ATHOL — In March, more than 100 people showed up for an emergency meeting of residents of the Miller’s Wood/River Bend manufactured housing park off Daniel Shays Highway. The meeting — attended by residents, relatives of residents, and town and state officials — was called in response to a notification from park owner Hometown America that many of its residents would see a significant increase in rent due to a recent ruling from the state Supreme Judicial Court.

A number of potential responses were discussed at that time, including the creation of a rent control board that would specifically have oversight of Miller’s Wood. Several towns in Massachusetts have formed rent control boards to oversee rents at manufactured home developments.

A first draft of the warrant for June’s annual town meeting included an article which, if approved by voters, would have created a rent control board for Athol but the proposal was dropped from the warrant formally approved by the Selectboard at its meeting on May 4.

“The chairman of the board, Rebecca Bialecki, and I were on a call and we did speak with the management of Hometown,” said Town Manager Shaun Suhoski. “We were also made aware that there’s a lawsuit that’s been filed on behalf of the residents, so they have legal counsel — they’ve availed themselves of that.

“I don’t want to speak for the board but given the need to close the warrant and the fact we needed more information to make a good policy decision, I believe the board took it off the warrant for the annual meeting, knowing that we can revisit this for the fall meeting if necessary.”

Asked if Hometown’s contention that about two-thirds of the residents at Miller’s Wood would actually see a rent decrease, rather than an increase, Suhoski said, “I think it helps when you have a wider perspective of the moving pieces — and we’re still learning, we had Town Counsel on the call as well. Park management was in fact reacting to a Supreme Judicial Court case. And Hometown admitted to us — and I hope they’ve admitted it to the park residents — that the communication could have been better. A conversation (with residents) probably should have been held before legal letters went out.

“I know the people involved are keeping an eye on things and we just need to see how things play out over the next month or two.”

Selectboard Chair Rebecca Bialecki concurred with Suhoski’s assessment.

“We would not be ready to bring the article to Annual Town Meeting, but it is not off the table,” she told the Athol Daily news via email. “We did have an opportunity to talk with Hometown America ownership to be sure we had all the facts. We were also able to raise the issues brought forth by residents as to communication and fair practice by the onsite manager. It may well be revisited later on.”

Miller’s Wood homeowner’s association president Alan Dernalowicz expressed some surprise that the issue had been dropped, for now.

“I’m a bit disappointed,” he said. “The big-picture concern going forward is the need to maintain affordable housing. Every community is going to have to start dealing with the real estate market that’s out there and what it’s doing to people on fixed income.”

The vast majority of homeowners at Miller’s Wood are over the age of 55.

“These communities serve a purpose in providing affordable housing for folks and they need protection,” he continued. “Negotiating with corporations can only get you so far. Communities are going to have to start dealing for the first time with issues like making sure they maintain affordable housing for folks.

“I hope they’ll consider revisiting (rent control) in the future.”

Dernalowicz said he was unaware that an article — described by Suhoski at the May 4 meeting as a “placeholder” — had been included in the draft warrant first presented to the Selectboard.

“I knew a few weeks back that they were going to put forward something and that they were pursuing it, and thinking about it, and looking at what it meant,” he said. “But no, I didn’t know. Nor did anyone here in the community mention anything. This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

The SJC ruled in November that manufactured home park owners must charge the same rent to all homeowners in a given development. Hometown sent packets to Miller’s Wood residents at the end of February notifying them rents would be increased for some — decreased for others — as of April 1.

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Hometown by newer residents who had been charged more for rent than those who had been longtime residents seeking a return of the difference paid.

Contacted for a reaction to the decision not to pursue a rent control board at this time, a spokesperson for Hometown said the company had no comment at this time.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com