Belchertown Board of Health approves revised Allen Street septic design, shifts to Friday meetings

BELCHERTOWN — April 27, 2026 — Belchertown Board of Health approves revised septic design, shifts to fourth-Friday schedule, and advances two Town Meeting warrant articles. The board voted 4-0 at its April 27 meeting to accept a redesigned soil absorption system at 366 Allen Street, closing a case that began in December 2025 when the board rejected a first engineer's variance-heavy proposal; Board of Health Agent Roger Bacon, PE, approved the replacement gravity-fed design by engineer Neil Jackson under a Title 5 single-deep-hole exemption, noting Class 1 soils with a perc rate of less than two minutes per inch. The board also discussed two warrant articles headed to Annual Town Meeting: a $5,000-capped revolving fund for tobacco-sales-control violation fines, intended to fund additional youth-sale and nicotine-free generation compliance checks beyond the two annual inspections currently provided by Pioneer Valley Tobacco Control Coalition, and a per-visit pay raise for Animal Inspector Sharon Kahl-Oey from $20 to $25 against a $5,000 position budget. David Wright, Manager of Cold Spring Golf Course, confirmed in person that Tables on the Green operator Tara Weagle will not return to 336 Chauncey Walker Street and that the golf course itself has begun the permitting process to operate the kitchen and dining room. Facing room-availability conflicts across multiple days, the board agreed to move its regular meetings to the fourth Friday of each month at 6 p.m. in the Select Board Meeting Room, beginning May 22, 2026.