Hampden Board Approves Memorial Library, Liquor Permit, and Cannabis Delivery Waiver

HAMPDEN — May 18, 2026 — Hampden Select Board approves memorial library, outdoor concert permit, and cannabis delivery opt-out. The board unanimously approved a Little Free Library at Green Meadow School, proposed by Principal Sharon Moberg to honor Beth Richards, a longtime reading teacher who died last fall, with installation potentially completed before the town's Memorial Day ceremony. The board also voted 2-1, with one abstention, to submit a waiver request under the state cannabis reform law opting Hampden out of home delivery, citing a police chief's assessment that delivery would be effectively unenforceable. A one-day liquor permit for "Rock into Summer," a Park and Recreation event on July 11, was approved unanimously with the fee waived given the town-sponsored nature of the event. Laney Wilder, Executive Director of Opacum Land Trust, briefed the board on a pending 109-acre conservation restriction on Chapin Road funded through the federal Forest Legacy Program, with a hard deadline of July 31 for signatures from both the Select Board and the Conservation Commission.