ERVING — Voters in Erving, Northfield and Shutesbury can expect to see a future Town Meeting article that would formally dissolve the Eastern Franklin County Health District.
A recent joint meeting of the Erving Board of Health, the Eastern Franklin County Health District and the Franklin County Health Services Partnership discussed the formalities around dissolving the district, which requires a Town Meeting vote in each of the three communities. The district had likewise been established by Town Meeting votes in 1985.
Erving Board of Health Chair Jeffrey McAndrews described the district as being “non-active” since 2022. The Franklin County Health Services Partnership, which has representatives from the three towns’ boards of health, took on the responsibilities of the district via a three-year intermunicipal agreement in December 2022, he added.
McAndrews said services offered by the partnership include permitting and inspections by a health agent. Some of the specific services include enforcing Title 5 regulations for septic systems, and building, business, campground and pool inspections, among other responsibilities. Under the partnership, the three towns have operated with the same agreement as they had through the Eastern Franklin County Health District, with Northfield and Shutesbury paying Erving an assessment to cover a percentage of the health agent’s services based on anticipated use by each community.
Before a warrant article drafted by Erving is sent to Northfield and Shutesbury, Erving officials are determining what needs to happen with an insurance and employee retirement account still tied to the district, McAndrews said.
A vote at the joint meeting authorized Erving Town Administrator Bryan Smith to draft the article language for the subsequent Town Meetings. Dates for these meetings have not been discussed.
On top of a discussion to formally dissolve the Eastern Franklin County Health District, meeting attendees discussed the intermunicipal agreement behind the Franklin County Health Services Partnership between Erving, Shutesbury and Northfield. Shutesbury officials have given notice that they plan to leave the partnership.
Shutesbury also participates in the Valley Health Regional Collaborative, which includes Greenfield, Montague, Deerfield, Sunderland and Leverett. It is designed to create cross-jurisdictional public health services sharing programs and, according to Montague’s town website, increases the capacity of each member town’s board of health to “strengthen and advance the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of the delivery of public health services.”
Since the three-year intermunicipal agreement expired in December, McAndrews explained that Shutesbury is “not beholden” to the partnership at this time, and no notice technically needs to be given. Still, Catherine Hilton, Shutesbury’s representative on the partnership, joined the meeting remotely to listen to the plans for dissolving the district, as well as the plan for Erving to continue a new partnership agreement with Northfield.
Northfield’s representative on the Franklin County Health Services Partnership, Kathie Bridges, asked if the new agreement will need to go before the Erving Selectboard for review, as the first agreement did.
“I don’t see a problem with that,” McAndrews replied.
During a meeting of the Valley Health Regional Collaborative on Thursday, Greenfield Public Health Nurse Megan Tudryn said the collaborative is funded by a state Department of Public Health grant. This funding ends at the close of fiscal year 2027, however, and the member towns will need to begin planning how services will be funded in the future if they are unable to secure further grants.
Hilton shared that Shutesbury “definitely” would like to work with the collaborative, and Town Administrator Hayley Bolton would like to meet with Hilton to discuss funding.
“EFCHD are aware that Shutesbury is leaving it, and we will formally leave the district at Annual Town Meeting in 2026, because that’s the only time we can do that,” Hilton said. “However, they are not billing us for anything, basically; they’re not providing any services, so our budget is freed up to go to the collaborative.”
Madison Schofield contributed reporting.
