HADLEY – On July 7, the Hadley Select Board decided to reduce the number of members on the town’s Conservation Commission from seven to five, which included not reappointing Chairwoman Paulette Kudzeba and removing member Steve Simkowitz.

The board’s decision came as a shock to many and less than an hour after the vote, members Toni-Lyn Morelli and James Hafner, along with staff member Janice Stone, submitted letters of resignation in protest of the Select Board’s vote.

The decision came after the board cited that community members had complaints about the Conservation Commission’s “customer service” and believed reducing its size would allow the commission to be more streamlined.  “All the complaints I’ve gotten, most of them from farmers in town, is that it’s a customer-service issue,” said Select Board Chairman David J. Fill at the July 7 Select Board meeting.

Board member Amy Parsons seconded Fill’s claims, citing that citizens complained that the Commission was unwilling to help their fellow community members. “When we’re here, we’re Team Hadley, that is who we are, that is what we are. I don’t care about your political affiliation, I don’t care about anything else,” said Parsons. “I’m Team Hadley, and I’m here for the town.”

The notion of “Team Hadley” came in response to Morelli, Hafner, and Stone’s threats to resign. Board member Joyce Chunglo said, “Right now I am really upset that you’re threatening me that everybody on the Conservation Commission’s going to quit if we do what we want to do in reducing this committee or if we’re not going to reappoint somebody, please don’t threaten somebody. Let’s have a conversation here.”

Chunglo also voiced concerns about “threats” from the commission of the Route 9 expansion being stalled. However, according to commission members, those weren’t threats, but rather the reality of the situation. Kudzeba explained, “Since Steve and I were two out of the four members present [at the Route 9 hearing]; if all members present are not there to vote, then that hearing has to be heard again.”

The Conservation Commission argued that the complaints cited had never been brought to their attention. Former member James Hafner wrote in his resignation letter, “Claims of ‘customer service’ as a rationale (without documentation or conveyance of complaints to the commission), lack of input and dialogue with the commission beforehand, and the spurious rationales given for reducing Commission size, rang hollow to everyone present. It did however paint a clear picture of how the elected leadership of ‘Team Hadley’ operates.”

Hafner wasn’t the only member to testify to the fact that the commission was never informed about citizen complaints. Kudzeba also stated, “The Select Board kept stating there were all these complaints and phone calls, but none reached the commission.” She added, “When Chair Fill stated, ‘most of his complaints were from farmers’ is just wrong and demonstrates his lack of knowledge about the Conservation Commission and farmers.”

Former member Toni-Lyn Morelli noted that the commission’s reduction would hurt more than it would help. “The Conservation Commission will not have better ‘customer service’ with fewer volunteers. Indeed, that is an illogical solution for that problem,” she stated. “Moreover, we nearly always give unanimous decisions. Meetings are not long because of excessive deliberation, but because, at least in the last few months, there are a lot of decisions in front of the Conservation Commission, i.e., we just have a lot of work to do.”

While several of the aforementioned claims never made their way to the commission, they were made aware of one complaint by Mark Britton, a man who was attempting to go through the riverfront process.

“I’ve witnessed during Conservation [Commission] meetings many Open Meeting Law violations, severe bias, and preferential treatment during these meetings. Conservation has repeatedly tried to impose conditions irrelevant to conservation matters,” he began. “During the Riverfront Bylaw Committee meetings, which Paulette was on that committee, the Conservation Commission held vital information and hindered the process for us landowners, property owners, and homeowners. They showed no interest in assisting residents with the process.”

Hafner said, however, “Britton is a non-Hadley resident and a landowner on the Connecticut River and the only formal complaint and non-Board member to speak in favor of not reappointing Paulette. A Hadley Zoning Board of Appeal meeting was held July 12 at which Britton was denied a variance for his camper.”

Though Britton was the only citizen in favor of removing Kudzeba, several community members advocated the reinstatement of Kudzeba and keeping the Commission at seven members. During public comments, John Edwards, a local forester, said, “Although I have to admit I haven’t always agreed with some of the decisions that they have put upon me and others in my forestry profession, I think that a strong and robust board is a key to good conservation and good land protection. I support the notion that we need a full board of seven people.”

Andy Morris-Friedman, former chair of the Hadley Preservation Act Committee chimed in, stating, “This is why I feel important town boards need to be elected and not appointed because then people can’t serve at the capricious whim of the Select Board. All you have to do is disagree with the Select Board and they don’t reappoint you. Believe me, I know.”

Others believed the decision should be one made by the public, not just the Select Board. Local resident Mark Dunn said, “To cut them down, especially two such effectual members, is a rather impactful decision and I think something like that shouldn’t be made on an arguably capricious decision by five elected members, but rather it should invite town opinion. I hope you listen to your constituents.”

Fellow resident Michele Morris-Friedman agreed with Dunn stating, “We’re going to lose the highly functional, historically very cohesive and attentive committee and I do think that’s a shame. I do think this should be submitted to public comment, to have the whole town comment, rather than make any decision tonight.” In regard to the complaints made about the Commission she said, “Anybody who has bones to pick with the Conservation Commission, should make a complaint to the Conservation Commission and go up the standard procedure, rather than attempt to get a committee amputated.”

Even with so much support from community members, the board ultimately voted yes to both the reduction of the commission and the removal of Kudzeba and Simkowitz, which led to the resignations of Morelli, Hafner, and Stone. Morelli said she wouldn’t be opposed to rejoining the commission. “I would be willing to rejoin the commission if the decision to unappoint (or not appoint – still not completely clear) Paulette was reversed and the issue of the Select Board taking the authority away from the Conservation Commission in the future was addressed.”

As of July 13, the official town website has posted an ad seeking two new members for the Conservation Commission.