Hadley Select Board Re-Votes Business Licenses, Allocates $33,050 Electrical Settlement

HADLEY -- January 7, 2025, Hadley Select Board re-voted business license renewals and approved a $33,050 electrical aggregation settlement at its January 7 meeting. The board re-approved licenses for InterSkate 91, Cinemark USA, and Genji Sushi after an out-of-state party filed an open meeting law complaint alleging the December 17 agenda had not properly listed those businesses, Chair Randy Eiser said the names were in fact posted and no violation had occurred, but the board re-voted as a remedial step. The $33,050 settlement from a prior electricity aggregation vendor will send up to $5,000 to DPW Director Scott McCarthy for exterior lighting repairs, with the remainder applied to the town's electrical utility budget and any surplus returned to free cash. Board member Jane Nevin-Smith urged an early override vote, "late February or early March", ahead of the FY27 budget cycle, and the board agreed to hold two public finance education and listening sessions, tentatively January 28 and February 11, from 6 to 8 p.m. The board also unanimously approved a temporary job description change for an HR staff member performing dual administrative duties, a step recommended by town counsel to satisfy ethics commission requirements, though Finance Committee member Amy Parsons said she had first learned of the arrangement from town employees, not the board.