
After wearing all those hats, the board moved to the Municipal Building's third floor to conduct additional Select Board business, the evaluation of the town manager.
The item up for consideration came under the auspices of the board as an alcohol commission, a request from the new owner of the 6 House Pub for a change of manager on the establishment's liquor license.
Attorney Dennis Egan of Cohen Kinne Valicenti & Cook represented the new ownership, 1896 House LLC, which is under contract to purchase the 1896 House Inn and associated restaurant on Cold Spring Road (Route 7).
Egan said the new manager works for Roam Hospitality of St. Petersburg, Fla., which currently operates Massachusetts hotels in Salem and Rockport in addition to other spots around the country.
"The plan is to undertake a renovation … and make it a premier flagship hospitality and restaurant destination," Egan said.
One contingency for the pending sale, Egan said, is the completion of a water line under Route 7 to carry water from a well dug on the 1896 House property on the west side of the highway to the restaurant and rooms on the east side.
The lack of safe well water for the restaurant and bar has had it under a boil water order from the state since December 2023. The inn's current owner, HEA Enterprises, has a notice of intent pending in front of the town's Conservation Commission for the water line project.
The Select Board, acting as the local licensing commission, voted 5-0 to approve the change requested for the license.
The board, in its capacity as the roads commission, also heard a follow-up from a request made by a resident at its Sept. 14 meeting to put a crosswalk at the intersection of Manning Street and Church Street just east of Williamstown Elementary School.
Department of Public Works Director Craig Clough advised the board that while crossing at that spot may not be safe, a crosswalk could exacerbate the problem.
Clough said that given the sight lines for drivers approaching the crossing, a crosswalk alone could actually cause a problem.
"There's bushes on both sides of the road that pose an obstruction to see someone who is wanting to cross there," Clough said. "Painting lines in the road can give people a false sense of security that they can walk right out.
"I appreciate the request [for a crosswalk]. This area does not lend itself to a safe crossing, in my opinion."
Clough added that while some might argue a flashing pedestrian light in conjunction with a crosswalk would be a solution, those flashing lights only work when activated, but "that's not a guarantee."
There is a crosswalk further west on Church Street, but that crossing is a little past the entrance to the elementary school, leading some pedestrians to cross without a crosswalk. Town Manager Robert Menicocci told the board that part of the solution to safety concerns in the area could include moving the existing crosswalk so it aligns with the school's entrance, encouraging everyone to cross in a crosswalk, where sight lines are adequate.
Menicocci also said the town could pursue grants available from the state to create safe school zones as part of a holistic approach to Church Street, where the sidewalks on the north side are inadequate and the road itself is due for either resurfacing or reconstruction.
Clough contributed that the road probably needs the latter, but that will be determined after a full assessment of the aging utilities beneath the surface.
Board member Stephanie Boyd indicated a preference for moving the existing crosswalk as an interim solution but said the road needs more study.
"I appreciate that at some point in the not too distant future, we could be redoing that street, but the ‘not too distant future' can span a lot more time than some of us would like to see," Boyd said.
Menicocci responded that Church Street is a priority for Town Hall, and he does feel "urgency" about the issue. Clough said that the traffic study Boyd suggested could be something to consider for the fiscal year 2028 budget currently under development.
After choosing to take no immediate action on the road question, the Select Board had a discussion about its role as the town's Parks Commission.
Nate Budington and Shana Dixon, who have been serving as a working group on recreation since the board's summer planning session, suggested that the full panel needs to take a more proactive role in planning for the town's recreation spaces.
"We could formalize how this board works with [staff] so when projects are in the planning phase, we can have input," Budington said. "I think that would be an important step to start playing the role of a recreation committee that's less reactive."
Budington said creating a separate parks commission or holding separate Select Board meetings dedicated to that area could be "overkill" given the scope of the town's public recreation offerings. But he stressed that board members should be looped in "at the earliest level" when discussions are held about big projects, like a possible renovation of the Broad Brook Playground that went before the Community Preservation Committee last winter in the form of a request from Town Hall for design funding.
"This is not a criticism of what has come out of Town Hall," Budington said. "I just think Town Hall could benefit from this kind of input [from the Select Board] as well as the town would get a wider level of participation."
Turning back to its role as a Select Board, it signed off on the purchase and sales agreement for 59 Water St., the former town garage lot, to Williams College for $500,000 plus another $1.5 million as a sort of payment in lieu of taxes. Menicocci said the plan was to close on the deal on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
And the board, which makes two appointments to the Community Preservation Committee, Monday considered two applicants for one of those posts. Both Anne Islan and Alice Bradley submitted "government engagement" forms expressing interest to serve on the CPC.
Bradley, who attended Monday's meeting in person, told the board both candidates, "would agree there is no bad outcome here."
She told the board that she lived in town a little more than eight years and works as a professor in climate science at the college. She also has experience considering grant applications ranging from the hundreds of dollars to the millions of dollars, she told the panel.
Board members inquired by Islan was not at the meeting and expressed hesitancy to make a decision before every opportunity was given to both applicants to address the board in person. Menicocci assured the board that both applicants were informed the matter would be on the table at the Oct. 26 meeting but agreed to reach out to Islan again to make sure she has a chance to speak at the next Select Board meeting on Nov. 9; the CPC is next scheduled to meet on Nov. 17.
Tags: crosswalk,
