Hadley Weighs $19.65 Million DPW Facility Ahead of Town Meeting Warrant Deadline

HADLEY -- March 26, 2025, Hadley's Select Board and DPW Building Committee jointly debated whether to bring a $19.65 million DPW facility to May town meeting, with no vote taken but a working agreement to pursue phasing options. Select Board Chair Molly Keegan convened the special Zoom session, explaining the April 16 warrant-closing deadline left little time for further deliberation. DPW Building Committee Chair Jim Maximoski reported the project has been reduced from a $28 million estimate produced by Weston Sampson roughly a year ago, with the current design by architect HKA now at $19.65 million; assessor figures show a 30-year bond would add approximately $567 per year to the average household's tax bill, or $676 on a 20-year note. Maximoski said alternatives, repurposing the 1975 DPW garage, the town-owned Goodwin building, and the Russell School, were each ruled out because seismic and code-compliance costs matched or exceeded new construction. Select Board member Randy Eiser argued the townspeople, who authorized $225,000 in study costs, "should not be the ones to decide this" and are owed a vote on the full project, while member David Phil proposed asking HKA to price a reduced-scope starter building in the $12 million range. The committee agreed to request preliminary phasing estimates from HKA and to schedule a DPW Building Committee meeting for April 16 at 4 p.m., immediately before the Select Board closes the warrant.