Belchertown Select Board Adds Dozen-Plus Goals, From Transfer Station Study to Route 9 Safety

Select Board · Meeting of July 8, 2026

Belchertown Select Board added more than a dozen new action items to its annual goals and objectives list at a July 8 special workshop, the second of two sessions building the town's work plan for the coming fiscal year. The board, working backward through six goal categories, added items spanning a 10-year transfer station capacity study, a job description and compensation review not conducted in approximately 14 years — estimated at $35,000 to $40,000 — applications for cultural district and certified local government designations to expand grant eligibility, a townwide electronic payment system feasibility study, finalization of codes of conduct for town employees and committees, a cross-departmental HR efficiency study with the school department, and a new push to "apply pressure on the state" for a resolution to chronic safety problems at the Route 9 and Allen Road intersection. Town Manager Steve Grenham noted that most Division of Local Services organizational recommendations from prior years have been implemented and that the town's remaining structural question is what a second-tier management position — assistant town manager or similar — should look like.

The board took no votes; a cleaned-up draft will be circulated and brought back for formal adoption at a future meeting, with the fire chief scheduled to present an EMS protocol report at the July 20 regular meeting.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,157 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of July 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.