Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 7/6/2021
WILLIAMSBURG – During the Williamsburg Board of Selectmen’s July 1 meeting, the board received a lengthy public comment session from residents concerned about a restoration project for Mountain Street.
To start the meeting, the board quickly voted to reorganize to make Dave Mathers the board’s new chair and Denise Banister the board’s new clerk for fiscal year 2022.
After reorganizing, the board then listened to public comment from several residents over a proposed Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) renovation project on Mountain Street.
To start the public comment session, Julia Peters, a resident who lives on Mountain Street, said there was not enough public comment allowed for the project before moving to the 25 percent design stage.
“This is a story of a lack of public process in many ways, not something that went outside the regulations but was negotiated with a task force including state DOT representatives, senator, town administrator and highway department representatives, all of whom I know did their best to come up with a design that made sense for the street,’ she said.
Peters added that she would like to see a road that stays within its current footprint and meets the needs of the residents.
“This lack of process should not be repeated. We are asking for a project that keeps within the current footprint of that road, that respects the farms, respecting the local trade traffic, that respects bikers without having to add 8 feet of lane, signage and to meet the needs of the road rather than what is required to receive state and federal funding,” she said.
After one resident said that simply paving the road would suffice, Mathers said the project requires a full reconstruction of the road.
“That road cannot just be paved, it has to be rebuilt, that includes drainage and everything. It does have to be wider; it is not safe for a kid to ride a bike down that road because of the car traffic, it needs to be widened some. It has to be rebuilt from the ground up, that’s why we put $10,000 a year in that road,” he said.
Board member Bill Sayre suggested hosting a meeting with resident representatives to come up with a letter to send to MassDOT about the project before the public comment deadline on July 16.
“I would have the board meet with representatives of the residents between now and July 16 to see if we can come up with a response the board and residents agree on. If there are disagreements, we can each include those separately but there is an opportunity to coordinate a response,” he said.
Ultimately the board agreed to host a meeting with representatives from the residents to discuss an alternative plan for the proposed project at a to be determined date.
During the meeting, the board also approved a contract with Maxymillian Construction to repair a culvert on Depot Road and potentially host a Special Town Meeting in August to transfer funds from the town’s stability fund to cover the remaining cost for the project.
The Board of Selectmen next meets on July 15.