HAMPDEN/WILBRAHAM–  Tensions flared between Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD) Director of Operations, Finance and Human Resources Howard Barber and members of the Hampden Select Board at its May 26 meeting. Barber and school committee Chair Patrick Kiernan attended to discuss the use of cost savings incurred by the district during the  COVID-19-related school closure.

Barber said that school closure had allowed the district to cut certain operational costs, such as those associated with substitute teachers and supplies. These savings will add up to approximately $1 million by the end of the school year.

Separate from the operational cost savings, is a credit provided by the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative (LPVEC), which provides school buses to the district. The district had already paid the transportation costs for April, May and June despite not using buses during those months. The credit, preliminarily set at $200,000, will be used to offset a portion of the school district’s FY21 budget.

Barber explained the total $1.2 million will be used to offset an expected $1.2 million loss in state aid.

Select Board member Mary Ellen Glover acknowledged that the budgeting process was complicated, but said that the $200,000 from LPVEC “is money that we spent, and the appropriate place for that to go,” is back to the towns.

“In the past 25, 30 years” – since the regional school district agreement was entered into – “we have never issued back a credit,” Barber said and made the case that once money is appropriated by the towns, it cannot be unappropriated. He said the FY20 funds can’t be sent back to the towns after that year’s fiscal budget has been approved, which was done in spring 2019.

“That’s the taxpayer’s money,” School Committee member and Hampden resident Heather Zanetti told Barber and said the gesture should have been made to offer the money back to the towns.

Board member John Flynn noted that when a town has unexpected savings, it goes into its free cash account. Barber told Flynn that he had “hit the nail on the head,” and that the School Department’s excess and deficiency account is comparable to a town’s free cash account.

Board Chair Donald Davenport asked Barber how the district would use funding from the coronavirus relief bill known as the  CARES Act. Barber said that the district has 27 months to use the $220,000 it is expecting to receive for covid-specific costs, such as taking student and staff temperatures and classrooms to provide for distancing.

The board moved on and looked at areas of the FY21 town budget that could be reduced. Two accounts related to the Fire Department were discussed, one that provides for training and another for call reimbursement.

Deputy Chief Pat Farrow told the board, “If we have to save one, keep the training,” but warned that cutting the reimbursement account could lead to a request for additional funds in the event of a large structure fire or natural disaster. The board reduced the reimbursement account to $50,000.

Meanwhile, Glover questioned the 17 percent increase in the Fire Department salary costs. Flynn reminded her of a stipend for on-call firefighters that had been unanimously approved by the board in October 2019.

Glover said in the future she will help the town “be more  fiscally frugal and not say yes to everything.”

Suggestions were made for a location for the upcoming annual town meeting and election, as well as the logistics of conducting municipal events with large crowds in the age of COVID-19.

While the town meeting has been hosted at the Bethlehem Church in previous years, Flynn said it would not be fair for the church to have to sanitize the building afterward. Instead he suggested conducting the meeting outdoors in the field behind the former Thornton w Burgess Middle School (TWB).

It was also noted that leeway has been given on the governor-ordered 10-person gathering limit for municipal meetings, making it possible to conduct the meeting inside TWB. The shortened warrant and lowered budget will likely attract no more than 75 to 100 people, Flynn observed.

The Select Board voted to close the warrant in anticipation of moving forward with the June 15 meeting.

Town Clerk Eva Wiseman said plans have been put in place for the town election on June 22. The public will able to access Town Hall through the front door of the building and will be directed into the auditorium.

Voters will exit via a door on the other side of the room, creating a stream of people moving in one direction. The exception to this is voters with a handicap that requires them to use the front door.

Barriers, masks and sanitation will incur additional costs this year, Wiseman said. She also requested an additional police officer to help with crowd control.

Wiseman said early voting and absentee ballots must be done by mail can be mailed to voters by request or printed off the town’s website, www.hampdenma.gov.

Flynn suggested Green Meadows may be an alternative location for the election, since the cafeteria has two exterior doors that could facilitate a single stream of traffic and is accessible to those with a handicap.

Aside from the election, the reopening of Town Hall will occur in two phases. First, town employees will be allowed to resume working on-site and later, the public will be given access to the building.

Interim Town Administrator Bob Markel reported that he and Building Inspector Wendel Hulbert conducted a walk-through of the building to consider changes that may be needed before reopening.     
The plan is that the public would be allowed to enter through the front door of the building and move into the auditorium where a receptionist would be staged to help them. Plexiglass dividers would be put in place, as well as requirements for masks. Department heads could be called to help, as needed. Another cost associated with reopening the town hall will be additional office space to allow for social distancing.
Markel said the library also has plans in place to allow for social distancing.

Police Chief and Emergency Management Team Leader Jeff Farnsworth has ordered three electrostatic cleaning machines for town buildings. Once a sanitization routine is in place, Markel said, municipal buildings can open to workers at the discretion of the governor. No dates have yet been established to reopen town buildings.

In a preliminary judgment in the lawsuit between HWRSD and the Town of Hampden, Phil Schneider, the select board-appointed liaison to the town attorney said, the judge has allowed four of the six complaints to proceed to trial.

He said the judge declared that no breach-of-contract had occurred, since the district has the right to close any of its schools.

Davenport pointed out that the town had requested 45 to 60 days to consider its options, but the school committee rejected that proposal and sought to move to trial.

There is approximately $30,000 left in the lawsuit account.

The select board voted to sign a letter of support for pursuing the municipal vulnerability preparedness program. Markel explained to those present the program provided a grant to develop mitigation plans for areas and services vulnerable to climate change-related disasters, such as flooding and wind damage. A second grant is available to put the mitigation plans into action. Markel said there is no cost to the town and the tax rate is not affected by the program.