Panel presses contractor on stalled Hopkins insulation

Climate Change Committee · Meeting of June 11, 2026

HADLEY — The Hadley Climate Change Committee pushed for faster action on stalled school insulation work and a time-sensitive solar deal. Members said contractor AEG has done little beyond $7,000 in air sealing at Hopkins Academy in nearly three years, while a competing firm, Energy Source, won state approval for a $19,000 stage-insulation project the same day. The town still has about $77,800 in Green Communities grant money to spend by February.

Separately, members discussed a landfill solar project racing a federal tax-credit deadline after vendor SunWealth withdrew, with nonprofit PowerOptions recommending replacement vendor Select Energy ahead of a public vendor meeting the next day. Member Michael Docter argued the committee should stay "laser focused" on climate change, saying the issue "is coming down at us like a train 90 miles an hour." Members approved the May 20 minutes unanimously and declined, for now, to rename the committee.

In the full story:

• Minutes approval and bike-share correction
• Union of Concerned Scientists library display
• Science Stories speaker on plastics
• Green Communities grant: Hopkins Academy and Hadley Elementary insulation work
• Composting pilot at Hadley Elementary
• Landfill solar project
• Bike-share update
• Committee scope and possible name change
• Adjournment
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,701 words

Source: the Climate Change Committee meeting of June 11, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.