Editor’s note: To mark the start of a new year, the Greenfield Recorder is publishing stories about what Franklin County residents can likely expect to see happening in their towns in 2026.
Officials in southern Franklin County expect ongoing projects and challenges to color 2026, from health insurance cost hikes to construction and long-awaited infrastructure repairs.
Conway
Looking back on 2025, Selectboard Chair Erica Goleman mentioned the tax work-off program for low-income seniors and veterans that took effect in January as a major achievement. Tax work-off programs place residents in a part-time position in a municipal department and apply their wages to one of their quarterly property tax bills. This allows town governments to ease their workloads while program participants get tax relief.
“We have opportunities to put seniors into some helpful positions,” Goleman said.
According to Goleman, the three program participants made several projects possible in 2025, including a “Guide to Conway.” The guide, expected to become available in April, will explain the ins and outs of town government, steps for how to get involved and “highlights of what makes Conway such a fantastic place to live,” Goleman described.
Tax work-off program participants also spearheaded the creation of signs celebrating Conway as a Right to Farm community. According to the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, adopting a Right to Farm bylaw allows agricultural practices in town with minimal hurdles from abutters and town agencies. By the spring, seven Right to Farm posters with illustrations of farm animals will greet people as they drive into Conway.
Goleman also cited drainage and improvements on Pine Hill and Shelburne Falls roads with the help of a $1 million MassWorks grant as another 2025 highlight.
“Pine Hill was one of those roads that we particularly noticed was problematic when we had those massive floods in 2023,” Goleman said. “It’s a project that we developed. Everyone’s really happy about it. It’s going to make a big difference.”
Other highlights include the $330,300 grant to fund designing and permitting for lowering the floodplain and digging out accumulated sediment from behind the historic mill dam on the South River; and a recent grant to complete a self-evaluation of town properties’ compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Small towns like us survive off of the funding of grants, so any time we win a grant, no matter how small, it’s a win,” Selectboard member Chris Waldo said. “We got a lot of wins [in 2025].”
According to Goleman and Waldo, the 20% hike in health insurance costs, which came after the town had already budgeted for an initial 18% increase heading into fiscal year 2026, is a challenge with lasting impact beyond 2025.
Waldo mentioned several other projects on the docket for 2026, including the replacement of public streetlights with lower-wattage LED bulbs and efforts to increase the town’s preparedness for flooding, which is a “big issue with climate change,” he said.
Waldo also noted he is working with Town Administrator Veronique Blanchard to find options for affordable senior housing in town.
In early 2026, Waldo said he and another resident plan to weatherize the “Conway Mall” free store inside the Transfer Station by insulating the building and adding a partition wall to ensure it can remain open year-round.
With longtime Fire Chief Robert Baker planning to step down, Goleman anticipates replacing him will be a town priority in 2026. Although Baker informed the Selectboard of his plans to retire, he has not yet set a date. Waldo is currently working with Baker to find a firefighter willing to steer the department after Baker’s last day.
Goleman added that she does not plan to run for a Selectboard position in the future and is hoping to take a break after six years on the board.
“I’ve worked with a great group of people. We have a fantastic town administrator,” Goleman said. “This is a difficult job and it’s a very rewarding job. Don’t be afraid to step up and volunteer for public service.”
Deerfield
Town Administrator Christopher Dunne cited the opening of the Leary Public Parking Lot and the hiring of several town employees as major accomplishments in 2025.
“We had to hire a lot of new people this year and we just knocked it out of the park,” he said.
Dunne mentioned Department of Public Works Superintendent Matthew Morse, Planning and Economic Development Coordinator Alexandria Galloway and Town Accountant Holly Drake as a few of the “phenomenal” new hires.
With 2026 on the horizon, Dunne mentioned health insurance costs as a source of anxiety that will likely worsen in the next year.
“We all care about our employees, we care about them being able to afford health insurance, and then we also need to make sure the town can afford it,” Dunne said. “It’s super challenging.”
Several ongoing projects will become tangible realities in 2026, including the Tilton Library expansion. Residents can check the changes out for themselves at the open house on Saturday, Jan. 10, from 10 a.m. to noon. There is a snow date of Jan. 11.
“That’ll be super exciting,” Dunne said of the project, nearly two decades in the making.
Dunne expects to see construction cones for Elm Street repairs in the spring and renovations to the 1888 Building will finish in the fall.
For projects in earlier stages of development, Dunne said the replacement of the Stillwater Bridge will likely go out to bid in February.
“That bridge is a really critical connection. It’s obviously in a pretty rural place, but for residents, it’s important,” Dunne said.
Reflecting on the year ahead, he added, “It’s a great team and great leadership, so I feel like we’ll get through whatever challenges are coming for us in 2026.”
Sunderland
Looking back on 2025, Selectboard Chair Nathaniel Waring mentioned Special Town Meeting voters approving the purchase of an ambulance for South County EMS, as well as two Stryker Power-LOAD ambulance loading systems, as a key win. Voters in Deerfield and Whately had to approve the purchase, too.
Town Administrator Becky Torres described the ongoing feasibility study on the Norwottuck North Shared-Use Path as a 2025 accomplishment that will roll into the new year. The proposed path would pass through Whately, Deerfield, Sunderland and Amherst as cyclists, walkers and other explorers travel from the Whately Park and Ride to Meadow Street in Amherst.
“If we can keep this moving, it will impact the whole area, not just Sunderland,” Torres said.
She added that state Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Deerfield, and state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, have expressed support for the project.
Torres also mentioned replacing the 25-year-old Sunderland Elementary School roof and the search for a new South County Senior Center home as ongoing concerns for 2026.
Although Torres said property values in Sunderland have increased, she anticipates a difficult year for budgeting.
“Financially, we’re going to have a tough year,” Torres said. “If the assessments for education continue to go up and we don’t get any more state aid, we’re going to be struggling there.”
Whately
Like other South County towns, progress on several projects in Whately will push forward in 2026.
Boston-based firm McCabe Enterprises completed the feasibility study on the former Whately Center School on Dec. 31, according to Town Administrator Peter Kane. The study includes a structural analysis of the 115-year-old building on Chestnut Plain Road, and analyses of a potential residential use and two potential non-residential uses for the vacant building. The Selectboard will learn the results of the study in January or February.
Kane said the town will continue to address stormwater concerns by working with Christian Lane residents east of State Road to identify solutions.
The estimated $12.4 million rehabilitation of Haydenville Road from Conway Road to the Williamsburg town line will also see new strides in 2026. Kane expects the final permits and approvals to wrap up in the first half of 2026, kicking into gear the reconstruction project. This will consist of reclaiming the existing paved surface, installing a new drainage system near the Northampton Reservoir, new pavement markings, and guardrail repairs and replacements.
The first half of the new year will also include solar panel installation at the Town Offices and the finalization of designs for pollinator gardens at those offices, Whately Elementary School and S. White Dickinson Memorial Library. The designs represent the next step in “The Future Looks Like Whately: Planting Resilience Through Nature-Based Solutions,” a partnership with Leyden-based landscape design and planning agency Landscape Interactions. The project, with the help of a $82,542 Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program grant, aims to spread native plants and pollinators and build climate resilience.
Kane expects challenges with health insurance costs to continue in the new year. He said the town will look for savings on expenses to shoulder any increases.