Hadley Capital Panel Splits Town Meeting Request Into Three Separate Articles

HADLEY — April 7, 2026 — Hadley Capital Planning Committee forwards restructured $1 million capital package to annual town meeting. The four-member committee voted 4-0 on each of three separate article groupings Tuesday, departing from last year's omnibus approach after a bundled borrowing package failed to reach the two-thirds supermajority required when individual articles lacked sufficient support to carry the whole. The school department, represented by Assistant Superintendent Annie, trimmed its request from $350,000 to approximately $137,083, dropping a security vestibule and blue-light warning system at Hopkins Academy in favor of replacement window blinds — described as original to the building and essential for lockdown drills — and bus stop arm cameras estimated at roughly $15,000 for the fleet. DPW Director Scott presented four borrowing articles totaling approximately $745,000 for road-work supplements, sewer asset management, water main replacement, and reconditioning of the underperforming Callahan Well No. 3. Three water reserve items, including reimbursements for a $100,998 Mount Warner Wells design grant and a $30,000 SCADA cybersecurity upgrade, both already funded out of the operating budget to preserve grant awards, round out the package. Town Accountant Linda Dunlavy said roughly $300,000 in unused prior borrowing authority — most significantly $215,000 from the completed senior center — could be redirected to reduce new borrowing, and said she would consult town counsel on whether redirected funds require a two-thirds vote.