Hampden Select Board Clears Pole Permit, Authorizes Town Hall Document Review

Select Board · Meeting of March 16, 2026

Hampden Select Board approves National Grid pole permit and authorizes 625 Main Street deed review. The board voted unanimously Monday on both items and spent the bulk of its session working through fiscal year 2027 warrant articles that remain unsettled ahead of a planned joint session with the Advisory Committee. Ryan Paxton, new director of Eastern Hampden Shared Public Health Services, told the board his department's $393,000 state grant will fully cover four staff positions across four communities with no assessment to Hampden in FY27.

Paxton recommended informal outreach, rather than enforcement, to address a resident manure complaint involving a horse operation, citing a Massachusetts nuisance law carve-out for regular manure spreading. A resident, Bruce Foss, pressed the board on why Hampden is absent from a 16-page federal congressional directed spending report showing millions in grants flowing to comparable Massachusetts communities. Capital items including a compact wheel loader, dump truck, police handguns, and fire department pagers remain candidates for funding through surplus salary accounts or Chapter 90 funds rather than new warrant articles, with no decisions finalized.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of March 16, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.