Editor’s note: To mark the start of a new year, the Greenfield Recorder is publishing stories about what Franklin County residents can likely expect to see happening in their towns in 2025. Details about projects in the western part of the county will be shared in two parts.

Town officials in western Franklin County will be busy in 2025 working on renovating municipal buildings and seeking grants to offset costs, drafting bylaws, and considering what can be done to make the towns resilient and sustainable for years to come.

Ashfield

In 2025, Ashfield’s biggest priority is to continue planning renovations to its municipal buildings and growing town departments, while trying to maintain a reasonable budget that does not drastically increase tax bills, according to Town Administrator Paul McLatchy III. The town has multiple buildings that need attention, and the Finance Committee will be working on developing a capital improvement plan to outline when improvements will occur and budget for how much.

The town’s tentative budget meeting schedule includes discussions with the Town Hall Building Committee on Jan. 6, and continued talks on capital expenses on March 17 and March 21. McLatchy added that the town is always seeking grants and this year will prioritize seeking funds to replace or repair the retaining wall at the old Sanderson field that the town took through eminent domain in 2023.

As discussions on building renovations continue, the Energy Committee is hoping to incorporate eco-friendly and energy-efficient options. McLatchy said the town will hear from the state in 2025 about whether its application to be a Climate Leader Community has been accepted. The new certification program opens up a pool of $60 million in grants that municipalities can use to help transition to clean energy sources.

McLatchy mentioned the West County Senior Services District, providing services to elderly residents of Ashfield, Buckland and Shelburne, will officially launch on July 1. With the existing arrangement between the three towns dissolving, the power to manage the Senior Center in Shelburne Falls will be transferred to the new shared district, allowing for independence from the three towns and the ability to potentially expand.

Similarly, McLatchy continued, Ashfield will begin looking at regionalizing other services, such as the police and fire departments.

“We’re not anticipating anything will be operational by [the end of 2025] but we have to start laying the groundwork for it now,” McLatchy said.

McLatchy added that his personal goals for the new year included updating the town’s personnel policies, drafting a wage schedule to standardize staff salaries and raises, and digitizing records.

Charlemont

One of the biggest goals for the Charlemont Selectboard will be growing the town’s housing stock, according to Chair Valentine Reid. The board is looking at numerous initiatives to promote housing, including potentially enacting a new bylaw to create a registry of abandoned and derelict properties and institute fees to owners for having vacant, uninhabitable or at-risk houses in Charlemont.

“Charlemont has one of the highest numbers of abandoned properties in West County,” Reid said.

Rehabbing abandoned properties into livable spaces would help the board make progress on two of its goals: reducing the town’s high tax rate and attracting more families with young children to the area. Reid said having more homes and taxable properties would help lower the tax rate, and welcoming more families could grow the schools.

The Mohawk Trail Regional School District is currently undergoing a sustainability study, and expects to present different models outlining potential futures for the district in the spring, including restructuring, moving sixth grade to the middle school, and potentially closing and combining elementary schools.

Town Administrator Sarah Reynolds added that 2025 will also see the town working on projects that were approved at the 2024 Annual Town Meeting, such as developing a shared fire district with Rowe, as well as pursuing infrastructure projects such as roadway and Town Hall improvements. The town will be working on replacing flooring in the municipal offices.

Shelburne

“Resilience” is the town’s biggest goal for the year, in the words of Selectboard Chair Rick LaPierre. The town will be working on several projects to make it sustainable and prepared for the future, including getting a backup generator for Town Hall, renovating Cowell Gymnasium and the Memorial Hall theater, and converting the streetlights to LEDs.

LaPierre said the Selectboard’s goals are widespread and cover all the town’s departments, ranging from repairs to the bridge going over Dragon Brook off Bardwells Ferry Road to continued training of town staff.

“They’re all very important projects that need continued shepherding by the Selectboard,” LaPierre said.

While the town’s elected officials and staff will be busy on their various projects, LaPierre said 2025 will be a big year for voters as well. At the upcoming Annual Town Meeting, voters will decide how to allocate Community Preservation Act funds for the first time. At last spring’s Town Meeting, voters approved adopting a Community Preservation Fund and established a Community Preservation Committee.

“That’ll be an interesting one,” LaPierre said.

The committee has reviewed eight or nine applications for funding and will be discussing which projects to recommend to voters, LaPierre said. Additionally, voters will decide on four new bylaws and bylaw amendments that are being proposed by the Planning Board.

The Planning Board is working on updating the town’s zoning bylaws regarding accessory dwelling units to be consistent with the new state law allowing ADUs by right for property owners, amending a mobile home bylaw to update definitions and include mobile food establishments, and creating bylaws regulating battery energy storage systems and short-term rentals.

Hawley

Administrative Assistant Tinky Weisblat said the new year will bring slow and steady progress for Hawley with long-term goals and roadwork projects, but she anticipates work on Ashfield Road will be finished in the coming year, including repairing culverts and drainage, widening it and reconstructing sections.

“It’s still gonna be a dirt road but at least it’ll be passable,” Weisblat said.

This past summer, the town awarded a $587,360 contract to the Clayton D. Davenport construction company to complete the repairs. Work began this fall and is expected to be completed early in the new year.

The town’s biggest challenge will be the same one it faces every year: financing the infrastructure repairs needed without imposing a large burden on taxpayers, Weisblat said. Hawley has a small population spread out over a large area, meaning there are many roads to maintain and not a lot of taxpayers to pay for it.

“We love our natural beauty but it’s a challenge,” Weisblat said. “But we persevere as we always do.”

Town officials will continue brainstorming, planning and seeking financing for other roadwork, such as on the Dugway, a curvy and hazardous section of Route 8A.

In addition to roadwork, Weisblat said expanding community programs will be a big effort for the town’s volunteers in 2025. The Council on Aging is working to develop more intergenerational programs connecting residents young and old, and Weisblat is planning the return of the town’s celebrated pudding contest.

The traditional pudding contest, which led to a section of town being named “Pudding Hollow,” has not been held for about six years. Weisblat said this was due to the large amount of work it takes to plan the contest as well as delays amid the pandemic.

The pudding contest will be held in October. Pudding makers from all over New England will descend upon the town for a parade, a skit telling the history of the contest and the tasting competition.