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Date: 10/24/2018
HAMPDEN – The discussion on the future of the town of Hampden’s relationship with the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD) will continue at this month’s Special Town Meeting.
Four of the 12 warrant articles for the meeting, set to take place Oct. 29 at the Bethlehem Baptist Church at 7 p.m., are related to the state of the schools in some form.
Article 4 asks residents whether they wish to approve HWRSD’s plan to incorporate eighth grade into Minnechaug Regional High School during the 2018-19 school year and add seventh grade to the high school in 2022-23.
Residents of Wilbraham already soundly defeated this measure at their Special Town Meeting, but both towns must to take a vote on the plan to satisfy the legal requirements set forth in the settlement agreement in place between the town of Hampden and its Board of Selectmen, HWRSD, and the Hampden Wilbraham Regional School Committee.
In a related matter, Article 7, a citizen’s petition, asks residents to compel the Board of Selectmen to reengage in the lawsuit the town brought against the district in February. The result of the initial lawsuit was the afforementioned settlement agreement. Mary Ellen Glover, who resigned from the School Committee on July 30 in response to the settlement, stated at the Oct. 22 Advisory Board meeting that the ultimate goal is to see the original regional agreement signed in 1993 honored with students educated in their home communities, meaning Hampden students would attend Thornton W. Burgess Middle School, which was recently closed, and Green Meadows Elementary school.
Article 10, which is sponsored by the Board of Selectmen, calls for an additional $50,000 to cover legal expenses that may be incurred by ongoing litigation concerning the school dilemma. Residents approved a $50,000 expenditure at the Annual Town Meeting on May 14, but the town has spent $39,000 of that appropriation and board anticipates those funds will be fully expended when the town receives anticipated bills from legal counsel, according to Selectman John Flynn. Flynn also knocked down assumptions that the settlement agreement was the result of dwindling allocated funding for legal fees, noting that the selectmen would have the power to appropriate funding adequate to handle any shortfalls.
Also motivated by the recent settlement agreement, if passed, Article 8 would require a vote by the town before entering any new legal settlements with HWRSD. Glover stated this citizen petitioned article was inspired by what she said was a sense of surprise among townspeople to the news of a legal agreement in February and in the future the town should have more of a voice in the process. The Advisory Board noted a vote on a new agreement would not be binding and the selectmen would still have the authority to enter into a legal settlement it deems appropriate.
Aside from the school issue, residents will also be asked to weigh in on a number of other town business. Any expenditures related to these articles would come out of the town’s Free Cash account, which currently has a surplus of $720,000.
Article 1 calls for the appropriation of $20,000 for needed computer hardware and software and technical upgrades. This would be in addition to the monies approved at the Annual Town Meeting.
Article 2 asks the town to approve a sum of $1,037 for the Outreach Program at the Hampden Senior Center. Advisory Board Co-Chair Doug Boyd explained the program is normally funded by a state grant, but this year, the funding fell short. The appropriated funds would be used to supplement the shortfall.
Article 3 calls for $38,000 for expenditures related to new requirements for stormwater reporting. Boyd said the measure was essentially an effort to catch up with expenses incurred by the regulations stipulated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In future fiscal years, any expenses would be calculated into the Department of Public Works’ budget.
If approved, Article 5 would roll back the appropriation of $352,344 from the police general salaries, police general expense, and employee benefits line items in the fiscal year 2019 budget. Those funds were approved at the Annual Town Meeting as part of the town’s efforts to collaborate on a regional dispatch operation with the town of East Longmeadow and would have been reimbursed according to that regional dispatch agreement. However, with no regional dispatch in place, there would be no reimbursement and therefore the money must be eliminated from the budget or it will impact the tax rate, Boyd said.
Article 6 would provide non-union town employees a 4 percent salary increase, requiring an appropriation of $35,000. Boyd indicated the intent of the article is a “mid-course adjustment” that serves as a first step in addressing wage deficiencies, which would be followed by a “comprehensive review and perhaps overhaul” of the pay structure for town employees. He further explained the article was a reaction to the town’s inability to attract and retain employees because the pay was not commensurate with similar positions in like communities. Co-Chair Carol Fitzgerald also noted the town went through a period during which cost of living adjustments were frozen and the minimum wage is also scheduled to increase in the coming years.
A citizen’s petition, Article 9, asks residents to approve a one-year moratorium on ground-mounted solar energy systems for non-residential, non-personal, and commercial use. The moratorium is intended to allow the town to execute a comprehensive review of the zoning bylaws. Excluded from the moratorium would be the proposed solar array on the town’s capped landfill and project that have already been approved by the Planning Board. However, it was noted at the Advisory Board meeting that such a moratorium could open up the town to litigation brought forward by those with submitted plans awaiting approval.
Article 11 calls for the appropriation of approximately $400,000 from Free Cash to be applied to the tax rate, representing a reduction of between 1 and 1.5 percent. Any remaining free cash would be placed in the Stabilization Fund with the approval of Article 12.