SOUTH HADLEY — It’s annual Town Meeting season in South Hadley.
Town Meeting will take place Wednesday at 6 p.m. It will be held in the Saint Theresa’s church parking lot at 4 East Parkview St. and will be held in a “drive-in” format.
Among the warrant articles up for vote are a $53.57 million town budget request for the coming fiscal year, the purchase of 20.7 acres of land on the Mount Holyoke range in order to conserve it, the acceptance of River Lodge Road as town property, and several capital expenditures using free cash.
Overall, the town’s budget request is a 3% increase over the previous fiscal year, with the school budget up 2.3%. Speaking before the town’s Appropriations Committee on May 25, Town Administrator Michael Sullivan said town revenues are projected to be strong and will likely exceed estimates from the previous year.
“We’re tracking a very healthy increase in real estate taxes this year,” Sullivan said. “Excise taxes are lagging a little bit behind.”
Thomas Terry, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, also noted that because South Hadley spent very little free cash the previous fiscal year, the town has a large free cash balance of around $4.4 million. Much of that will be spent through direct expenditures this year or through transfers to stabilization or reserve funds, he noted. But the town still estimates there will be $1.24 million remaining in free cash, Terry added.
“This number is actually quite a bit higher than typically we’ve carried over into the next fiscal year,” Terry said, adding that the town’s finances appear to be “on solid ground.”
Some of the biggest changes in the budget include the elimination of a deputy town administrator position from the Select Board’s budget, together with an increase in the salary for the town administrator position, which South Hadley is attempting to fill after an unsuccessful first search. A director of human resources position was also added to the budget.
The town clerk’s office would receive a reduction of $23,582 due to a clerical position returning to a part-time position. The town clerk’s salary, however, would increase under the budget. Sullivan noted that the town is trying to address retention issues in the office.
The South Hadley Police Department budget would get an additional $93,288, a 3.1% increase, due to the addition of a part-time dispatcher, increased contractual obligations, and supplemental training for officers.
In the town’s Health Department, the addition of a health compliance officer — a position partially funded with federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act money — would increase the budget by $35,314.
The Council on Aging would also have a new position added: a full-time activities coordinator, given the opening of the new senior center on June 30. That position would mean a $55,805 increase to the department’s budget.
Other warrant articles that Town Meeting will take up include a proposal to spend $197,700 from unreserved free cash to purchase a 20.7-acre parcel of land east of Amherst Road. The land adjoins Lithia Springs Reservoir and would allow access to that property.
The purchase of the land, currently owned by O’Meara et al Properties, must be made by June 30 in order for the town to receive a reimbursable grant from the state for the same amount. Purchasing the land would place it under the stewardship of the South Hadley Conservation Commission, protecting it from development.
Another proposal would allow South Hadley to consider using $150,000 in free cash to help the state complete the purchase of an easement that would allow for the permanent protection of the working 210-acre Lauzier Farm on Alvord Street for agricultural use only. Even if Town Meeting approves that article, the town’s Select Board, Appropriations Committee and Conservation Committee would have to take separate votes to release those funds.
The article features language encouraging the money to be generated through fundraising and grant applications so as to use as little town money as possible. Kestrel Land Trust, together with the town, is looking to fundraise that $150,000, and the state has pledged to contribute the remaining $1.71 million.
Town Meeting will also consider an article proposing that the town take control of a portion of River Lodge Road currently under the ownership of Meredith Properties, which owns Riverboat Village apartments on the road.
Meredith Properties has recently made improvements to the road, and is considering the addition of guardrails to it, Sullivan said. Accepting the road would mean South Hadley would have to fully maintain it, though it would also allow the town to include the road in its grant application to the state for capital improvement.
Other warrant articles would see the town spend on capital improvements that are needed.
One article would allow the town to spend $485,000 from the town’s wastewater treatment plant enterprise account — which currently has a $1.05 million balance — to repair the plant’s roof and replace a generator.
Another would use unreserved free cash to purchase an $82,000 dishwasher and $40,000 in “smart boards” in the schools, replace three police cruisers with hybrid vehicles at $236,000, spend $1.3 million to update the town’s outdated dispatch communication system, and use $100,000 to replace IT system servers for municipal operations.
This year’s final warrant article would allow the town to transfer $200,000 in free cash to its stabilization fund and another $200,000 to its capital stabilization fund. Those funds currently have $2.2 million and $1.9 million in them, respectively.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.