Editor’s note: The Greenfield Recorder has been publishing stories about what Franklin County residents can likely expect to see happening in their towns in 2023. Details about projects in the western part of the county will be shared in two installments. This is the first.

As 2023 begins, western Franklin County towns are looking ahead to whatever challenges and surprises the new year may bring.

As is often the case, most towns are concerned about budgets, roads, infrastructure and addressing residents’ needs in light of rising costs.

Shelburne

Sharing police services with Buckland continues to be a consideration in 2023, after being on and off the table for more than a decade.

“We are in the midst of a transitional year in which our police chief, Greg Bardwell, is serving as chief of both Shelburne and Buckland police departments until the end of June while we work with the UMass Collins Center on an inter-municipal agreement to have Shelburne provide police services for both towns starting July 1, if voters approve that budget at our two Town Meetings in the spring,” said Shelburne Selectboard Chair Andrew Baker, adding that the town has a $200,000 grant to develop that agreement.

Building a “downtown pocket park” on the site of the former Singley Furniture shop at Bridge Street and Deerfield Avenue, now owned by Ancient Glacier LLC (Josh Simpson, Jon Stark), is underway and will continue. The town has negotiated a seven-year lease and used a $9,500 Regional Economic Development Organization grant secured by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) to create a level graveled area and four picnic tables to add an outdoor dining option downtown.

Franklin County Technical School’s carpentry students are working to design and build a 20-foot-by-20-foot pergola to provide sun/rain protection for the tables, and the town has a Zoning Board of Appeals variance and special permit for the work, which is expected to start this spring.

Another huge project looming that will affect both Shelburne and Buckland is the needed structural renovation for the historic Bridge of Flowers over the Deerfield River.

The bridge is owned by the Shelburne Falls Fire District, which has received a nearly $2.3 million MassWorks grant for major renovations to the bridge and water mains. Engineers have said the work should be undertaken within the next two years.

“We will work with the district and the Bridge of Flowers Committee to find temporary homes for the many plants on the bridge while construction takes place,” Baker explained, “and perhaps help them create a series of gardens around town that can host the plants and provide an alternative flower garden experience for visitors.”

Meanwhile, the Shelburne Falls Village Task Force has prioritized planning for a successor organization to the Greater Shelburne Falls Area Business Association and keeping shelburnefalls.com going in 2023. FRCOG has secured a multi-town grant to provide some staffing support for the successor organization initiative but the group is still looking for money to support reviving shelburnefalls.com.

Additionally, the Memorial Hall Association is working with the town to secure a $200,000 matching grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to underpin a capital campaign for long-awaited renovations to the 400-plus seat Memorial Hall theater space above the town offices.

“We completed a preliminary design plan produced by architect Jeremy Coleman a few years ago,” Baker said, adding that the town has pledged $150,000 toward theater improvements, “so we have strong municipal support going into this.”

The town will also work this year on a zoning bylaw amendment to permit development of affordable housing on non-conforming lots.

“The town now has three small, non-conforming lots that have cleared tax title,” Baker explained. “We would like to explore partnering with Habitat for Humanity or another nonprofit housing developer to create affordable housing on these lots. But to do that, we need a zoning bylaw amendment to make those lots useful.”

Colrain

Town Administrator Kevin Fox said the good news to start 2023 is “we’ve finalized our broadband project.”

“It’s up and running and feedback is good,” he said, adding that the network is operating in the black. “So that’s behind us now and we’re reaping the benefits of it.”

Other good news is that the village intersection project is nearly complete and the new Veterans Memorial Park has been built and landscaped. This spring, the town plans to rebuild Greenfield Road from the village center to the Shelburne town line, thanks to a MassWorks grant.

The bad news, according to Fox, is that “like everybody, we have inflation to deal with and upcoming budgetary concerns, which we haven’t even dealt with yet.”

Colrain had a culvert assessment conducted by FRCOG that identified 632 drainage structures — 60% of which are considered to be in “good” condition, 14 in “critical” condition and the rest “in between.”

“That’s on the priority list for the upcoming year, too,” Fox explained.

The announcement that Barnhardt Manufacturing Co. will close its facility at the end of this month will also undoubtedly affect the town.

“Closing it affects our residents, but it’s a private industry and they’ll have to determine what they’ll do with their properties,” Fox said. “The residents that currently send their wastewater to Barnhardt are members of the Colrain Sewer District, established in 1997, and that’s also a private enterprise.”

Fox said the town will “do everything we can to help these people out, but there’s only so much we can do. The Barnhardt business itself is something they’ll have to deal with. ... Unfortunately, from what I’ve been told, 32 jobs will be displaced. I’m not sure how many are Colrain residents.”

Hawley

Assistant Town Clerk and Administrative Assistant Tinky Weisblat suspects officials will “continue to debate the future” of Hawlemont Regional School in 2023.

“With fewer and fewer students, the school is increasingly expensive for a town like ours where half of the citizenry is over 60 and on a limited budget,” she explained.

Weisblat pointed out that although the town has received grants in the past year for culvert reconstruction in two locations, it still faces some roadwork and climate change challenges, including a short but critical area of Route 8A known as the Dugway, which state officials believe would cost millions to repair.

“We have 420 culverts and 350 people — more culverts than people — in Hawley, and nearly all those culverts need replacing or upsizing, as it’s called,” noted Selectboard Chair Will Cosby. “It’s challenging to be resilient in face of the age of the infrastructure and addressing the needs of residents.”

Another issue to be addressed is that the town website needs an overhaul.

“Our valiant volunteer webmaster of many years plans to retire very soon, so we are exploring ways to redesign and maintain the website,” Weisblat said. “We have no money for the website in our budget at present, however.”

Rounding out the list of challenges, Hawley needs a town clerk. Former Town Clerk Pamela Shrimpton now lives in Greenfield and has been filling in, but she is “anxious to find a successor,” according to Weisblat.

Hawley also now has a primary ambulance service again, having partnered with Adams Ambulance Service.

Ashfield

Town Administrator Paul McLatchy III predicts 2023 will be “an interesting year” for Ashfield.

“The biggest challenge we face right now is simply the rising cost to do business,” McLatchy said. “Some of this is from recent inflation, like debt interest and general cost of living; some of it has been a concern for years, like roads and education.

“Like many other hilltowns, our revenues are primarily from residential taxes. Every additional dollar we need to operate means a higher tax on residents,” he added. “Trying to ensure that the needs of the town are met without raising taxes too high is a very challenging balancing act. What might be an acceptable tax bill for one household may require another household to choose whether to pay the electric bill or buy oil that month.”

McLatchy said town officials continue to seek grants and state support to lessen the burden on residents.

“We have a new governor and state senator coming in, so we will work hard to cultivate positive working relationships with both,” he noted.

McLatchy said he hopes the town can continue to improve services in general in 2023. He also noted the Park Commission is expanding from three members to five, following Special Town Meeting approval in November, “which will result in more members to help manage this great asset to the town.”

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