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Date: 10/20/2021
HADLEY – The town of Hadley hosted the fall Special Town Meeting on Oct. 16 at the Hadley Public Safety Complex to act on 14 new articles for the town. All 14 articles were passed with majority vote, but one had far more debate in the public forum than any of the others.
Article 14, listed as “Mosquito Control,” decided whether Hadley would opt out of the mosquito spraying program conducted under the State Reclamation and Mosquito Board (SRMCB) or stay with the current program. The town ultimately voted in favor of opting out, but not without much discussion from the public.
Much of the concern brought up at the Town Meeting was regarding the possible side effects on not only residents of Hadley, but the environmental factors as well from spray programs in the town. While the concern of the possible illnesses such as West Nile and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) is the reasoning behind the program’s implementation, one resident mentioned the fact that there have been zero reported cases of EEE this year, and only eight cases of West Nile.
This was the only article on the warrant that did not have a unanimous positive recommendation from the Select Board.
With the opt out becoming officially voted on by the town, the process begins on creating and building a new plan catered to the concerns and voices of the people of Hadley. The town is already still grandfathered into the program for 2022, but by next spring they can submit the application to be removed for the 2023 year and bring forth their own program for combating the arboviruses.
Those opposed to opting out were more so concerned with having no plan on the matter if the town opted out, but that is where the town will come in in deciding what is best for the community. Hadley has not sprayed any chemical for combating mosquitos in over 10 years, and the towns of Amherst, Northampton, and Easthampton all opted out of the state program as well.
Another article of note that was passed during the Special Town Meeting was the general fund budget. The new budget increased $187,440 to a grand total of $18,245,147. The largest increases came through Debt-Principal and OPEB (Other Post Employment Benefits) fund, both receiving an increase of $50,000. The additional money keeps the security of the OPEB fund intact.
Article 5 of the warrant contained two sections, with 5.1 being Capital Articles and the amount of money being requested for different projects in the town. The largest amount requested was $199,654 to fund communications equipment for the town's public safety units. Also appropriated was $20,300 for police to repair computers and other tech equipment that has aged out. Select Board Committee Chair David Fill did say at the meeting that the police chief is currently in the process of trying to get an information technology grant from the state, so this money would be backup if he is unable to secure the grant.
The Department of Public Works (DPW) benefitted from the new capital articles as well, receiving $75,000 for a drum asphalt roller, $130,000 combined for a new highway and water truck (Ford F-350), $60,000 for the replacement of old fire hydrants and fire hydrant valves – an estimated five to six hydrants will benefit from this – and finally $130,000 for pipe lining and repairs that will be better cost efficient for the town compared to a total rehauling of the pipe system.
Article 5.2 amended a former article from a 2019 Special Town Meeting where the town was authorized to borrow $30,000 to repair DPW gas pumps by directing such funds for the purpose of decommissioning the DPW gas pumps. The funds will now be used essentially as a down payment on a bigger project of decommissioning DPW gas pumps.
There are two 10,000-gallon tanks in Hadley that contain diesel in one and gas in the other. An issue that has presented itself with the underground tanks is when the tanks fall below half capacity, the pumps fail during warm weather and during summers there are issues extracting fuel from the tank when capacity drops below 50 percent.
Replacing the pumps currently will cost in the range of $400,000 plus, according to the research done by the Select Board. Decommissioning the pumps and finding a different source of getting fuel into town for now is more efficient for the town than an entire replacement and new above ground tanks due to money and lack of space.
While there are not reported leaks or damages of the underground tanks, the future extraction of them will be closely monitored by the town for possible hazardous material cleanups as now with the approval of Article 5.2, they can begin to focus more on the overall project and decide if new pumps or contracting out of town is better for the community. The current underground pumps were installed over 20 years ago but have always been tested yearly and have cathodic protection.
Article 11 was also one of the few items listed on the warrant that started healthy debate between the public. The article addressed securing $75,000 from the Community Preservation Act (CPA) Housing Fund to the Hadley Housing Authority for the preservation of the Golden Court apartments by installing air-tight windows, and to authorize the Select Board to enter a grant agreement with the Hadley Housing Authority setting forth the terms of said grant. The money will replace 131 windows for the 40 Golden Court apartments.
One counterpoint raised was the inconvenience of the installation of the windows. The Select Board did react by acknowledging that while it may be a brief period of time to adjust to people installing the new windows, in the long-term it was only beneficial to the senior citizens that live in the apartments.
Another counterpoint raised by a resident who ended up voting “No” was the reluctancy by the state in taking care of affordable housing they are involved in.
“I’m not in favor of this article. This is a state building, the residents there when they pay their rent, it’s going to the state. So why in the heck would we be picking up the bill for this,” said the resident.
“I voted for it in the end. I didn’t feel we should take our public funds but looking at the total picture a lot of our residents live in Golden Court, so I really feel like why wouldn’t we support them having good windows and keeping in the heat. I think it’s our due responsibility to take care of our elders as best we can whether or not we feel like it shouldn’t be our responsibility with it being state run,” said Select Board member Joyce Chunglo.
“I voted for it because I don’t think people in a situation where they are living should be punished. I think with winter coming this is something we need to take care of now, and in the future, we visit other options for funding,” said Select Board member Amy Parsons.
Board member Jane Nevinsmith also mentioned as liaison of the Golden Court community that in spending time the last few months speaking with tenets, this is needed. And regardless of state funding, this is the type of project that needs assistance from CPA funds.
“We really need to address the state with their issues over there. It’s an old facility. They’ve got heating issues, water main issues, sewer main issues, window issues, etc. etc.,” said board member John Waskiewicz. “We are in the process of legal contact with the state to see what they have to say for themselves about running and maintaining that place for our elderly and our citizens.”
"The state unfortunately has been a miserable failure when it comes to Golden Court. We had a water main break last winter I believe. The town had to step in and fix the water main break because the state didn’t care that the residents would’ve been without water in their apartments for multiple days,” said Select Board Chair David Fill. “We ended up getting reimbursed for the work, but the reality is we have several hundred thousand dollars of CPA funds that are set aside for affordable housing and while I don’t think we should have to take up the slack for the state, the reality is we shouldn’t be punishing Hadley residents because the state is a miserable failure when it comes to affordable housing.”
Forty percent of the project will come from CPA funds (the $75,000) in a request from the Department of Housing and Community Development who is paying the other 60 percent. Based on the board members' recommendations the public agreed and the article was passed.
Some other articles approved at the meeting benefitted overall community members and town buildings. Article 7 saw the town accept transfer of ownership of The Goodwin Memorial Library from the Trustees of the Goodwin Memorial Library to the town of Hadley, following the construction of the town’s newest library.
Article 8 transferred $6,200 from the CPA into the General Fund of the Town of Hadley Public Library Trustees for the restoration of the historic John Gnatek “Old Hadley” mural. The expenditure is to be expended within two years of Town Meeting approval, and any unexpended funds will automatically be returned to the foregoing Community Preservation Act fund by that date.
Article 9 had a slight edit from the final copy of the warrant on behalf of the chair of the CPA after realizing there were more funds available than originally thought. Instead of an original $6,400, $3,100 will now be allocated from the CPA Open Space and Recreation Fund towards additional picnic tables for the pavilion on school grounds. This is the finishing touch on the pavilion that was added just a few years ago.
Article 10 saw the town confirm a transfer of $31,000 from the CPA General Fund into preservation and rehabilitation of the historic four pillars in front of town hall. In 2018’s Annual Town Meeting, an initial $35,000 was approved for the same reason. To finish what was originally started as the goal, the additional money now will help cover the costly specialized work and secure the four pillars for what the town hopes is a long time.
The last article of note that was passed during the special town meeting was article 13 – Planning Board Zoning Bylaw change. This minor article was to amend Section 17.3.2 of the Town Zoning Bylaws to read: “This district shall consist of all lots within the Business and Industrial Zones with frontage on a Public Way.”
According to the Planning Board, the change stops the limit placed on business or industrial used zones larger than 75,000 square feet. There had been newfound issues with the wording that was impacting businesses in the town in certain instances based on their location.