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 2025.

When the calendar flipped to 2024, Conway and Deerfield were bracing for a grim financial year following catastrophic flooding, but those fortunes changed early in the year with help from state relief. Instead, those towns were able to get on the same track as Whately and Sunderland, with all four South County towns looking to expand on long-running projects.

The past year has also seen a changing of the guard for the communities, as longtime Selectboard incumbents were replaced in Conway and Deerfield. Town administrators were also replaced, with three of the four towns finding new folks to take the helm.

Conway

Conway enters 2025 in a much better financial spot than where it was just one year ago, when it faced more than $1 million in flood damages. While trying to determine the best way to move forward, the town received $1.25 million in flood damage relief money from the state in late January and another $1 million grant in the fall to further shore up infrastructure.

“Getting out from under the costs of the floods was huge for us,” said Selectboard Chair Chris Waldo.

The town has several large projects that will take major steps in 2025, with the public safety building addition topping the list.

Once complete, the 75-year-old public safety building at 14 Ashfield Road will have individual offices for the Fire, Police and Ambulance departments, as well as a shower, laundry room and conference room. The project is estimated to cost $786,000, but will not affect taxpayers as a combination of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money and leftover funds from the Highway Department’s building project will offset the cost.

Another highlight, Waldo said, are the renovations to Town Hall, which are part of an initiative to move all municipal employees under one roof, thus allowing the town to seek buyers for the Town Offices to get the property back on the tax rolls. Another evergreen goal, he added, is to continue to encourage residents to volunteer on committees and boards, as well as hire folks for town departments.

“We’re working on making sure employees and committees are fully staffed,” Waldo said, noting the town was able to rebuild the Highway Department from two employees to six. “That’s a big thing for me.”

Deerfield

Deerfield, too, was looking at an extremely difficult financial year until the flood damage relief money came through. With those worries behind them, Selectboard Chair Tim Hilchey said numerous major projects involved in the municipal campus vision will take huge strides in 2025.

The Leary Lot, which will likely be the focus of a community celebration in the spring, became the first campus project to be completed last fall and Tilton Library is about two-thirds of the way through its expansion project.

“One of the things people don’t realize is how much this is going to create economic possibilities in downtown, revitalize without significant change and bring new life to the area,” Hilchey explained. “This is a vibrant community and we have a lot of promise here and it’s going to really attract businesses.”

The cornerstone of the campus, the 1888 Building at the corner of Conway and North Main streets, will go through the site plan review process Monday evening. The town is aiming to transform the historic structure into a modern town office that brings all offices under one roof, without a direct impact on taxpayers, as it is funded by a $4 million congressional earmark and $3.8 million in Community Preservation Act funding.

The move to the 1888 Building could prove beneficial for the South County Senior Center, too, as it would open up thousands of square feet in the current Town Hall at 8 Conway St. That building, Hilchey said, could serve as a long-term, but still temporary, home for the Senior Center while the three towns — Deerfield, Sunderland and Whately — determine a path forward for a new center.

And, last but not least, the senior housing project will take a step forward early in 2025, as the town will issue a request for proposals to develop a 30- to 60-unit affordable housing complex on the former St. James Church parcel. All of these massive projects, Hilchey said, have been a result of the partnership among town officials and residents, as well as state Rep. Natalie Blais, Sen. Jo Comerford, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, and U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren.

“It’s been made possible by huge teamwork,” Hilchey said, also mentioning the work the new town staff have put forward. “We’ve had a great addition with [Town Administrator] Christopher Dunne and [Assistant Town Administrator] Greg Snedeker.”

Sunderland

The last 12 months have seen Sunderland complete the preliminary steps of what will be long-term infrastructure improvements: the village center visioning process and the Norwottuck North Shared-Use Path.

While the projects may have the spotlight, Selectboard Chair Nathaniel Waring said the most important work in 2024 involved replacing Geoff Kravitz, who left the town administrator role after four years on the job, with Becky Torres, who had previously spent 15 years as Shutesbury’s town administrator.

“The one thing I want to highlight is how excited we are to have Becky as our new town administrator,” Waring said, adding that a strong town administrator — and in Torres’ case, a seasoned veteran — is “vital to the health of the town.”

Sunderland worked with engineering consultant Stantec and held public forums to develop a vision for the downtown village, which would spur economic development and make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

Key recommendations from Stantec’s report focused on the approaches to the intersection, where lanes could be narrowed or infrastructure like medians could be installed to slow down traffic. Work on any these improvements will require collaboration with the state Department of Transportation, as the agency owns the state routes running through Sunderland.

The town also kicked off the feasibility study for the Norwottuck North Shared-Use Path, which will determine the costs and challenges facing the potential implementation of a trail running through Whately, Deerfield, Sunderland and Amherst. Sunderland is the lead community on the $195,090 MassTrails grant and matched it with $76,840.

In 2025, Waring said the main focus is “business as usual,” although the town will likely have to “pull the trigger on the roof for the school,” which presents the ultimate challenge for a small town in ensuring a level-service budget amid rising costs and expensive capital projects.

“That’s sort of the big thing in our eyes, getting a budget that works for everyone in town,” Waring said, adding that the political climate in Sunderland often makes that process easier. “One of the things I really appreciate about our town is how level-headed everyone is and how everyone comes together and has adult conversations.”

Whately

The last 12 months in Whately mirrored what officials said they wanted to accomplish: manage personnel changes, work on the former Whately Center School and ensure residents are served on a day-to-day basis.

In 2024, Whately replaced its previous town administrator with Peter Kane in June, who has hit the ground running, according to Selectboard Chair Julie Waggoner. Another major personnel change includes the recruitment of a shared conservation agent with other Franklin County towns.

“He’s fantastic,” Waggoner said of Kane. “We were so lucky to have [former Town Administrator Brian Domina] and what a wonderful thing to have him replaced by someone as good as Pete.”

Waggoner and Kane said Whately’s work in 2025 will look similar to what it undertook in 2024. The projects, while familiar, will see progress, as the Center School’s committee secured grant money for a feasibility study, which will kick off this year; the town will examine rezoning opportunities around the Exit 35 area to spur economic development; solar panel installation will finally begin at the Town Offices; and details will be finalized on the Haydenville Road reconstruction project that will likely commence in 2026.

“I’m grateful that the townspeople care about the town and they show up and work hard,” Waggoner said. “It’s a great little community.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.