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Date: 10/7/2021
SOUTH HADLEY - The South Hadley Selectboard met to discuss a variety of items including hybrid meetings at the senior center and the upcoming Special Town Meeting on Sept. 28.
To begin, the Selectboard approved the proposal of an outdoor lighting installation at the Bank of America on Willimansett Street. The Selectboard then approved the contract extension of Town Administrator Michael Sullivan to Oct. 30.
Harold Tramazzo, owner of the Hangar Pub and Grill chain, and Hangar of South Hadley manager Cody Morris attended the meeting to discuss outdoor seating at the restaurant.
According to Tramazzo, the Hangar of South Hadley installed a deck behind their building to accommodate outdoor dining during COVID-19. They are now asking for the deck to be a permanent feature even when COVID-19 regulations are lifted on April 22, 2022. The Selectboard unanimously approved the permanent deck as they said this was a good addition for the restaurant and there have not been any resident complaints.
The meeting then shifted into discussing the future of in-person and hybrid meetings. The South Hadley Tech Team was in attendance to discuss draft policies for public meetings, access to space and virtual town meetings. According to Kristin Maher, executive assistant to administration, the library would be ideal for in-person meetings and the senior center for hybrid.
Maher said that the new senior center is accessible, large enough for social distancing and technologically advanced which would help hybrid meetings run easily and smoothly.
Previous in-person meetings took place in Town Hall, but the Selectboard said that there are accessibility issues, security issues and technology issues within the building.
One Selectboard member, Andrea Miles, brought up the issue of hosting meetings in these public spaces causing roadblocks for outside community groups. She said that these are meant to be community spaces and she worries they would be overrun by town meetings.
"I worry about how that will affect the appetite going forward and just kind of what our responsibility is to maintaining that as a community space and not a municipal space," said Miles.
The Selectboard agreed that they would keep this in mind as a priority. The topic was one of discussion for the meeting and nothing was specifically voted on.
The meeting then focused on the future of the Special Town Meeting. According to Maher, many local communities have decided to hold off on a Special Town Meeting for the fall given COVID-19 and technology complications.
Maher said that if South Hadley decided to still go ahead with a meeting, the Tech Team would need about 90 days to set up the proper technology, test it, run a few practice sessions and make sure everything went smoothly.
She proposed that given that there are no extremely pressing or urgent matters to be discussed at a meeting currently, the Seletboard could push it to spring.
"Trying to get it done for a Special Town Meeting in the fall would be really tight, but for the spring that would give us a little more wiggle room," she said.
The Selectboard agreed on this idea. Sullivan said that the Tech Team and administration can begin planning for a virtual Town Meeting and have that capability ready for January.
"We'll do the best we can and do regular updates as we go along," he said.
This decision will allow the Selectboard to host a February trial session of a Special Town Meeting where they discuss a few important articles as a test run to see how it goes. If all goes smoothly, a larger Town Meeting can be hosted in May.
Those interested in viewing the Selectboard Meeting in its entirety are encouraged to visit the South Hadley Community Television Vimeo page.