Amherst registrars meeting again over complaint about Jones Library petition
Published: 5/11/2021 8:06:19 PM
AMHERST With an Open Meeting Law complaint filed against the Board of Registrars still not resolved, the panel will meet again Thursday afternoon to discuss how to handle the matter.
The board will meet at 2 p.m., its third meeting in the last week, to determine what to do with the complaint filed by Carol Gray, a lead petitioner for the voter veto effort to bring the $36.3 million Jones Library project to a townwide referendum.
The project was approved by a 10-2 vote, with one abstention, by the Town Council in April.
Hatfield TM to take up spending, zoning and changing board’s name
KEVIN GUTTING
Hatfield Town Hall.
Published: 5/9/2021 7:39:48 PM
HATFIELD Decisions related to completing the Route 5 water and sewer infrastructure project, rezoning a parcel on North Hatfield Road to light industrial and changing the name of the top policy board so it is gender neutral could be made by residents at annual Town Meeting Tuesday.
The meeting, and its 29-article warrant, is to be called to order at 6 p.m. at the Lions Club pavilion on Billings Way, with people encouraged to bring hand sanitizer and bug spray.
The warrant includes an $11.38 million operating budget that is $44,546 less than this year’s $11.42 million spending plan, but provides for level services for the town and schools, as well as 2.3% salary adjustments for employees beyond a 2% cost of living adjustment.
Ex-workers file suit against Cummington rehab facility over COVID response CREATAS
The addiction treatment center then known as Swift River, now named the Cummington Inpatient Rehab Center, is shown in 2017. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Published: 5/6/2021 8:22:35 PM
CUMMINGTON Management at a hilltown addiction treatment center is accused in a lawsuit of firing employees for taking time off after exposure to COVID-19.
The four-count lawsuit, filed April 28 in Hampshire Superior Court, alleges that Vertava Health LLC failed to adequately respond to COVID-19 in its Cummington/Plainfield facility and retaliated against those who took issue with its response.
It also alleges wage theft, claiming that time was deducted from workers’ pay for breaks that were not taken, a count that is open to all current and former workers at the facility similarly situated not just the plaintiffs.
N. Hadley Village Hall sold
The 1864 North Hadley Village Hall at 239 River Drive GAZETTE FILE PHOTO/KEVIN GUTTING
Published: 5/6/2021 8:21:35 PM
HADLEY Hadley couples who independently own the North Hadley Sugar Shack and Bramucci Construction are joining together to buy the historic North Hadley Village Hall from the town.
After a Hampshire Superior Court judge denied a preliminary injunction filed by local contractor Peter Heronemus aimed at preventing the sale of the 239 River Drive property, the Select Board on Wednesday voted 5-0 to accept an $80,000 bid from Joe and Michelle Boisvert and Rick and Michelle Bramucci.
“We’re extremely excited about this project in North Hadley,” Joe Boisvert said.
Jones Library project foes: Petition decision violated Open Meeting Law
Published: 5/6/2021 8:26:34 PM
AMHERST A complaint that the town’s Board of Registrars violated the state’s Open Meeting Law when it met last month to allow the town clerk’s office to certify signatures on a voter veto petition effort has been filed with state attorney general’s office.
Petitioners seeking to have a townwide referendum on the $36.3 million Jones Library project announced in a statement Thursday that they filed the complaint in advance of a 10 a.m. Friday meeting by the registrars.
The complaint stems from a brief April 21 Board of Registrars meeting that petitioners say was inadequate to inform the public of the subject to be discussed. The petitioners also say there was “impermissible deliberation” before the meeting, and that the board failed to conduct deliberations in public about delegation of authority to the town clerk’s office.