SOUTH HADLEY – The only contested race in Tuesday’s election, other than the high profile competition for the newly expanded commission for the South Hadley Electric Light Department, is for library trustees in which four candidates, three of them incumbents, are vying for three seats.
Running for re-election are Robert Berwick of 22 East Red Bridge Lane, Maxine Cechvala of 102 College St. and Barbara Merchant of 20 Canal St.. The lone challenger is Richard Matteson of 7 Victoria Lane.
All precincts vote at the South Hadley High School at 153 Newton St. between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
The other closely watched decision facing voters is whether to adopt the Community Preservation Act which would create a revenue stream for projects relating to open space, recreation, historical preservation and affordable housing. If passed, the ballot measure would add an annual property tax surcharge of 1.5%, exempting the first $100,000 of assessed value.
According to proponents, who have created a website advocating for its adoption (www.votecpasouthhadley.org), it would add $35 to the average tax bill. They base the figure on a home valued at $231,740.
The CPA would generate approximately $216,000 annually and would be supplemented by the state, according to proponents. It could also attract additional grant money.
Town Meeting approved the measure last fall, paving the way for it to be on Tuesday’s ballot.
South Hadley has twice rejected the CPA in the past. The town created a 15-member study committee in 2001, a year after the legislation enabling the CPA was adopted. It recommended against participation. Another study committee was formed in 2006, which endorsed participation in the CPA, but voters rejected the proposal by a vote of 1,257-1,121 at the annual town election in April 2008.
Gerald “Tony” Judge, chairman of the South Hadley Redevelopment Authority, has been an outspoken proponent of the CPA this year, arguing that it will bring in outside dollars. He also said that towns in the region that have adopted the CPA have been glad that they did. “No town has ever rescinded it,” he said. “I think we are cheating ourselves out of a real opportunity.”
Building up a CPA fund would prompt people to think about projects that would benefit the quality of life in the town, he said. Any project would have to fall within the CPA guidelines, be recommended by a local committee created for that purpose and then approved by Town Meeting.
Michael Wozniak, a member of the town’s bylaw review committee, opposes the CPA on the grounds that it is what he calls “a back-door tax override” which would add to the burden taxpayers in the town are already struggling with.
The CPA would create what Wozniak termed a “slush fund” for “pet projects that may not normally be approved by the Capital Planning Committee, the Appropriations Committee or Town Meeting.”
Other offices on Tuesday’s ballot which are not contested include a one-year term for town moderator for which Edward Ryan Jr. of 6 Sycamore Parc is running for re-election.
Ira Brezinsky of 93 Woodbridge St. is running unopposed for another three-year term on the Select Board.
School Committee member John Kelly of 43 San Souci Drive is running without opposition for another three-year term, as are Board of Health member Walter Wolf of 12 Priestly Farms Road, and Board of Assessors member Francis Conti of 114 College St.
John Duda of 56 Hadley St. is running for a three-year term on the Housing Authority.
Nobody is running for an open five-year term on the Planning Board.
Eric Goldscheider can be reached at eric.goldscheider@gmail.com.