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Date: 3/21/2023
BELCHERTOWN — Aaron Saunders was elected state representative for the 7th Hampden District over two months ago and visited the Select Board at its March 13 meeting to give updates and learn the possible challenges in Belchertown.
Some of the concerns that the Select Board expressed include the current infrastructure and use of town buildings along with repairs to town bridges and roads.
Select Board Chair Jim Barry said it has been difficult fixing roads and highways in town based on the shrinking Chapter 90 funds every year.
Chapter 90 funds are allocated by the state to fix roads and highways.
Barry said, “Our Chapter 90 funds keep getting smaller, but the price of blacktop keeps getting higher, so we are doing less repair with less and less money. Increasing Chapter 90 funds would be a relatively easy thing to do instead of creating a brand new program.”
Barry added, “We could use help with bridges and roads. We are not allowed to apply for funds directly because we are too small so what is the state’s plan for distributing that large sum of money for infrastructure to small towns that need that help?”
Barry said there are a list of projects in the future that the town would love to have more money available for and more Chapter 90 funds can allow the town to not have to take out of their current funds.
Town Administrator Gary Brougham said it has been more of a balancing act than anything to budget fixing the roads while also upgrading buildings.
DPW Director Steve Williams added, “I saw a recent article that talked about Chapter 90 and the lack of increases over the years. I believe that if Chapter 90 is funded at $200 million again statewide, then it will be nearly 10 years of level funding and the communities across the commonwealth are faced with a 60 percent reduction in their purchasing power. That is concerning because we are trying to do more with less and falling behind.”
Some projects in Belchertown that they are currently working on funding is a North Main Street project that the Select Board has allocated ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds for along with the continued development of the vacant State School property and Lampson Brook Farm.
Saunders added, “If there are specific projects in town, let me know and I will get to work on advocating for those and finding the appropriate paths for accessing the federal dollars that is sitting with the Department of Transportation.”
Select Board member Peg Louraine said she would like to see more support for the community.
She added, “I know all communities need support and I don’t know where we stand in terms of the percentage of under utilized buildings that we have the entire State School property and other buildings in town. Belchertown has continued to grow and many of our departments are outgrowing the space they have and finding new space for them when the building is not usable is almost impossible. We need to get on it now and some of those buildings may turn into trashcans which is not acceptable.”
The Select Board meet with department heads on March 7 and 8. The Information Technology and Fire departments along with the members from the Family Center all discussed capital funded projects to fix their current building of operations.
“There is a tremendous opportunity with the State School redevelopment. Ensuring that the town looks to make investment to keep the buildings in good shape and to ensure the roads and bridges are kept in good repair and that it is not only falling on the backs of residential homeowners. I am happy to help move along the State School redevelopment project and work on funding,” Saunders said.
Saunders grew up in Belchertown and Select Board member Ed Boscher asked what a successful year would look like to him.
“These first couple months have been gathering all the information on the challenges and opportunities across the district. The first step is getting a sense of what is needed. There is an awful lot of teamwork that goes into it. You must find the commonalities with colleagues to address the concerns presented,” Saunders said.
Select Board Vice Chair Ron Aponte asked, “Are the state’s [Fiscal Year 2023] receipts trending above forecast and if so, how will the surplus be addressed? Will it be given back in additional local aid or Chapter 70 funds?”
Saunders said, “For the first time in 30 months, January’s receipts came in below benchmark. The goal of these benchmarks is not to set them artificially low so that the numbers come above it, it is to budget. I think it is the culmination of a lot of the federal money and programs coming to an end. From the discussions I have had, there doesn’t seem to be any new large federal spending bills on the horizon like ARPA.”
Saunders said the best approach is to wait and see how everything looks after tax collections are done before allocating more money to communities.
He added, “The worst thing we can do is to assume we are going to have more money than we are going to have, make these appropriations based on forecasted collections and six months into the fiscal year say we will have to make cuts.”
Saunders concluded, “I want to gain a sense of some priorities that the town is looking at getting help from the Legislature with and I am just down the road with any questions.”