Hadley Finance Committee Flags Free Cash Risk, Hears Solar Project Could Double in Size

HADLEY — February 26, 2025 — Hadley Finance Committee meets without staff, flags budget and zoning concerns. The four-member panel — Chair Amy Fiden, Shardul Parmar, Paul Benjamin, and Andy Kopel — convened February 26 without Town Administrator Mike Mason or Town Treasurer Linda, both unavailable, limiting the meeting's scope. Fiden said her chief budget concern is the town's reliance on anticipated, uncertified free cash in current projections, a practice she said has caused problems in prior years. On zoning, members discussed whether parking requirements, building size caps, and density rules may be deterring commercial development, referencing email responses from Bill Dwyer and Jim Maximowski who said they were unaware of specific problems. Kopel reported that the landfill solar project's buildable area has grown substantially after the Conservation Commission set the setback at 100 feet rather than the assumed 150, potentially allowing up to 4 megawatts of generation — double the initial estimate — though the project remains at least three years from operation and still needs a third-party financial analysis funded through grants.