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Williamstown Dog Park Proposal Raises Concerns at CPC Meeting
By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
11:11AM / Wednesday, January 13, 2016
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The Williamstown Community Preservation Committee takes its first look at applications for funding in FY17.

Sarah Foehl discusses a dog park proposal before the committee.

CPC members Jane Patton and Jeffrey Thomas had pointed questions for some applicants.

CPC member Patricia Leach, seen with Michael Sussman, stepped away from the committee to address it from the floor on behalf of the Williamstown Historical Museum.


WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Community Preservation Committee last week had the usual pointed questions for applicants seeking town funds for their projects, but the biggest division at the Wednesday meeting was between two sets of applicants.
 
The Williamstown Historical Museum found itself at odds with a group of residents who are looking to create a dog park at the South Williamstown site the museum expects soon to call home.
 
The museum was before the committee in search of nearly $15,000 for a historic preservation project unrelated to its upcoming move. The South Williamstown Community Association is looking for $3,500 in Community Preservation Act funds to help build the dog park.
 
Sarah Foehl of Oblong Road presented the plan to create a fenced dog park on the 2-acre yard that includes the South Center School, also known as the Little Red School House, near the junction of Routes 7 and 43.
 
Foehl said the dog park group is sensitive to the needs of the nearby cemetery and the museum and believes all three can coexist in close proximity. But the group also believes there is a need for a fenced dog park in town to allow residents and their animals to congregate safely.
 
"We do not intend to replace wonderful Cole Field, but many dog owners can't let their dogs off a leash," Foehl said, referring to the Williams College athletic fields, where many owners choose to exercise their dogs.
 
"It's a community gathering point, and I think that has just as much value," said veterinarian Dr. Katherine Wolfgang of New Ashford Road, who joined Foehl on behalf of the dog park group. "It really brings a sense of community.
 
"We're not trying to impinge on anyone else's activities."
 
But the director and board president of the Williamstown Historical Museum told the committee that a dog park on the site would cut into the museum's plans to utilize the ground.
 
"We do have a vision for the full use of the grounds," musuem Director Sarah Currie said. "The biggest piece I'm interested in is displaying farm equipment and an area for farm equipment demonstrations."
 
WHM President Patricia Leach, who serves on the committee by virtue of her position on the town's Historical Commission, stepped away from her seat on the committee and addressed her colleagues from the floor of the meeting.
 
"We'd like to create the kinds of events more closely connected with the traditional use of the school yard," Leach said. "Until I read the fine print of the recent [request for proposals], we thought the school and its grounds had been assigned to us."
 
Town meeting in May 2015 approved a lease to allow the historical museum to relocate from its current home at the Milne Public Library to the South Center School.
 
Town Manager Jason Hoch, an ex officio member of the committee, tried to steer the conversation away from the differences between the museum and South Williamstown group.
 
"I'm not sure it's the job of this board to be refereeing this conversation," Hoch said. "These are two uses for a small piece of public land. There's a possibility these two uses can co-exist. ... My view, personally, is this is a compatible use if people have a reasonable conversation."
 
Currie said advocates for the dog park planned to attend the next board meeting of the historical museum to discuss whether and how the two might share the property.
 
Members of the committee expressed the hope that the sides reach an accord before its Jan. 20 meeting, at which it hopes to vote recommendations on the 10 different funding requests totaling more than $293,000.
 
The committee anticipates the town will have a maximum of about $284,000 in CPA funds at its disposal for fiscal 2017. The Community Preservation Act, adopted by the town in 2002, generates funds from a local property tax surcharge and a state contribution to support projects that promote historic preservation, community housing or open space and recreation.
 
The largest single applicant in this year's pool is the town's Affordable Housing Trust, which is seeking $75,000 to support its mortgage assistance program, which in its first year, 2015, helped six families buy houses in town.
 
Committee member Jeffrey Thomas asked housing Trustee Stan Parese whether the trust would be able to continue the program with less than the full $75,000 requested, given the high volume of requests before the committee.
 
"We are not obliged to make $15,000 grants," Parese said, referring to the maximum grant available under the program. "We could do $8,000 or whatever. It's a new program, and we're feeling our way as we go. ... To answer your question, if you give us less, we'll use what you give us and try to make the best of it."
 
Strictly speaking, the Community Preservation Committee does not "give" anything to applicants. It makes recommendations to the annual town meeting, which approves or disapproves the awards.
 
Members of the committee questioned the dollar figure sought by the group making the second-largest application, the "up to $65,000" sought by the town's Spruces Land Use Committee.
 
They asked why the land use panel chose a funding request at the high end of two preliminary estimates it received for the wetlands delineation and initial design work it wants done. Thomas suggested the group sharpen its pencils and come back with another request.
 
"Would it be possible to come back to us with a lesser funding request?" Thomas asked. "We've been asked for, in aggregate, more money than we have. If you have a discussion about maybe splitting the difference between estimates and asking for that, I think that would help us."
 
Another request related to the soon-to-be-closed mobile home park property was one of several applications that prompted a discussion among committee members. The issue: applicants counting volunteer time as part of their contribution to a project.
 
This was the first year the committee asked applicants to list in their requests the degree to which the applicant is supporting the project for which funds are sought.
 
"I question the ethics of putting a monetary value on student interns' time," Thomas said, referring to the Hoosic River Watershed Association's application. "I think it puts us in a weird position as a committee. The Williamstown Historical Museum [among others] also put a monetary value on volunteer time.
 
"The IRS doesn't allow that. I think it would be hard for us to do that as well."
 
Leach offered another perspective.
 
"I'm a seasoned grant writer, and on every one I've ever written, I can list 'in-kind' contribution from volunteer hours," Leach said.
 
Another philosophical concern about the applications was raised by CPC member Jane Patton, who questioned a couple of applicants about projects that plan to use materials purchased from non-local vendors.
 
"I'm adamant that we try to go local as much and as often as possible," Patton said. "If you say, 'I asked a couple of local folks, and their bids weren't reasonable,' I'd feel better [about funding the project]. I'd like to see as much of the work as possible come from businesses located in town. If someone's bid is crazy, at least we gave it a try."
 
The Community Preservation Committee plans to meet again on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
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