South Hadley voters oppose both tax overrides and SHELD facility

SOUTH HADLEY — The South Hadley voters have spoken. According to unofficial results, they chose not to support the $9 million and $11 million tax override options at a town election on April 14.

The ballot featured the two tax override options, and residents had the opportunity to vote for or against each question independently. If both had passed, the town would have opted to go with the higher override.

Based on the unofficial results presented by the town clerk’s office, 2,505 voted for the $9 million override while 3,852 voted against it. Meanwhile, 2,085 voters were in favor of the $11 million override option while 3,989 voters were opposed, according to the unofficial results.

With neither override passing, the public schools are set to lose sports, extracurricular activities, administrative and teaching positions, as well as a reduction in electives. The School Department will also likely eliminate middle school and high school music and reduce or eliminate honors and AP classes.

Support services for seniors, multiple town positions and the Gaylord Library are also at risk of being eliminated.

At the time of publication, Town Clerk Sarah Gmeiner said there are a few provisional ballots the clerk’s office is waiting to see if they will count, “but as of this moment, we’re at a 46% turnout.” There were 13,467 registered voters for this election.

Town Administrator Lisa Wong commented on the results in an email to Reminder Publishing.

“I’m not surprised at the results,” Wong said. “It was definitely a big ask of voters who are dealing with a lot. We will regroup and continue to communicate with the public on the changes ahead. We will also focus on advocacy for policy changes and support at the state and federal levels.”

At the March 17 Selectboard meeting, the board approved sending the proposed FY27 budget to the Appropriations Committee.
The South Hadley School Committee approved a $27.5 million budget at its March 25 meeting. The budget will go to Town Meeting on May 13.

The other question listed on the ballot was a nonbinding question to see if the town would support the construction of a $36.5 million South Hadley Electric Lighting Department facility. The voters also opposed this question with 1,864 in favor and 3,982 against.

Although the item was listed on the ballot as a nonbinding question, the project has advanced through the approval process, and the town hopes the project will be completed in 2027. The Municipal Light Board has submitted its notice of intent to the Conservation Commission, and SHELD will appear before the commission on April 15 for a continued public hearing.

Gmeiner said the unofficial results include the advanced processed and election day tabulator tapes for all precincts. They did not include hand-counted ballots and ballots received from the ballot box before 8 a.m. and not counted at the polls.

The election also featured two contested races: the Selectboard and the Housing Authority.

The Selectboard will welcome two new faces after Priscilla Marion and Kevin Hennessey were the top two vote-getters, gathering 2,909 and 2,721 votes, respectively. Incumbent Nicole Casolari fell short of her reelection attempt with 2,226 votes and will not return to the Selectboard. Selectboard member Andrea Miles did not run for reelection after serving on the board for nine years.

Regarding the Housing Authority, John Duda defeated Richard Matteson 2,750 votes to 2,025 to secure a five-year term.
The remaining races on the ballot were unopposed. Tracie Kennedy will return to the School Committee, and Nicholas Prentiss also secured a seat on the committee.

Incumbent Karen Walsh Pio was voted back on the Board of Health for another three-year term, while the second vacancy will come down to a write-in vote because no one was listed on the ballot. The leading write-in candidate has not been determined yet, according to unofficial results.

John Hine was reelected to the Municipal Light Board in an uncontested race. Kevin Taugher also ran unopposed as an incumbent with the Board of Assessors for another three-year term.

Susan Crowther, David Morrell and Gillian Woldorf were all elected to serve the three three-year term Free Public Library Trustee positions. David Solender-Clark secured the one-year trustee position.

The Planning Board will welcome back its chair Diane Supczak-Mulvaney after a successful reelection campaign. The write-in will also determine who will fill the second vacancy after no one was listed on the ballot.

Voters in each precinct also voted for their respective Town Meeting members to represent them.