SOUTH HADLEY – The South Hadley Selectboard allocated $500,000 toward the remediation of mold at the South Hadley High School (SHHS) during their Sept. 14 meeting.

SHHS was recently unable to host students and staff for in-person learning due to the growth of three different types of mold. Selectboard Chair Jeff Cyr first stated, for the record, that the town does employ a facilities director “for the entire town of South Hadley, including all town buildings and all of the schools.” Sullivan said a decision to have a singular facilities director for all town buildings had been made and voted on during a previous town meeting. Town Administrator Mike Sullivan went on to explain that during the pandemic, the Department of Public Health had suggested “to open up the dampers to 80 percent to bring in more fresh air into buildings.” However, he said, “That also brings in moisture and spores.”

He went on to reference the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website, which under their information and guidance about mold, he said “if you look about mold, you’ll find that they suggest that those air intakes, those outdoor intakes not exceed 50 percent and we were asked to go up to 80 percent.” He continued, “We used to keep them at 35, which is the optimum and recommended percentage for outside air to inside air.”

Sullivan said that while that was how the mold had grown, everyone was working to resolve the issue and get students and staff back in school. He then addressed the cost of the mold remediation that was being conducted at SHHS and said his recommendation was for the Selectboard to allow for no more than $500,000 of the town’s allocation of the American Resue Plan Act (ARPA) money to be put toward resolving the issue.

Board member Andrea?Miles then addressed a “compounding problem,” which she said was the lack of remote learning. This, she said, was because the state was not allowing the district to conduct remote learning “to have it count as time on learning.” However, she said thanks to Rep. Dan Carey, parents in the community and Superintendent Jamal Mosley, the district had been approved for a total of five days of emergency remote learning. She called the way the situation “shameful” and said they would work together to get students and staff back to the building as soon as possible.

Sullivan once again suggested the board allocate $500,000 toward the cost to resolve and pay for remediation of mold at the SHHS. He said South Hadley would be receiving $5.4 million and while there were some suggestions on how to spend the money, “there are monies there and I think it’s an appropriate use and the quicker we can get approval for that, the better off we’re going to be.”

Cyr questioned if that would be enough money to cover the cost of remediation, to which Sullivan replied that he did not think it would be. “If they don’t get escrow money in the future, then we can always come back and I can update you on it,” he said, adding the “initial project” was about $460,000.

Andrea questioned other buildings and if they were being tested and/or inspected for mold as well. Sullivan said after getting over “these initial hurdles at the High School” the district was hoping to do more extensive testing at other buildings in the district as well as other public buildings. “There doesn’t seem to be any recognition of any airborne mold or viable molds going into the air right now,” he said. Sullivan added that the dampers had been adjusted back to 35 percent. After discussion, the board voted in favor of allocating “up to $500,000” toward the remediation of the SHHS.

The Sept. 14 meeting also saw the Selectboard discuss an alcohol license for Stephen McCray for 15 different dates. Selectboard Cyr explained the license would apply to McCray’s Farm for the Haunted Hayride event they host each year. Vice Chair Sarah Etelman said she knew she was “in the minority,” but was not comfortable with the license. She said even though people have “personal responsibility,” however, she said they have witnessed since the start of the pandemic “people don’t necessarily do so well with personal responsibility where it comes to COVID[19] and behaviors that can keep each other safe.”

“Alcohol limits inhibitions so it makes me uncomfortable. I am not anti-alcohol, I am not anti-hayride. I love the hayrides, I think they’re fun. I think the combination, also considering some of the feedback I got from folks who were at the hayrides last year, is that there’s not a lot of social distancing,” she said. Etelman added that people came for hayrides “from all over” and the virus did not discriminate. However, she said she would not “stand in the way of a business having a business.”

Cyr said his understanding was the alcohol would be outside, like other permits they had approved. However, Etelman said that did not matter to her and it was the idea of people drinking then getting on a hayride that made her uncomfortable “What matters to me is you’re adding alcohol into a situation where people, already their inhibitions are already lowered a little bit because they’re there to have a really good time,” she said.

Sullivan said while he didn’t want to say “we see other people doing it, so we’ll do it as well,” the Big E was coming up as well as other local fairs. He added, “I will say the McCray family has really made attempts to make sure that people consider wearing masks as often as they can get them,” he said. Sullivan added that the McCray family was working with the Health Department and the building inspector “to make it as safe [of an] event as we hope it can be.”

He went on to say similarly to previous years, attendees would not be allowed to “roam around” with their alcohol, which would be located in a specific area. He said there would also be signs encouraging social distancing. Sullivan said while the concerns expressed were valid, they were “a business trying to stay afloat” during a difficult time and the town had been in contact with the McCray’s.

“Hopefully they’ll be able to have a safe event,” he said. Selectboard member Carol Constant said people who were uncomfortable could “vote with their feet by not being there,” and while she was not an expert, the data “was showing outdoor events are not really big spreader events.”

McCray, who was in attendance at the event, spoke on behalf of the farm for the event. He said beer would be served outside and “would be completely separate.” He then addressed the hayride and said, “it absolutely brings a unique crowd, but the alcohol is 100 percent not allowed on the ride at all.” He went on to say that his wife would be serving the alcohol most of the time and she had just done her Training for Intervention Procedures (TIPS) certification.

“There are absolutely people who go there to get drunk, who show up drunk and that’s not because of us,” he said. McCray went on to say, “If someone shows signs of intoxication we absolutely will not be serving them and that’s not something we want to do.” He said while they were trying to make money, they were trying to do it in a responsible way and would rather “sell two beers to two people rather than three beers to one person.” Ultimately after a little more discussion, the board unanimously voted in favor of issuing the license.

During a discussion about a potential Special Town Meeting, Martin said the board had previously asked him to compile a list of potential articles that would need to be on the agenda. He said while it was not a complete list, it was a list of items and upgrades he had been keeping track of. Such items, he explained, included $60,000 for upgrades to the South Hadley Community TV studio, a wild animal article about feeding bears, an article for “obnoxious odors,” the sign bylaw that’s been an ongoing discussion in town, an article for a zone change at the corner of Route 33 and 202, an article regarding the recall of elected officials, an article to opt-out of regional mosquito spraying and an article that would limit the use of certain pesticides.

Sullivan said that while all the articles had merit, the town would continue to function and run without the passing of them. Etelman suggested that they host a drive-in-style Town Meeting with any articles that needed to be passed, as she didn’t see circumstances allowing for the large gatherings throughout the year.

Member Andrea Miles said she wanted to ensure that they were not speaking for residents when they said they felt as though the issues weren’t important. Constant added that she felt as though articles may “pile up” and lead to a longer, more difficult town meeting in the future. While Etelman said she was on board with a fall Town Meeting if needed, she felt as though the town should not stop exploring virtual town meetings. Ultimately, no decision was made about having a fall Town Meeting.

The board then moved on to discussing the resignation of School Committee member Charles Miles. Cyr said he was “sorry he decided to do that,” and thanked Miles for his service to the committee. Andrea questioned how the appointment would be filled as well as who would fill the position. Sullivan explained the appointment would be advertised, after the advertisement both the chair of the Selectboard and School Committees would find a date to host a joint meeting. He said to be confirmed, candidates for the vacant position would need to be approved by a vote of Selectboard and current School Committee members.

Constant also expressed her gratitude for Miles’ work and said she imagined it must have been difficult for him. “I think the School Committee in South Hadley and school committees across the country have been the touch point for a lot of culture wars and this is really just a perfect example of how difficult a position they’re being put in,” she said. After unanimously approving the resignation, Sullivan said he would begin compiling an advertisement for the vacancy.