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Date: 11/20/2023
WILLIAMSBURG — Paul Wetzel won the special election staged Nov. 4 to fill the seat left vacant by the untimely passing of David Mathers. Wetzel currently serves on the town’s Finance Committee.
Wetzel plans to resign because he believes a selectman shouldn’t also be on the Finance Committee. He sat on that committee for several terms, including as chair, but doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. Mostly, he heard about taxes.
“That’s the thing that comes up all the time,” Wetzel said. “I understand how taxes go up and I understand how hard it is to keep them level. I get it, but I don’t have great answers about how there can be major changes. That’s something to work on.”
Wetzel plans on meeting with the head of each town department to acquaint himself with the inner workings and to meet town employees. He already knows many townspeople, but not everyone, and intends to do a lot of listening. He hopes to hear what people are doing, their challenges and where lie the opportunities for improvement. Each department head should anticipate a brief meeting with him.
“I definitely will be listening, in the sense of trying to understand relationships that people have and what things people are thinking about,” Wetzel said. “I’m very interested in … encouraging ways in which the town can reduce its resource use and save money [and]
I have a little bit of history looking at that.”
Wetzel, who moved to town in 2005 with his wife, Carolyn, and their two daughters, said the town is in a transitional stage in terms of infrastructure. The Helen James School was taken down, reducing the number of elementary schools from two to one. The existing fire and police stations will soon be replaced by a single public safety complex where the James School once stood.
The current fire and police stations will become vacant and may be used for municipal or commercial purposes. Another possible revenue stream: Wetzel, 61, sees the new public safety complex as an opportunity for the town to build in green energy generation for the future.
“The town should not have to pay for electricity,” Wetzel said. “I think we can generate it ourselves. I’m looking to work on that [and] there are some other things floating around in my mind.”
The Greenway project will upset the town’s apple cart for some time, Wetzel said, when the digging begins. As the path comes together to connect the two hamlets, Williamsburg and Haydenville, the state will be working on refurbishing sections of Route 2, a project now in the planning stages. The town may also be beautifying the area near the new public safety complex with a park.
Wetzel should be very familiar with facility and land maintenance, being the manager of the Ada and Archibald MacLeish Field Station in Whately, a property devoted to experiential learning and outdoor recreation for students at Smith College. But his time on the Finance Committee prompted Wetzel to forecast some belt tightening for the town as it pays for the transition of infrastructure assets.
Wetzel said a 20 year bond to finance the Anne T. Dunphy Elementary School is still nine years from the payoff date. The town took out a 20 year bond last year to finance the new public safety complex. The next nine years, while the bonds overlap and the Dunphy School is still being paid for, will be a time when the town has even less wiggle room than usual.
“That overlap period is going to be a challenge,” Wetzel said. “Until the school debt is paid off, I believe it’s 2032 … it’ll be an underlying challenge.” Another challenge on Wetzel’s mind remains from his work on the Finance Committee. “The other challenge will be to work on creating an organized employee wage and categories [policy].”
The greatest asset Williamsburg has, according to Wetzel, is the residents. He’s still amazed at the level of enthusiastic volunteerism he sees in town. The wage and categories work done by the Finance Committee, in the last few years and in the future, will help standardize pay rates and increase equity among employees — but volunteers do so much of the municipal work that Wetzel gushes about the generosity.
“The most [impressive] thing about Williamsburg is how many people volunteer for the town,” Wetzel said. “It’s everything from the Fire Department to planting flowers in the middle of town, to projects … to working in the library … It’s extraordinary.”
Wetzel will complete the term of David Mathers, which runs through 2025.