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Williamstown Donates Cole Avenue Site for Affordable Housing
By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
11:11AM / Tuesday, January 10, 2017
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Elton Ogden of Berkshire Housing Development Corporation addresses the Williamstown Board of Selectmen on Monday.


Selectmen Jeffrey Thomas, left, and Hugh Daley each asked last month to take more time to consider the land donation. On Monday, Daley voted for the deal.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen on Monday decided to donate the town-owned property at 330 Cole Ave. to the developer vying to build 46 units of affordable housing at the site.
 
The vote came after the president and CEO of Berkshire Housing Development Corp. explained how the town contribution will improve the chances that the program will be funded.
 
Elton Ogden, who also spoke at the meeting, sent the board a letter outlining the impact of potential town support.
 
Berkshire Housing and the Women's Institute for Housing and Economic Development recently applied for funding from the Federal Home Loan Bank.
 
"Berkshire Housing Development Corp. recently learned it missed [funding] by 2.5 points," Town Manager Jason Hoch told the board. "Donated land is worth five points. This has the ability to tip the scale on that."
 
Likewise, the commonwealth's Department of Housing and Community Development offers more points in its scoring system for projects that have financial support from the community. Even without the town backing on its side, Berkshire Housing recently got some good news from Boston about its application for low-income housing tax credits to fund the project at the former Photech Mill site.
 
"Over 100 applications were submitted [in the current round of funding], and I know many applications did not make it through the pre-application phase," Ogden told the selectmen. "We received an email today from DHCD inviting us into the funding round. I'm happy about that. It's a good step. … Now, we have an opportunity to compete for the funding this year."
 
Ogden in the past has told town officials that he expects the 330 Cole Ave. proposal to take at least two funding rounds before it wins approval because of the high demand for affordable housing funds across the commonwealth.
 
Last month, Ogden and Hoch came to the Selectmen with the proposal to change the option to purchase the land previously negotiated between the town and Berkshire Housing. The deal in place would have seen the developer pay $139,800 for the land — the assessed value — as proposed in the developer's response to the town's 2014 request for proposals.
 
Two selectmen asked for more information and time to consider the change, asking for more information about the potential benefit in terms of state funding and questioning the increased development cost cited for changing terms of the deal.
 
Selectmen Hugh Daley opened Monday's discussion by saying he was satisfied that the change made sense.
 
"[Selectwoman Jane Patton] made a valid point: If not this, then what for that property," Daley said.
 
Daley also noted that the town would fairly quickly recoup its investment of the in-kind contribution from property tax revenue.
 
Selectman Jeffrey Thomas agreed that the fiscal benefit of getting the property into private hands makes sense. He continued to question the notion of the town helping the developers with increased cost for the project.
 
"I'd rather there not be language in what we agree to regarding the cost increase because I'm not comfortable with the precedent that the town of Williamstown could be responsible for cost increases," Thomas said.
 
Hoch explained that the cost increase rationale was necessary to avoid starting the procurement process all over again with a new RFP.
 
"When the procurement was done via the RFP, the set of conditions was put out, and both responding parties responded based on the market conditions at the time," Hoch said.
Hoch told the BOS that he worked out the change in the land deal with the help of Town Counsel, and that the commonwealth's procurement laws allow changes if “conditions have changed on the ground."
 
Thomas ultimately abstained from the vote to change the agreement, which passed by a vote of 4-0-1.
 
In other business Monday, the Board of Selectmen reviewed the progress that has been made in the last year on the recommendations of the ad hoc Economic Development Committee, which issued its report at the end of 2015.
 
The board accepted a report that looked at what actions have been taken on more than 50 recommendations of the committee, which spent a year studying how the town can improve the climate for economic success.
 
Thomas, who chaired the EDC before he was elected to the Board of Selectmen, noted that the committee's recommendation to consider "amending zoning bylaws to encourage greater flexibility and allowance of more uses by right or special permit rather than by variance," came to fruition in part last May when town meeting OK'd zoning changes that opened more opportunities for home businesses.
 
Hogeland reported that another of the EDC's key recommendations — broadband access — spurred creation of a working group that includes himself and Hoch. Hogeland said that group plans to release its report and seek public input soon.
 
Also Monday, the board heard a report from Hoch about the occupancy at the town's most recent affordable housing project, the senior apartments at Highland Woods. Specifically, he told the board that a census of occupants found that 33 of the 40 units were occupied by residents of the town before they moved into the complex; another was occupied by someone who was living in New Lebanon, N.Y., but had lived at the Spruces mobile home park before Tropical Storm Irene.
 
"That's an important number to get out there," Daley said. "Specifically, Highland Woods was in service of the the residents of Williamstown."
 
Speaking of service, the town will be looking for three residents to serve on town boards and committees. Hoch told the board that on Tuesday he will be posting on the town website a call for nominees to the Zoning Board of Appeals, Sign Commission and Conservation Commission, each of which has one vacancy. The deadline to submit citizen interest forms is Feb. 7.
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