First on the agenda was the gift of 35 acres from Hans and Kate Morris to the AHT, and AHT’s vote to accept the gift. The purpose of the land will be to build affordable and workforce housing.

If in five years, the specified housing has not been built, AHT can gift it to the Town of Stockbridge for open space subject to approval at a Town Meeting. If neither of those purposes are executed, the land reverts to the Morrises.

The gift document was altered to say – housing plans will be submitted to Hans and Kate Morris with right to approve provided they do so within 10 days.

Chair Ranee Warner made clear that the gift was to AHT and not the Town of Stockbridge. She also explained that some of the property is in Chapter 61 (a tax category) when it is transferred to AHT, that designation disappears.

The vote to accept the gift was unanimous.

Discussion was open to the neighbors attending the meeting. They had many concerns. Some were issues that had not been reached yet. That is, the gift was accepted subject to Due Diligence which means AHT will hire engineers to evaluate and describe the land (boundaries and characteristics e.g. wetlands etc) That will result in better understanding of how many acres are buildable, which are the prime buildable sites, and sewer viability and water availability.

Neighbors were concerned about how many homes would be built, descriptions of what would be built (such as single family, apartments or duplexes), where they would be built, and access roads to the homes built, etc.

While Select Board member Patrick White said he would not support any designs not in keeping with the character of Stockbridge, he also explained we are only at the beginning stages. Warner said they don’t know any of those answers yet. Neighbors also shared that water pressure was insufficient for fire suppression ad the sewer connection is small.

The Chair explained there were two options for Due Diligence: one less in depth and therefore cheaper and the other more detailed and expensive. Without a vote, AHT apparently accepted the Chair’s suggestion to take the cheaper options for due diligence although some members worried doing a more in-depth evaluation only if determined necessary would take more time because it turned it into a two-step process.

Three engineering firms responded to do the land evaluation — White cautioned that no one from the AHT could communicate with them until one is chosen. The Town Administrator would make the selection according to established procedure, however, the Chair wished to work with Michael Canales in making the selection. Due Diligence must be completed by May 15, 2024, when the settlement is scheduled.