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Date: 9/19/2023
WILLIAMSBURG — After the untimely loss of Board of Selectmen member David Mathers, the town has tentatively scheduled a special election to fill his seat.
Officials hosted a townwide caucus on Sept. 5 to nominate residents for the special election, with voting anticipated for Nov. 4. The caucus drew a heavy turnout of about 90 people, according to Town Administrator Nick Caccamo. Only two candidates could be nominated for the seat.
“There were three names put forward” at the caucus, Caccamo said. “Two of them emerged … as prospective candidates. However, if that third candidate, or other candidates, wish to run, they’ll be taking out nomination papers to get on the ballot.”
Two members of the town’s Finance Committee, Paul Wetzel and Richard Kisloski, were nominated out of the caucus and will be on the ballot in November. Patrick Sumner, a third candidate, was not nominated out of the caucus. Sumner, Town Clerk Brenda Lessard said, took out papers to run in the election. Caccamo recalled that Sumner ran against Mathers in the recent past.
Lessard counseled town officials to schedule the election for November. She said that another resident, besides Sumner, took out papers to run. Residents filing papers needed sufficient time to gather signatures, though the window was still tight. The deadline to file with Lessard was Sept. 16.
Caccamo commented that some write-in candidates pass out stickers to voters to prevent errors when filling in ballots. The town administrator suggested interested parties consult the elections page on the secretary of the commonwealth’s website for further information.
The special election to fill the vacant seat on the Selectboard is anticipated to run Saturday, Nov. 4, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Planning Board requests survey participation
The Planning Board posted a request on the town website asking residents to fill out a survey of about 25 questions as part of a visioning process, one of the early steps in creating a comprehensive plan for the town.
“It’s a critical piece of missing planning, in the town, but there seems to be some good momentum here,” Caccamo said. “The Planning Board has engaged with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission to do what is titled visioning work … that’ll help inform the planning process of the comprehensive plan.”
According to Steve Smith, chair of the town’s Planning Board, Williamsburg won a $10,000 District Local Technical Assistance grant to help pay for the visioning work. The town chipped in another $15,000. Smith saw that as a sign the Selectboard wants a top-notch visioning process.
“If we don’t do a good job of understanding what people want how useful will the plan be?” Smith asked. “It’s just a capture of intent, but it’s meant to be there to guide decisions. When we have a capital planning committee … they’ll have this to refer to. The Planning Board, as we’re working on zoning bylaw updates, we will have this to refer to.”
Smith said a comprehensive plan will also be useful in securing other grants. State funding sources often want indications a proposal reflects a town’s needs. An application for an open space or climate resiliency project, for example, will draw support if the comprehensive plan shows community members see the long term need. A comprehensive plan also shows a town did its homework to figure out what residents want.
Ken Comia, deputy director of the Department of Land Use and Environment at the PVPC, said a comprehensive plan helps keep the priorities of a town in focus over time. Grants and other money are not always available right away. New grants may come online long after the comprehensive plan is completed, but the document will keep town officials aligned with the desires of residents.
The plan will demonstrate to funders why the town applied for funds and whether the investment makes sense.
Comia said a comprehensive plan is flexible and can be changed as priorities evolve, especially after it’s adopted by the town.
“You go through a community review process, whatever the time frame that is set up by the town,” Comia said. Face-to-face input will also be sought.
“Community meetings and focus groups … will help lead to…a vision statement for the town, in advance of the comprehensive plan being completed.”
After gathering data and tabulating survey results, community meetings will be scheduled to dig deeper into the major concerns of residents revealed by the survey. The timing of those meetings has not been decided. Smith voiced the hope residents will take part in the visioning and comprehensive planning processes because he and the Planning Board put a lot of work into it.
“We very much appreciate the townspeople engaging, and we want them to know we’re pulling right along with them,” Smith said. “We’re volunteering our time to make this happen and, in kind, we very much appreciate everyone in town taking some time to participate in the process.”
Residents are asked to fill out and submit a survey by Sept. 22.