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Date: 11/8/2021
SOUTH HADLEY – The South Hadley Selectboard hosted a joint meeting with the Municipal Light Board to conduct interviews and appointments on Nov. 2.
The Selectboard interviewed four candidates to join the Municipal Light Board during the meeting. Two seats were available on the Municipal Light Board. In the end, the Selectboard and present members of the Light Board appointed Coutu and Presley to join.
To start the interviews, Ron Coutu spoke on his background and why he was interested in the position.
Coutu said that he has been in South Hadley for over 30 years. He worked in market design, implementation and training at ISO New England. He said that he also has experience working with wind and solar companies. Coutu is retired now and is looking to spend time helping out the town.
“When I saw the Light Board membership going down, unfortunately, and these positions opening up, I looked at it as an opportunity to use my skill-set to help the current members of the Light Board,” he said.
Next up was Paul Dobosh. Dobosh has been in South Hadley for about 50 years. He was a professor at Mount Holyoke College and has been a part of a few committees on fiber optics. He said he is comfortable with numbers, computer systems and chemistry. He is also looking to get more involved.
Denise Presley has lived in South Hadley for seven years and is a commercial arbitrator. She is involved in environmental litigation, mostly about the development of solar farms. She said she has an interest in energy and has supported the Light Board’s decisions over the past few years.
“I have been really pleased in the progress it has made in the seven years I’ve been here,” she said.
The final candidate to speak was Carl Cameron. Cameron has been in South Hadley for 17 years. He was previously a South Hadley soccer coach and is the chief operating officer and chief information officer for Valley Health Systems.
He said that his father worked at Northeast Utilities for over 40 years, which gave Cameron a good understanding of the electrical business. He also had an internship with Northeast Utilities during college and built some tracking systems for them.
During the meeting, the Selectboard also accepted the resignation of Bill Bacis from the Conservation Commission.
“I just wanted to take an opportunity to sincerely thank Bill Bacis. I believe he has served on that commission for quite a long time and I want to thank him for his service,” said Selectboard Chair Jeff Cyr.
The meeting then moved into tri-annual appointments. Mary Anne Myers and Jennifer Ducharme were appointed to the Cultural Council. Caroline Martin was appointed to the Bike Walk Committee. Eleanor Small was appointed to the Historic District Study Commission and Jim Bosman was appointed to the Council on Aging Committee.
The Selectboard voted to postpone their vote for the Bylaw Review until February 2022.
Those interested in viewing the South Hadley Selectboard Meeting in its entirety are encouraged to visit the South Hadley Community Television page.