LEYDEN — All articles, including allowing the police chief to remain in the role until age 72, broadband payments and continued funding for the Avery Field pavilion, were approved during consecutive outdoor Special and Annual Town Meetings on Monday.
About 75 residents turned out for the meeting in the Town Hall parking lot, which lasted just under three hours.
A Special Town Meeting with seven finance-related articles, all of which were recommended by the Selectboard and Finance Committee, were swiftly approved. The Annual Town Meeting warrant, with 21 articles in total, saw most of its discussion center on a $1.77 million fiscal year 2022 budget, which represents a 2 percent increase from this year. Some increases in the budget are attributed to 3 percent pay increases for select town employees.
Some residents objected to other salaries and stipends being lower, like that of Brian Pelletier, officer-in-charge with the Fire Department, and members of the Board of Health, given their service to the town amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the presented budget, Pelletier’s stipend is for $1,000, up from $900 in fiscal year 2021. The Board of Health chair receives $850, up from $300, and the money set aside for the three members is $1,200, up from $400.
Finance Committee Chair Ginger Robinson agreed that Pelletier’s stipend is “egregiously low” and sympathized with the lower stipends received by Board of Health members. She noted that some of those who receive stipends may not even accept them, returning them to the town.
“For the work people do, they all deserve more,” Robinson said. “A lot of people work for the town for free, and maybe what feels like less than free sometimes.”
Still, no changes to the stipends were made on the Town Meeting floor.
Education expenses make up 61 percent of Leyden’s budget. This includes $20,192 for Franklin County Technical School and an assessment of $802,466 for the Pioneer Valley Regional School District, which is a $48,000 decrease from this fiscal year.
Pioneer Budget Subcommittee Chair Mike Townsley drew attention to the school district’s School Choice and charter expenses, which are expected to be as high as $973,000. He explained it costs $5,000 for each student who choices out of Pioneer to another school district, and $19,000 for each student attending a charter school.
Further discussion was held around Article 4, which saw residents vote 48 to 27 through a paper ballot vote in support of the Selectboard petitioning for state legislation to allow Police Chief Dan Galvis, who has been in his position for 27 years, to remain chief until the age of 72, which is three years from now.
Residents voted five years ago on a similar article to permit Galvis to hold the position until he is 70. The permission through a Town Meeting vote is necessary to allow a chief to serve after he or she turns 65.
Some residents questioned this second extension, and asked why the town hasn’t been planning to find and instate a successor. Selectboard member Jeff Neipp said the pandemic required Selectboard and municipal officials’ attention, and there had not been time to consider a succession plan for the Police Department.
One resident recommended the Selectboard establish a steering committee to streamline a search and hiring process, a suggestion that received voiced supported by others in attendance. While attendees could not vote to create a steering committee at Town Meeting, the Selectboard may do so during a regular Selectboard meeting.
Annual Town Meeting voters also approved three articles related to the town broadband system. Article 17 approved $63,000 for payments toward broadband debt, Article 18 asked voters to transfer $138,500 from the Broadband Construction Fund to put toward the broadband debt, and Article 19 asked for $139,622 to be appropriated to operate the Broadband Enterprise Fund. Neipp explained the enterprise fund will be run using money from the roughly 200 subscribers from whom Leyden receives approximately $40 out of an $80 monthly bill.
“The money users pay each month goes in to maintain this for the next 40 to 50 years and, hopefully, we’ll always be in the black on this,” Neipp said.
Voters also approved an additional $10,000 for contingency costs to ensure completion of the Avery Field pavilion demolition and replacement. At last year’s Annual Town Meeting, voters approved $30,000 toward the project. Neipp explained the added expense is a result of nationwide increases in material and construction costs.
The project hasn’t been started yet, and town officials have not used any of the $30,000 approved during the 2020 Annual Town Meeting.
The final article on the warrant, Article 21, pertaining to a large-scale solar zoning bylaw, was passed over at the recommendation of the Planning Board. The board plans to hold additional discussions on where the best area in town would be to allow large-scale solar, following a public hearing last week.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.