Hadley Select Board approves several changes

Nov. 8, 2022 | Rory Liddy
rliddy@thereminder.com

The Hadley Select Board convened on Nov. 2 for a combination of public hearings, updates and announcements.
Photo credit: Hadley Media

HADLEY – The Hadley Select Board met on Nov. 2 for several hearings and announcements. These involved local businesses and community programs.

Parmar Beverages was represented by owner Shardool Parmar and company attorney Benjamin Coyle. They appeared before the board requesting a location change from the current Hadley Farms Meeting House at 24 Bay Rd. to their suites at the Homewood Suites at 340 and 350 Russell St. Coyle explained the reason for the move.

“It will provide alcohol for the meeting room that’s there as well as the patrons staying at the facility. There’s not going to be a separate bar, it’s going to be for sale at the front desk. It’s going to be stored and secured at the facility as well. The intent is to have it available for the meeting room as well as functions there … It will be ancillary to the facility that’s already there.”

Parmar and Coyle both reiterated the point that it would be “business as usual,” just like their old location. The vote passed, and the change was approved.

Tom Miller of McDermott, Quilty, and Miller law firm in Boston joined the meeting to represent Pride Operating LLC, concerning the Pride gas station near the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Bridge. He was joined by James Channing and Maury Bricks who served as counsel for the licensee and the licenser, respectively. Miller asked the board for permission to “transfer the beneficial interest in Pride Holdings LLC from Pride Parent to GPM investments,” which is a “wholly-owned subsidiary of Arco Corporation, a publicly-traded company.” Similar to the previous agenda item, Miller stated that this would not change day-to-day operations, nor management staffing. The vote passed to approve the transfer.

Jim Shea of the Department of Parks and Recreation asked for approval to level the ground on the site of the seasonal ice rink which will be temporarily constructed on an unused athletic field. The land that the rink is built on every year is slanted; according to Shea “there’s 12 inches of ice on one end, four on the other.” This means that the ice does not develop properly on the four inch side, and Shea said that several people have slipped through the ice and cut the liner of the rink, which he tried unsuccessfully to fix several times.

As such, Shea proposed to scrape the grass off the area, and drop some dirt to make the land more level, but still somewhat pitched so that the water runoff will go toward the drain on the low side. He mentioned that he already had an agreement with a local contractor who has agreed to do the project for free. The vote passed to approve the project.

Several announcements were made throughout the meeting. The textile recycling box is currently open at the Transfer Station, where residents may deposit unwanted clothes to be recycled or donated to those in need. Board member Jane Nevinsmith reminded people to check which box they are dumping their trash in, as some non-textile bags have been found in the box.

The Hadley Police Department has begun its Angel Tree program, which allows people to provide for a family in need during the Christmas season. Board member Joyce Chunglo gave some details by saying, “Email a request to ‘adopt’ a family to provide presents or whatever they might need. The Holy Redeemer church is also a part of it. They will have a tree, you can take a name off their tree and support that also. Email Lauren at Hadley Public Safety, she will also take any type of donations and see what is needed for the upcoming season.”

A vote passed to appoint Jim Maksimoski and Walter Takowski to the DPW Building Feasibility Study Committee. They had both requested to be part of the committee.

The Russell School Committee will host a public forum at the Senior Center on Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. They will discuss why they are conducting a survey and will answer questions.

FY23 budget updates will be released quarterly instead of monthly as in years past. For Q1, comprising the months of July, August, and September, total year-to-date (YTD) revenue was $4.6 million, while total YTD expenses were $5.05 million. The total FY23 budget is $19.6 million. Excise tax revenue was $480,882, which makes Hadley the second largest excise tax base in its region.

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