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Date: 5/18/2022
SOUTH HADLEY – South Hadley Town Meeting approved the $51.9 million budget for fiscal year 2023 (FY23) during the May 11 meeting at South Hadley High School.
Selectboard Chair Jeff Cyr opened remarks on the budget article and thanked all departments and Town Manager Lisa Wong for crafting the budget. The budget was also recommended and supported by the town’s Appropriations Committee.
“A lot of work went into it, and it was a long process. I think it’s a very well-crafted budget for FY23,” Cyr said.
When opened to public comment, resident Adam Reed expressed to town officials and voters why he would not be voting for this year’s budget. Reed said his biggest proposal for a better version of the budget would be shifting a portion of funding for police into education.
He added he respected that a lot of work went into preparing this budget, but that another year of increased funding to the police was not in the best interest of the town. Reed encouraged his fellow voters to consider voting no and reminded them they have the power to shape community.
“I vote no in hopes of a budget that sees a halt in police funding. I know we are working towards that but I want to push us further,” Reed said. “Embrace your power as Town Meeting members to take serious this opportunity we have.”
Resident Lily Newman, who was just elected as a Town Meeting member, said she has spent the last year learning as much as she can about how Town Meeting works as she is new to the community. Newman said she was honored to serve the community and takes the responsibility seriously and is appreciative of all the work being done, but she was leaning to voting no.
“My concern is I’ve been seeking to engage meaningfully in understanding this budget and have not found a real place to debate this,” Newman said. “In this setting you have to be succinct and respectful of people’s voices and there is no time for back and forth. Because of this I can’t confidently vote yes. I hope to see ways to engage in discourse more in the coming year.”
Resident Julie Gentile voted in support of the budget and said she felt it was unfair to take money away from police and credited Police Chief Jennifer Gunderson as well as other town departments in being open and transparent.
Ultimately the vote was approved by Town Meeting members in a 79-12 vote by majority. The $51.8 million approved is a $2.4 million increase in the budget from the last fiscal year.
The following article after the vote on the overall budget was a vote to see if the town would allocate $1.7 million for multiple capital purchases. Cyr spoke for the article and said after a couple years of saving funds for the unforeseen due to COVID-19 that this year they were able to expand the amount of funding to give out through capital projects.
The most expensive capital purchase within the almost $1.7 million in funding comes for the high school drainage and HVAC repairs that total $676,000. Other allocations of the capital spending are going toward repairs on different town buildings including a $90,000 Police Department roof repair, $132,000 for police HVAC, $68,500 for a Department of Public Works (DPW) plow and $100,000 for a document preservation and digital data system to preserve old town documents.
Within the same article is $65,000 in funding for the Queensville Dam removal. This figure was chosen to match the grant the town is currently waiting to preserve and remove part of the Queensville Dam located within the Titus Pond Conservation Area.
Director of Planning and Conservation Anne Capra said at Town Meeting that this funding, along with the grant, will get the town to 100 percent design and permitting of removal of the dam. They were currently sitting at 25 percent in the design phase before the vote and that a full environmental assessment was underway and would continue through this project.
The funding for the multiple capital purchases was approved through a 82-8 vote.
One of the most notable articles from this year’s town meeting was Article 18, the last one voted on, that looked to create a mobile food vendor bylaw in town and allow for these vendors to move freely and set up in town.
Cyr said work started on this bylaw as there were not any provisions to allow food trucks in South Hadley. Wong added this would be a good move to bring some economic development into town for certain events throughout the year.
“This is an invitation for further economic development, especially in underserved areas. It’s also an easy path to bring food trucks to our community. Without a bylaw in place, we have had to say no and we don’t want to do that,” Wong said. “It’s an invitation to local food trucks to come here.”
After a couple of failed proposals from two Town Meeting members who were looking to amend language in two different subsections, the town ultimately voted to approve the new bylaw through a 65-22 vote.
Another article passed during the meeting was a vote to create a Human Rights Commission, which was passed in an 83-6 vote. Wong said the committee will consist of nine members with appointments from different committees in town. The different committees will choose an appointee and are not tasked with choosing a member from their own committee, as their appointment can be anyone they feel fit for the position.
Two final articles of note approved from the 2022 Town Meeting were $515,000 for the Wastewater Treatment Plant, which passed unanimously, and $113,600 for a river pump replacement. Cyr said for the Wastewater Treatment Plant that the main street generator needed to be replaced due to old age, and there would be an upcoming station evaluation for their plant to find out the long-term sustainability of the site.