Hampden Select Board Kills Five-Bay Firehouse Plan, Orders Four-Bay Design

HAMPDEN -- June 22, 2026, Hampden Select Board caps firehouse expansion at four bays, hires KP Law as town counsel, and declines to reappoint two officers past mandatory retirement age. The board voted unanimously to rescind a prior direction that would have shifted the property line between the fire station parcel at 19 North Road and the adjacent old town hall property at 625 Main Street, limiting the project to a four-bay configuration to preserve the town hall committee's options for reuse or sale of that building, which costs the town an estimated $40,000 to $50,000 per year to maintain. KP Law, a Boston-based firm whose practice is approximately 98.5 percent municipal work, was engaged to replace Doherty Wallace after roughly 30 years, with billing options ranging from $250 per hour to a $3,000 monthly fixed fee; the town administrator was directed to negotiate the final arrangement. Two uniformed public safety officers, one from the fire department, one from the police department, will not be reappointed in uniformed roles after June 30 because they have reached or exceeded the state mandatory retirement age of 70 without current special legislation; police reserve officer Mike Cain told the board he had spoken with legislative aides the same day and was told a waiver was possible if the town formally requested one through a home rule petition at fall town meeting. The board also unanimously approved a liquor license transfer at 25 Allen Street from Off the Stake Inc. to Mountain View Restaurant Inc., with a $50,000 asset purchase price and first-year monthly rent of $3,952.09.