BELCHERTOWN — Select Board members are waiting for a few more answers before deciding if Town Meeting will weigh in on whether the town should withdraw from the Hampshire Council of Governments.
The Select Board spent about an hour at its Monday meeting rehashing issues they have had with the quasi-governmental agency.
Belchertown Town Administrator Gary Brougham argued for a warrant article on withdrawing from the council. Giving a brief history to the board, Brougham said when the town was initially approached in 1998 the idea of the COG sounded “very intriguing.” But the big cost savings never materialized and a cost effective municipal electric collective buying program never got off the ground, he said.
In 2005, the town rejected a warrant article to withdraw from the COG, according to Brougham. Another effort a few years later also faltered.
“I don’t have issue with a person who chooses to use COG because they find it convenient. I have issue with the constant in the face ‘we save you money’ because it’s not true,” he said.
“After two prior attempts to get out, it is in our best interest to get Belchertown out of this distressed (organization,)” Brougham said.
The majority of the five-member board expressed concerns about the COG.
“Seven years ago, I was a big proponent of the Hampshire County Council of Governments I thought it was a great thing,” Select Board Chairman George “Archie” Archible said. “After seven years, I have a very sour taste in my mouth.”
“I don’t think we should just walk away from this, I think we should run,” he continued. “That is how much I think we should get out of there.”
Select Board member William Barnett was the sole member to express his support for the organization. He also serves as chairman of the council’s executive committee.
Barnett touted the council’s Retired Senior Volunteer Program, which links volunteers with opportunities to serve in their communities as well as Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust.
“I’m very concerned,” Barnett said of the town’s potential withdrawal. “In order for COG to continue, we need 30 percent of population of the county.”
Before tabling the discussion, Select Board member Ronald Aponte raised two questions he said needed to be answered. What, he asked, would be the town’s legal exposure for issues and liabilities the COG incurs and what would happen to the insurance program if COG were to disband.
If the board decides to advance the article, it would go to a Town Meeting vote in May.
The COG, with a budget of approximately $12 million, handles bulk procurement and purchasing of items such as sand and asphalt for member towns, and also has tried to set up a bulk power purchasing plan. Member towns pay fees to the organization, which also makes money from supplying power to private companies and municipal governments.
Member towns with the highest populations are Belchertown, South Hadley, Hadley and Southampton. Northampton, Amherst and Easthampton are not members of the Hampshire Council of Governments.
Leaders of other major members towns, including South Hadley and Hadley, have raised concerns in recent weeks about the COG’s direction.
The Hadley Select Board is expected to ask questions of the organization’s Executive Director Todd Ford at its regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday night.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.