Whately authorizes $12,000 study to assess State Road affordable housing site

Other Committee · Meeting of March 9, 2026

Whately Housing Committee and Affordable Housing Trust each voted unanimously to authorize up to $12,000 for an engineering feasibility and site analysis at the town-owned property at 268 State Road. The back-to-back votes, taken at a March 9 session that ran more than 90 minutes, followed confirmation from the Community Preservation Committee that the expenditure is consistent with the terms of its grant agreement and a prior provisional approval from the Select Board at its February 11 meeting. Three engineering firms are in contention — Berkshire Design Group, R.

Levesque Associates Inc. of Westfield, and Guntlow Associates of Williamstown — with proposals from the latter two due by March 31. The committee's single stated goal for the study is determining how many residential units the parcel can support; member Fred Barron said he could not "conceive" of a scenario in which any of the bids would exceed the $12,000 ceiling. The housing committee moved its next meeting from April 13 to April 6 to accommodate a scheduling conflict, with all three proposals expected to be on the table for selection at that session.

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of March 9, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.