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Date: 2/26/2020
HAMPDEN – The Hampden Select Board voted Feb. 24 to sign a contract with the material recycling facility (MRF) in Springfield to process recyclable material from the transfer station.
Under the five–year contract, the town would pay $93.50 for recyclable processing with an increase of 2.5 percent per year, minus any revenue from the sale of the processed material.
Interim Town Administrator Markel reasoned, “If you say no, you're locked out for five years.”
The town was faced with a choice of contracting with the MRF for dual–stream recycling, which it currently does, or McNamara Waste Services which uses a single-stream process in which all recyclable materials are placed in a single container and the sorting is done at the facility.
Select Board Chair Donald Davenport and Markel discussed the possibility of future state regulations forcing towns to use dual-stream.
“We’re going to face more and more regulation, and while we have people used to doing dual-stream, I think the single–stream would be moving in the wrong direction,” Markel said.
The transfer station costs $90,000 per year to run with approximately $80,000 of its budget raise from bag fees and stickers. Currently, the board is not considering closing the transfer station.
The select board plans to vote on a hauling contract at its next meeting on March 2.
Markel, Davenport and Selectman John Flynn discussed budget concerns with the advisory board, including the adoption of Laserfiche, a method of digitizing documents both current and archival. Markel said it would be a capital expenditure of approximately $25,000 for the hardware and the license for the software.
Other issues discussed between the two boards included the savings of approximately $5,000 in the utilities line item of the budget, partly due to the switch to LED streetlights, and a projected increase of nine percent in retirement costs.
Three members of the Hampden–Wilbraham Regional School District, Director of Finance, Operations and Human Resource Howard Barber, Superintendent Albert Ganem and finance subcommittee Chair Bill Bontempi met with the advisory board to discuss Hampden’s portion of the district’s budget.
Ganem was asked about replacing faculty that have retired and explained that those who teach certain subjects have to be replaced by teachers certified in those areas. He told the board that to attract teachers to work in Western Massachusetts, “you’ve got to be competitive,” and added, “I don't think we should be making any cuts.”
Becky Moriarty, director of the Council on Aging, spoke with the select board regarding the senior center feasibility study request for proposals (RFP). Originally, the town had appropriated $25,000 for the feasibility study, but when Hampden received $15,000 from a state grant, the appropriated money was rescinded.
Moriarty said the RFP with a budget of $15,000 was sent out, but no one responded as the budget was too low. Moriarty said she would be meeting with the Friends of Hampden Senior Citizens to ask for an additional $10,000, after which a new RFP will be sent out.
Selectwoman Mary Ellen Glover called it “a nice, creative approach.”
The select board also discussed distributing a comprehensive rules packet to employees and making sure they receive up-to-date training. Glover gave the other selectmen and Markel a codified book of updated policies for review. The policies will be voted on at a future meeting.