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Date: 11/20/2023
SOUTH HADLEY – South Hadley High School was the site for a Special Town Meeting on Nov. 15 where all 12 draft warrant articles were passed by town meeting members.
Article 1 passed through a 60-12 vote to begin the night and was for the town to hear a report of the Town Meeting Review Committee. The Town Meeting Review Committee began their work after the 2023 May Annual Town Meeting and the Special Town Meeting vote was to accept an updated report of their work.
Committee member Carlene Hamlin spoke to Town Meeting members about the article and clarified the committee never had any intent of sharing a report during the special meeting but would be prepared for a report update during the next annual Town Meeting. Hamlin added the committee is in the midst of reviewing survey responses from the town meeting members on annual meeting’s usefulness and suggestions to improve the process.
Article 2 passed in a 67-10 vote that will now amend the fiscal year 2024 operating budget to $61,000 to account for an assistant principal at South Hadley High School. Superintendent Mark McLaughlin explained the money would cover the rated salary of whoever fills the position from December to the end of the school year.
He added the position was chosen to help fill a vacancy at the high school and that filling a position like vice principal can help make everyone’s life in the school a little easier.
“We said that the assistant principal is the one who has the broadest reach over the most number of students,” McLaughlin said. “While all hands are on deck to attend to a particular event or challenge, the rest of the building needs to continue to run.”
Article 3 was passed and will move $35,000 from the town’s free cash account in order to cover an Eversource bill from prior fiscal years. Eversource had informed the school department in October that some of their meters had not been working and produced a statement dated Sept. 28 for $34,662.08. The Appropriations Committee unanimously supported the article passing.
Article 4 passed in a 70-8 vote and approved $461,000 worth of funding for three projects in town. The first replacement listed is $385,000 for a new or used street sweeper for the town.
Selectboard Chair Jeff Cyr explained the town’s current street sweeper caught fire over a year and a half ago and had yet to be replaced due to “haggling” with the insurance company.
Another $46,000 will go toward replacing the existing scoreboard at the high school as the current one is aging and has not been able to properly display scores so far this school year, according to conversations on the item. A another $15,000 will cover the repair of two elevators in the town offices that are not up to safety standards.
A final $15,000 will go to fund a historic study recommended by the Historical Commission. Historical Commission member Gerald Judge explained the money would go toward a study to get work started on a historic preservation plan.
“It will maintain and update a community wide inventory of historic and archaeological resources,” Judge said. “The town knows that upon completion of the work satisfactory to Mass Historic, the town will receive from the state a reimbursement for 50%, or $7,5000 for the money allocated by the town.”
Article 5 passed unanimously and will now see the town transfer from its waste water treatment plant retained earnings of $340,000 toward the Judd Brook project, $300,000, and the Main Street Pump Station channel grinder, $40,000.
Cyr explained the town is under an administrative order to work on the interceptor sewer that has been on the project list for over two decades and have it done by the end of 2024. This remaining money will cover the rest of the project costs. The Selectboard had already allocated $2.3 million toward the project in the past.
The Capital Planning Committee and the Appropriations Committee both supported the article by unanimous decision.
Article 6 passed and will lead to a transfer of $550,000 to the Mosier Stabilization Fund. There is currently $850,000 in the Mosier Stabilization Fund and it is estimated that about $1.5 to 2 million is needed for a feasibility study, depending on the scope and when the project is bid.
The article will raise the Mosier fund to $1.4 million and will help with the project’s favorability when the Massachusetts School Building Authority votes in December 2023 on which projects around the state will move forward. If invited to the process, South Hadley must demonstrate that is has the funding in fiscal year 2025 – to be voted on at the May 2024 Town Meeting – and brings the total closer to what is needed.
Article 7 passed with an overwhelming 80-3 vote and will see the town transfer of $145,453 of unreserved free cash into the newly established Opioid Stabilization Fund. At the May Town Meeting this stabilization fund was created, but the town had already received funds before they had created a town account to handle it.
Article’s 8, 9 and 10 all passed and were all connected and needed to be voted on and approved in the order they were listed. Article 8 will now see the town impose local room occupancy excise at the rate of 6%, amended by the Appropriations Committee during the meeting from 4%. The 6% number will lead to $46,800 per year in excise for the town. The article mostly applies to short term rentals in commercially managed buildings.
A handful of town meeting members asked Selectboard members why they went with 4% initially to which Cyr said it was a good starting point, or “gauge” that could have been changed in the future. He added he was supportive of the amendment.
Article 9 is connected as it will impose the First Local Option Community Impact Fee at a rate of 3%. When received it would be appropriated 100% to affordable housing and public infrastructure. No properties fall into this category, but it was approved in order to approve Article 10.
Article 10 will impose the Second Local Option Community Impact Fee at the rate of 3% and when received shall also be appropriated 100% to affordable housing and public infrastructure. According to Town Administrator Lisa Wong in previous discussions on the item, at least 35% of revenues must go to affordable housing or public infrastructure projects and the Selectboard voted for the 100%.
A senior tax work off program will go into effect for fiscal year 2025 following the 68-14 vote to pass Article 11. The town, under this article, will also adjust the exemption to allow an approved representative and allow the maximum reduction of the real property tax bill to be $2,000.
The town has been soliciting public input on the program and have discussed it at several Selectboard meetings. The state also recently increased the maximum amount from $1,500 to $2,000.
The final article of the night, article 12, passed in a 77-2 vote and now the town will amend section 7-20 of the town’s general bylaws by editing the current language and creating more detailed language in the bylaw. The Master Plan Implementation Committee will be the beneficiary of the change as it will now better describe their purpose as a committee, membership and organization information.
To review this Special Town Meeting warrant visit southhadley.org and to watch a recording of the meeting visit https://shctv15.com.