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Hampden Select Board approves grant application, allows highway to overspend winter budget; schedules executive session on bargaining
Summary
On Jan. 28 the Select Board approved a casino-mitigation grant application, authorized the highway department to exceed its snow-and-ice appropriation for FY2026 and voted to enter executive session to discuss collective bargaining with the highway union under state law.
The Town of Hampden Select Board on Jan. 28 took several formal actions by voice vote.
The board approved an application for casino-mitigation funds to support local projects. A board member noted the town’s historic mitigation allocations have declined from about $100,000 annually to roughly $19,000 in recent years; the board voted to proceed with the application.
The board also voted to allow the highway department to exceed its snow-and-ice appropriation for fiscal 2026, after members described an unusually labor‑intensive recent storm and repair costs. The board characterized the overspend as likely to show as a shortfall on the year’s recap and said the account cannot later be reduced in the next budget cycle.
Finally, a board member moved that the board enter executive session under Massachusetts General Laws chapter 38, section 21(a)(3) to discuss collective bargaining with the highway union, citing that an open meeting could have a detrimental effect on bargaining strategy; the motion was seconded, the board voted to enter executive session and the open meeting was adjourned.
The meeting minutes record voice votes for the motions but do not contain a roll-call tally of individual member votes in the transcript.
