Hampden questions budget, votes for garage expansion

May 13, 2021 |

Historical Commission Co-Chair Connie Witt makes the case for a Hampden Village National Historic District while elected officials listen from the stage.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen

HAMPDEN – The cafeteria at Thornton W. Burgess Middle School May 10 was standing room only as roughly 150 residents turned out to vote on 23 issues before the Annual Town Meeting. Nearly all of the articles passed, but not without debate, questions from voters and some theatrics.

Article 2 Budget

The town’s FY22 operating budget is $14,859,458, an increase of about $339,000 from FY21. Advisory Committee Co-Chair Carol Fitzgerald expressed appreciation that the town department heads had kept a mostly level service budget. The majority of the increases were either state-mandated costs or a function of the recent pay scale restructuring done by a consulting firm, the Collins Center for Public Management. Town employee compensation was adjusted based on the firm’s recommendations to keep Hampden competitive in the market and avoid losing employees to better-paying jobs.

“In some cases, there were some significant adjustments to get up to market rate,” Fitzgerald told voters. No employees had their compensation reduced in the restructuring. In addition to the pay scale changes, the Advisory Board added a 1.5 percent cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) for town employees.

Fitzgerald said there is a process in which individuals can ask the  Board of Selectmen to review their compensation if they have additional information or feel there has been an error.

Town Moderator Richard Green then read through the budget line by line to allow for questions.

Resident John Mathews asked why the cost of the Hampden County Regional Retirement System had risen over 16 percent since the previous year and if it was a result of the controversy surrounding a recent audit of the system by its governing authority. Select Board Chair Donald Davenport explained that towns are assessed a baseline increase of 8 percent per year in an effort to fully fund the retirement system by 2036, a state mandate. The addition of full-time employees also added another 8 percent increase in retirement costs, totaling 16 percent.

Ted Zebert of the Conservation Committee took issue with a line item funding the hire of an administrative assistant for the committee. He said that the position had been requested at $34,000 annually, but the  Board of Selectmen had submitted it at $23,000. Fitzgerald assured Zebert that there was no “nefarious” intent behind the figure, but instead, it was adjusted to stay in line with the new pay structure.

Zebert insisted that the committee would not be able to find someone to do the work for that amount. Treasurer Richard Patullo suggested it was a matter of requesting more hours instead of more pay. In the end, Fitzgerald said it should go to the  Board of Selectmen for review, rather than be hashed out during the meeting.

In the end, the budget passed.

Article 6 Community Preservation

Four items were requested under community preservation funding. The first three – $15,500 for reimbursement of plumbing at Centennial Commons, $3,000 for drainage work and the Lower Ball Field in Memorial Park and $10,000 for excavation and grading of the entrance to Mount Vision – passed without questions.

The fourth item asked for was $9,300 for a consultant to submit documentation declaring an area of town to be “Hampden Village National Historic District.”

The district would run from the Ravine Dam on Main Street to Prospect Cemetery on Scantic Road and stretch from Old Cemetery on Chapin Road to the intersection of Mountain Road and North Road.

Historical Commission Co-Chair Connie Witt presented the request and ran down a list of points. She said that the designation would not impact what people can do with their property, often leads to an increase in property value and makes the town eligible for a 50 percent grant for restoration of public buildings, such as the Town House and Academy Hall. She added that Community Preservation Act funding could be used for the remainder of those projects. Witt also emphasized that the designation would be a “recognition that Hampden matters.”

The residents that spoke in favor of the article cited the preservation of history to be passed down to children. Those against the measure were concerned that not all residents who would be affected had been spoken to and there may be unknown consequences. The vote failed, but it was noted that it could be resubmitted at the Special Town Meeting in the fall.

Article 15 Highway Garage Expansion

The  Board of Selectmen asked for $300,000 for the highway garage expansion. This is in addition to the $300,000 that was appropriated for the project in 2019. Resident Robin Warner asked why money from the $250,000 budgeted for road work and the $256,239 in Chapter 90 state aid for roads couldn't be used for the highway garage. Select Board Member John Flynn explained that the state money has stipulations on what it can be used to do and the paving money is significantly less than the amount the town used to provide.

Another resident asked why there was an urgency for the project. Flynn answered that the current garage was built in 1938 and the modern highway equipment will not fit in the bays. Indoor storage significantly increases the life of the equipment. Flynn acknowledged that construction costs have skyrocketed, hence the need for additional funding. The project was originally slated to be completed in 2020, but the pandemic halted plans. The article passed.
Article 19 Town Water

Flynn explained to voters that the town road salt from the Highway Department had seeped into a well in town. While the salt issue had been resolved, four homes along Main Street with contaminated water have been identified. The town contracted with the construction consulting company Tighe and Bond to examine remediation strategies. They recommended extending the water main that carries water to the Scantic Water District by 2,640-feet down Main Street and install offshoots to the fire station and the highway garage.

The entire project will run approximately $900,000, but it would be covered when the town receives $1.5 million it has been guaranteed from the federal coronavirus relief package known as the American Rescue Plan.

Flynn assured residents that there is “more than enough” water from the source to provide for the extension. Only 2,000 gallons of the 11,000 gallons available are currently used. He said that if additional homes are identified, they can be added to the new water main.

Article 23 Citizen’s Petition

Resident Jim Smith had originally proposed a non-binding article that would keep emergency dispatch services in Hampden and seek a regional agreement to provide dispatch to other towns. However, the  Board of Selectmen, which has authority over inter-municipal agreements, voted earlier this year to regionalize dispatch services with the Town of Wilbraham as the host community.

Instead, Smith proposed that the voters censure the  Board of Selectmen for making the decision without consulting Town Meeting. Smith acknowledged the  Board of Selectmen’s authority over the matter but said that voters should have had a say in such an important matter.

Davenport countered that there had been over a year and a half of discussion at  Board of Selectmen meetings, a public forum and articles in the newspapers.

Select Board member Mary Ellen Glover wanted it recognized that she had voted against the IMA, but she also spoke against the censure, by stating that while she didn’t agree with the result, the process was “thorough” and “transparent.” She added, “It is inaccurate to submit this in the light Mr. Smith has done.”

Davenport offered a protest amendment to the article, asserting that the censure would condemn “a legal agreement” which would “save taxpayers a minimum of $1.5 million over five years,” and offer “the newest technology” without affecting emergency response times. While Davenport’s amendment failed, the censure vote did as well, with fewer than five people in favor of it.

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