WILBRAHAM – As of the Board of Selectmen’s Nov. 26 meeting, there had been no applicants for an at-large community member seat available on the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD) School Committee Working Group.

Town Admininstrator Nick Breault told the board during the portion of the meeting during which the board hoped to make an appointment that he had received no names for consideration.

Board of Selectmen Chair Robert Boilard said at the meeting there was a request to create a group that included one teacher, two parents, one principal, and a district administrator. The community member at-large position is in addition to the positions held by parents of children in the district.

Stating he spoke with John Flynn of the Hampden Board of Selectmen, Boilard indicated there is an effort to expand the committee by involving more educators and principals from the different schools.

“Hamdpen doesn’t want the group to get too big, but they think [there should be] better representation from different groups,” he said.

Boilard also voiced concerns with the process and suggested casting a wider net in the interest of transparency.

“The school has an image issue with picking groups and I think it would behoove the district to go out there and seek out the people who are most negative toward the district and bring them in,” he said. “If you alienate the people who have the loudest voices, we’re not going to get anywhere. I think the district’s got to bite their tongue and bring in some people who have some good things to say … they should be included – in both communities. Otherwise, if you just throw a group together, how many groups have we gone through to do this? Is this the third group? We’re just spinning the same wheel, so we need to get some new people that have differing opinions and get them in the same room and do this and get this done. Otherwise, it’s just going to be the same old, same old.”

Boilard clarified that he had not had discussions with the district on the topic and was only stating his own opinion for the record, based on his observations, adding the perception is that any task force assembled would be viewed as a “manufactured group” by detractors and dismissed as untrustworthy.

Breault also reported at the meeting that he received word from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources that while the town’s application for a Green Communities designation is still pending, four of the sections have gained preliminary approval. Breault indicated he received some follow-up questions regarding the town’s energy reduction plan, which he answered, but there was no timeline for approval.

Breault also noted the town will need to explore options for disposal of recyclable materials with the Springfield Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) board as the current contract is set to expire on June 30, 2020.

“This contract has been in place since 2005. [The MRF] have been working and reaching out with the various 74 or 75 communities,” Breault said.