HAMPDEN – The heads of several town departments discussed their budget proposals with the Hampden Board of Selectmen and the Hampden Advisory Board on Feb. 10.

Becky Moriarty, director of the Council on Aging and Deb Mahoney presented the requests for the FY21 budget. Moriarty asked for a standard 2.5 percent salary increase for her staff and a 2.5 percent increase in building maintenance. She said there was “nothing capital” in terms of equipment replacement or repair.

Selectman John Flynn said they had looked at an electric upgrade for the building, but found it was too expensive. He did say that switching the parking lot to LEDs would save money, last longer and provide brighter lighting.

Glover said people in town have asked about expanding hours at the senior center, rather than expanding the physical building. Mahoney explained that there are so many programs taking place at the same time, she didn't think shifting their start time by an hour or two would make a difference.

Davenport asked if the construction of the future Wilbraham Senior Center will affect the Hampden center’s usage. Moriarty said Wilbraham clients only make up about 10 percent of the center’s patrons.

“At only one percent of our budget, you’re certainly an agency we can brag about,” Glover told Moriarty.

Police Chief Jeff Farnsworth told the advisory board that his department has used Narcan, an emergency overdose reversal product, 11 times in the past six months. As a result, Farnsworth requested it as a line item in the new budget.

The chief and the advisory board also discussed how to fund the police department’s bullet-proof vests. The $800 vests are supposed to be paid for through a grant, but Town Accountant Cliff Bombard said the police department isn’t reimbursed on time or enough by federal and state agencies. Farnsworth said the equipment has a shelf life of five years, while Bombard noted it can take up to two years for the reimbursement to come through.

Highway Superintendent Mark Langone also went over his proposed budget. Advisory Board Co-chair Doug Boyd floated boosting the paving line item in the budget from $250,000 to $300,000 to avoid falling behind on road work and to keep up with the cost of materials.

Langone asked for an increase of $6,000 to cover in an unfunded state-mandate to conduct street sweeping twice per year.

With the expansion to the highway department building, Selectman John Flynn said the heating and electric bill will go up. He recommended increasing the line item by $15,000 to cover the added electricity and oil.

On a separate note, Langone said that he may look to overdraw the snow and ice removal account in about a week, depending on the weather. The overdraw is common and occurred at roughly the same time last year.

Tree Warden Dana Pixley said that the town is half-finished with removing dead trees. A total of 219 of the 400 trees that Pixley marked in his summer 2019 audit have been felled.

Pixley warned that the number of trees needing attention will increase when he audits them this summer. He said the 2019 audit only accounted for completely dead trees, but many more mostly dead trees will be on the list this year.

“While we’re addressing the mortality rate, we oughta take care of all of them. I don’t want to be back here in two years,” with the same problem, Pixley said.

The warden account has $4,798 remaining because, Pixley said, “You need to keep something for emergencies.”

Pixley asked for $139,850 for FY21. Boyd recommended putting the $100,000 in a warrant article to be approved at town meeting and setting the line item at the standard $39,850.

The warden agreed that the necessary extra funding is temporary.

Glover made a suggestion to the Advisory Board to note how much each warrant article would add to the tax rate. She said many people in town vote for items at town meeting and then complain about the taxes. It was noted during the discussion that the order of the warrant articles would become critical to their passage if residents began to get sticker shock as the warrant progressed.

“You vote to pay for something. It goes into the tax rate. That’s practical math,” said Bombard. He said the town strives to maintain no more than a two and a half percent increase to the tax rate.

“As frustrating as taxes are, we’re an efficient town,” said Boyd.

The select board also interviewed Steve McNamara of McNamara Waste Services, along with his vice president Julia Jalbert and associate John Govoni.

The board asked McNamara why his company’s bid for waste hauling and disposal services was approximately $100 per ton, in comparison to the $310 per ton quote the town had received from other companies.

“I’m local to town. I want to give back to the town,” said McNamara. He said he would be providing the service at cost.

McNamara ships solid waste to the Seneca Meadows Landfill in New York, while the recyclables go to Connecticut, rather than to the material recycling facility (MRF) in Springfield, which is owned by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. McNamara explained that the Connecticut facility he works with uses a single stream process in which all recyclables are put into a single container and the facility machinery sorts it.

He said the MRF uses a multi-stream system that requires a lot of employees to keep the material sorted and that is part of the higher price.

McNamara predicted that the transfer station would pick up approximately 70 percent of the customers in town.

Glover asked if McNamara had plans to raise the prices after the one-year contract expires. He said that the price would only go up as much as his costs do.

“Our people are really concerned with recycling,” said Select Board Chair Donald Davenport. He told McNamara that he wanted to make sure the town’s chosen vendor would do it correctly.

“It’s the law, so we can’t get away with throwing [recyclables] away as trash,” McNamara said.

The board also discussed the Ameresco solar array that is in negotiations to be placed on top of the capped Hampden landfill. The town has been concerned with limiting its legal liability.

Resident Claudia Kapinos expressed her desire to not have anymore ground-mounted solar arrays in town.

“You paid $1 million out of your pocket,” Flynn said referring to the capping of the landfill. “You should get something back.”             Flynn also said Ameresco is interested in partnering to solarize the future replacement roof for the Thornton W. Burgess building.

There was some debate regarding whether the Ameresco landfill project would fall under the town’s new bylaw, passed in October 2019, or if it had been grandfathered in.

“I think it meets all the requirements, anyway,” Flynn said.