Cars head up Monson Road during a previous WIlbraham Hill Climb.
Reminder Publishing file photo
WILBRAHAM — At the Jan. 6 Select Board meeting, the board members expressed hesitation about the 2025 Wilbraham Hill Climb. Organizers Jeff DeMarey and Edward Cenedella came before the board on Jan. 13 to answer questions and try to allay concerns.
The modern hill climb, organized by Springfield to Boston Educational Foundation, began as a re-creation of the 1908 Monson Road race. Each year, about 20 vintage race cars and a few antique motorcycles climb the one-mile, 700-foot incline of Monson Road trying to garner the best time. Over the past few years, however, the hill climb has grown to include a car show, craft vendors, museum exhibits, food trucks and breweries. According to the Select Board, however, not everyone is pleased with it.
Last year, there were several issues, with Monson Road residents reporting that they could not access their driveways, paperwork from various vendors submitted to the town late and traffic issues.
To address traffic congestion on Main Street, Cenedella suggested a shuttle bring people from the parking lot at Memorial School to Wilbraham Monson Academy where the car show will be staged, and from Minnechaug Regional High School to Bruuer Pond, near Monson Road. Last year, parking was allowed at Minnechaug only. Cenedella said delivering people to parking areas at either end of the event would keep the shuttles from stopping in the middle of Main Street traffic to let passengers on and off.
DeMarey said there is a “compartmentalized” team of people working to coordinate the event. Cenedella is handling entertainment, Shannon Field of Fieldcrest Brewing is overseeing the food and drink vendors, someone from Wilbraham Monson Academy will be managing parking there, while volunteers will be coordinating parking elsewhere.
The hill climb is scheduled for May 10, which had been the date for the townwide tag sale. Now, the tag sale will be hosted the next weekend. In exchange for the organizers moving the sale, Cenedella said that it will be promoted at the hill climb.
At the previous week’s meeting, Select Board member Marc Ducey had questioned whether the racing cars were road-worthy and if the organizers had insurance. Cenedella assured him that the Vintage Sports Car Club of America, the race-sanctioning organization, requires the cars to adhere to regulations around aspects such as helmets and safety belts. The vehicles are inspected within 24 hours of the race, Cenedella said. DeMarey added that both the Vintage Sports Car Club of America and Springfield to Boston have insurance policies for the race. Expressing the organizers’ desire to stage a safe event, DeMarey said that two years ago, spectators were eliminated from the hill because people were stepping out onto the road. “It does give the racers the heebie jeebies,” he said.
Select Board member Michael Squindo said running the event every year is a burden on the residents in the neighborhood. Cenedella said they have set up a hotline for people to call if there are any issues. He remarked that the race is from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. once a year, while he lives in West Springfield and has to deal with the Big E for two weeks each year.
“We think annual instances are good for this,” Cenedella said, explaining that car enthusiasts know they can count on the event being in Wilbraham every year. Ducey told the organizers they should survey the neighbors to see how they feel about the event. DeMarey countered that local businesses like that the hill climb brings people into their establishments.
While the organizers had asked the Select Board to approve the race for this year and next, the board approved the race for 2025 only. Squindo voted against a separate motion to allow the vendors, but that passed, as well.
Sewer rates
The Select Board approved a recommendation from DPW Director Tonya Capparello to increase sewer rates beginning with the fall 2025 bill. She said a major factor is a spike in Wilbraham’s assessment from Springfield to treat the town’s sewage. “[We are] going to be getting a substantial increase unlike anything we’ve had before,” she said. The assessment for this year is $232,000. By 2032, she expects it to be $401,000 or more.
Capparello explained that the board could choose to implement a single large hike or smaller “reasonable” increases over the course of a few years, with annual reviews to determine how much it should be raised. She said she was in favor of the latter option. Ducey said smaller increases were “more palatable” to residents.
This year’s sewer rate is $4.60 per 100 cubic feet of water. She recommended increasing it to $5 per 100 cubic feet. In two or three years, the rate would then go to $5.50 per 100 cubic feet. If the board were so inclined, she said it could use the sewer retained earnings account to slow the rate rise but cautioned against emptying the account to keep the rate artificially low.
The last sewer rate bump was two years ago. Capparello said there had not been one for about 10 years before that. She said that the DPW staff was “doing a deep dive” to find usage issues, errors and other operational efficiencies.
On a related note, Capparello asked for a moratorium on irrigation meters until the DPW finishes its examination of water usage. She explained that sewer bills were calculated based on the amount of water used by a customer. However, water that is used for washing cars and watering grass runs off and is not treated as sewage. Irrigation meters measure the water used outside the home for these purposes.
“This is water we pay a lot of money for,” Capparello said of Wilbraham’s potable water, which is sourced from Quabbin Reservoir. She said the DPW is trying to make the issue “more efficient, more transparent.” There are about 50 irrigation meters in town and the abatements the DPW processes have grown significantly.
If the usage review finds that it would be more efficient to cancel the irrigation meter program, Capparello said the town would not replace meters as they fail and allow them to be phased out. The board also approved this request.
