WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. The board of the town s Affordable Housing Trust on Wednesday decided to move ahead with an emergency mortgage assistance program for residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, approved a solution for a problem vexing a different town committee and learned that one of its members will be rotating off after May s town election. The board member in question is Anne O Connor, who made her colleagues on that panel the first to learn that she will not seek another three-year term on the Select Board this spring. O Connor, who occupies the trustee position designated for a member of the Select Board, noted that she brings a particular perspective to her work with the trust and all her town service: that of a resident who is a lifelong renter and who lives in Williamstown housing that was created to be affordable.
Four agencies submitted requests by Friday s deadline for grants ranging from $50,000 to $160,000. Together, the aggregate is more than 8 percent over the total funds the committee is expecting to be available for fiscal year 2022. The largest request is from the town s Affordable Housing Trust, which settled on a sum of $160,000 in new Community Preservation Act funding during an open meeting last month. The committee also had an inclination in the fall that the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation would be seeking town funds to support the acquisition of an Agricultural Preservation Restriction at Fairfields Farm; that request came in at $56,000. The Williamstown Historical Museum seeks $50,000 for the restoration, transport and reassembly of an historic barn to the museum s New Ashford Road (Route 7) home. Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity wants $80,000 to support the construction of a second single-family home on a lot at the corner of Cole Avenue an