Williamstown Board of Health finalizes nitrous oxide regulation, extends Hearthway housing order

WILLIAMSTOWN — May 26, 2026 — Williamstown Board of Health unanimously adopted a revised nitrous oxide sales regulation and extended a housing compliance order against affordable housing manager Hearthway Inc. at its May 26 meeting. Chair Devin Bartels and the three-member board approved amendments drafted with town counsel guidance, adding language to Section 149-5 of the draft regulation stating that each prohibited sale constitutes a separate violation, while removing a provision that would have allowed the board to strip vendors of selling rights — a power town counsel said the board does not hold under state law. The board simultaneously granted Hearthway a two-week conditional extension on a moisture and mold correction order for a unit at 330 Cole Avenue, requiring the company to submit a contractor engagement letter and investigate both bathroom tub surrounds and a suspect exterior kitchen wall; Health Inspector Ruth Russell had issued the original order on April 15 after moisture-meter readings on March 20 and April 9 found no work completed as of April 30. In nearly an hour of public comment and formal testimony, two Highland Woods residents — Jane Stevens, 86, a resident since 2016, and Will Raymond of 189 Stratton Road — urged the board to take more aggressive enforcement action on indoor smoking violations at the same Hearthway-managed complex, where a town no-smoking bylaw passed last year remains largely unenforced; the board said it is working with town counsel to clarify inspection and enforcement authority and plans to send certified letters to all landlords town-wide putting them on formal notice of the bylaw.