Hampden committee pares forum materials, plans two-slide update and dry run for town meeting

The Old Townhouse Committee on May 6 reviewed public feedback from a recent forum about the Old Town House and agreed to simplify how the project is presented to residents.

Chair opened the meeting and led the Pledge of Allegiance before the discussion turned to residents’ reactions to the forum, which several members described as “too long” and difficult to follow because of room acoustics and dense handouts. Committee members said the forum materials should be condensed into a short PowerPoint and posted more clearly on the town website so residents can find the project landing page and supporting documents.

The committee settled on a minimalist approach for the town meeting: one slide listing the four main options and a second with a short timeline and instructions for where to find more information. Committee members emphasized the briefing should last roughly two minutes. A volunteer agreed to prepare the slides and the group scheduled a 6 p.m. dry run before the meeting. One member nominated Paul (committee member) to deliver the town-meeting presentation and the committee asked that the slide deck be circulated to members in advance.

Members also discussed communications and outreach: shortening a podcast version of the forum so it is concise on the project landing page, adding a clear entry for the committee on the Town of Hampden website (a boards-and-committees dropdown and a persistent landing page), and reopening or amplifying the survey online as a low-cost way to gather more input. A committee member cited a commonly used polling rule of thumb—that about 660 responses can yield a ±3% margin of error when samples are properly balanced—while flagging that older demographics were overrepresented in previous responses.

Committee members reviewed cost figures presented in the forum materials and asked staff to provide clearer dollar ranges for each option. Participants referenced a repair/rehab figure appearing on a materials’ first page of about $8.9 million and a demolition estimate in the neighborhood of $1 million; the committee asked for these figures to be presented as ranges and asked staff to flesh out insurance and carrying-cost implications for an empty building. Members noted the importance of explaining the process and decision points clearly to residents so any subsequent vote or warrant article would focus on costed, actionable choices rather than general sentiment.

The committee emphasized rehearsing the short presentation to reduce technical issues and keep the town-meeting appearance concise. The body will revisit narrowed options and cost estimates at a future meeting before the fall town meeting.