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Date: 5/4/2023
HAMPDEN — Hampden will conduct its spring Town Meeting on May 8, at 7 p.m. at Thornton W. Burgess School. There are 27 articles on the warrant. While most are routine matters, there are several financial matters, including the budget, and a new zoning bylaw for voters to consider.
Zoning bylaw
There is one new zoning bylaw on the warrant. Article 20 would adopt a bylaw allowing accessory apartment zoning. The purpose as stated in the bylaw is to allow for aging parents or other specifically named family members to live independently in an apartment attached to a single-family home.
Only one apartment per home would be allowed. The size, number of occupants, appearance, parking and other specifications have been laid out in the bylaw.
Budgets
Hampden’s drafted fiscal year 2024 operating budget will be presented at the Town Meeting. This budget includes the cost of operating town departments, debt service and the assessment for Hampden’s portion of the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District.
The school district, Hampden and Wilbraham’s leadership negotiated late into the budgetary process and the numbers presented at Town Meeting will likely differ from those included in the warrant. Hampden’s assessment for the school district’s operational budget was slated to be $8.64 million. After talks to fund an $800,000 budget gap, which would have resulted in reduction of several teachers, paraprofessionals and programs, as well as deferred maintenance and the increase of fees, the assessment for Hampden is now about $8.7 million.
While Article 17 presents Hampden’s portion of $300,000 in capital expenses for the school district as $85,317, no action is planned to be taken on this article as the projects have largely been deferred.
Other financial matters
A grant is pending that would provide the town with $75,000 to update the 1982 Master Plan, a guiding document that helps the town plan for the next five to seven years. In Article 15, Hampden is seeking an additional $57,500 to hire consulting firm VHB, whose proposal totals $132,500.
Article 6 seeks Community Preservation Act funding for two projects. The first project is the purchase of 13.7 acres at 0 Walnut Rd. for $63,300 for conservation land. The other project would use $45,000 for adaptive playground equipment at Green Meadows School. Under law, Community Preservation Act funding can only be used for historic preservation, affordable housing or recreation and open space.
Article 10 seeks $3,200 In additional funding to address tree stumps at the South Road entrance to Minnechaug Mountain Conservation Land. At the fall 2022 Town Meeting, $6,909 was appropriated for tree removal work performed at the site. This funding would grind the remaining stumps.
Article 11 would appropriate $10,000, either raised through taxes, borrowed or transferred from unappropriated funds, to refurbish Fire Engine 2. The town received a 2022 estimate of the work needed, but since then the Fire Department has partially repaired the truck in-house. An estimate for the work was not available as of press time.
In Article 14, The DPW has requested $222,465 in funding, either raised through taxes, borrowed or transferred from unappropriated funds, to purchase a new dump truck and plow to replace a 30-year-old truck. The average lifespan of such vehicles is 20 years.
The Fiber Optic Committee will present a report on a project to install a town-wide fiber optic network. Hampden applied for grant funding to help pay for the fiber optic network’s construction. The initial stages of this project were approved at a previous Town Meeting. Article 18 will not ask for funding at this time.
Article 19 requests to design an expanded Senior Center. The town has been examining an expanded center for several years. A feasibility study has been completed by a committee appointed by the Board of Selectmen.
Citizen’s petition
This article would create a Receipts Reserved for Ambulance Fund to defray the cost of operating and replacing ambulances in the future. A vote at Town Meeting would be required to spend from this account.