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Date: 3/15/2023
WILBRAHAM — State Sen. Jake Oliveira officially introduced himself to the Wilbraham Board of Selectmen at its March 6 meeting. Oliveira was elected to the recently formed Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester district in November 2022, and has been touring the 12 communities therein.
Oliveira said the fiscal year 2024 budget process is underway. Gov. Maura Healey released her proposed budget in February. The state House of Representatives will work on their version throughout March and the state Senate will present theirs in May. A supplemental budget is currently being assembled in the House, after which it will go to the Senate. Oliveira said the legislation extends the ability for municipalities to host remote meetings until March 31, 2025, and extends relaxed outdoor dining provisions until 2024.
One of the other items Oliviera said the Senate is tackling is making notary publics available for online signatures, something he said has worked in other states and streamlines the process while providing a wider pool of notaries, rather than ones that are located nearby.
“With my 16 years of local government experience, I want to be there for local governments,” Oliveira told the board.
Board of Selectmen Clerk Susan Bunnell told Oliveira that school districts need relief from an unexpected 14 percent hike in the cost of out-of-district placements, mainly for special education students whose needs cannot be met in the district. Oliveira assured the board that he understands the challenges faced by the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD). To address this issue, he introduced a bill to create a commission examining special education costs, because he said they are “not sustainable long term.” There is also a bill under development to increase the circuit breaker – a reimbursement program for some special education costs – from 75 percent to 90 percent. He said “every legislator” is hearing about the same challenges.
When it comes to Chapter 70 state aid for schools, Oliveira said districts like HWRSD are not seeing the same benefits as Springfield and other cities because there are fewer English language learners, low-income students and special education students, all of which increase the cost to educate the public. He said all suburban districts share the same struggle. Oliveira also noted that regional transportation has never been funded at 100 percent, as was promised, but he said he is working on that.
Oliveira asked the board to prioritize a list of short-term, medium-term and “wish list” projects that he may include as earmarks in the budget.
Bridge repairs
DPW Director Tonya Capparello said repairs were again needed on the Cottage Avenue Bridge, which extends over the Connecticut River and into Ludlow. Isolated repairs to the bridge were completed in 2021, but a recent state inspection found “holes that are starting to penetrate through the steel under the deck,” Capparello explained. Capparello said a bridge engineer must be hired to evaluate the extent of the damage and triage repairs, after which the DPW will know how much the repairs will cost. She also noted that the town, which shares the cost of bridge maintenance with Ludlow, should consider a long-term plan to replace the deck with another light-weight material, which would lower the stress to the structure.
The board approved the transfer of $25,000 from reserves to cover the cost of examining of the problem and the design of a repair.
Bylaw Study Committee
At the Board of Selectmen’s Feb. 27 meeting, resident David Sanders interviewed with the Board of Selectmen for a seat on the Bylaw Study Committee. When considering his appointment, Board Chair Carolyn Brennan said Sanders had experience on the committee that last reviewed the town’s bylaws and noted, “historical knowledge is very important.” Bunnell, however, said she wanted to wait to see what other candidates step forward before filling the seats. Board Vice Chair Theresa Goodrich disagreed with that approach and said that the board has been voting on committee candidates at the meeting after their interviews, but Bunnell pushed back, saying it had not always been that way and there was no urgency surrounding this post. Despite Bunnell’s position, a vote was called, and Sanders was approved.
It was also decided that Town Clerk Carole Tardiff would serve as a non-voting “ex-officio” member of the committee.