The Williamstown Select Board completed voting on its recommendations for Town Meeting warrant articles at its April 14 meeting. At Town Meeting on May 22, the Town’s primary legislative body, voters will decide on 30 proposals, known as warrant articles, including routine financial provisions that fund Town services and proposals for new Town laws.
Warrant articles are either drafted by Town officials or placed on the warrant by citizens’ petition.
Of the 30 articles on this year’s warrant, the Select Board recommended the adoption of 25, recommended against one, split its vote on three and partially recommended one.
The Select Board voted against Article 11, which it had previously recommended and, if approved, would allocate $50,000 to the Town’s Stabilization Fund, following the release of revised budget projections that suggested the Town would not run a surplus as expected.
The Select Board’s vote was split 2-2 on Articles 20, 22, and 23, which it considered at its March 24 meeting. The articles would appropriate funds from the Community Preservation Fund for historical preservation, mountain bike trails, and a skatepark, respectively.
The partially approved article, Article 5, which would fund the Town’s sewer services, was split into two parts for voting. The Select Board unanimously recommended voting for upkeep of Town sewer infrastructure, while it recommended against the article’s other half, which funds sewage treatment through the Hoosac Water Quality District, over environmental concerns.
At its Feb. 24 meeting, the Select Board recommended the adoption of two warrant articles brought by the Planning Board. Article 26, which concerns geothermal heating wells, advanced to Town Meeting in February, while the other, Article 25, which would regulate short-term rentals, was revised to close potential loopholes before being advanced at the April 14 meeting.
Article 27, which the Select Board recommended unanimously, would reduce the minimum age of eligibility for the Town’s senior property tax exemption from 65 to 60. The income-based exemption is offered by the Town under the commonwealth’s 41C exemption.
Article 28, which the Select Board also unanimously endorsed, is a resolution placed on the warrant by citizens’ petition, declaring the Town “a community that supports and upholds the rights of transgender and gender-diverse people.” The article contains provisions that would prohibit the Town from using its resources for the “cooperation, assistance, or provision of information to any individual or out-of-state agency or department in furtherance of restrictions on the provision of gender-affirming healthcare.”
Article 29 would prohibit smoking inside or within 25 feet of multi-family housing complexes.
Will Raymond, the originator of the petition and the resident of a condominium, spoke in support of the proposal at the meeting. “I have some very loving neighbors, but a couple of them smoke cigarettes,” he said.
“Secondhand smoke is a bona-fide health risk to seniors such as myself,” he said. “I’m asking the Town to help because the HOA [homeowners association] won’t take action.” Following discussion, the bylaw was recommended 4-1 by the Select Board.
Article 30, another citizens’ petition, would reaffirm a resolution passed at the 2017 Town Meeting which required the Williamstown Police Department not to cooperate with federal immigration officials beyond what is legally required. It would also require the Williamstown Police Department to notify the Select Board at least 30 days in advance of any change to its policies on immigration enforcement. The article was advanced unanimously.
The majority of other articles contain routine funding provisions for Town services including schools, roads, and recreation.
