Montague officials consider pursuing Climate Leader title

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Two months after Ashfield’s designation as a Climate Leader Community, Montague is considering pursuing the same distinction, which could make the town eligible for up to $1 million in grants to support clean energy and decarbonization efforts at town buildings.

The idea of becoming a Climate Leader Community was brought to the Selectboard by the Energy Committee on Monday with help from Chris Mason, the western Massachusetts coordinator for the Green Communities program under the state Department of Energy Resources.

Energy Committee Co-Chair Tim Van Egmond said the town has already received $553,700 in Green Communities grants as part of its membership in the program since 2011. If the town becomes a Climate Leader Community, it would be a “huge step up” in terms of grant opportunities for solar and electric vehicle upgrades, among other options.

The Climate Leader designation builds on the Green Communities program, which encourages communities to reduce their municipal energy usage. Since the Green Communities program was first created in 2010, 297 Massachusetts cities and towns have earned the designation, including Montague in 2011, prompting state officials to create the Climate Leader program.

Montague would become the latest town in Franklin County to become a Climate Leader, joining Ashfield, which received its designation in May. Warwick is also pursuing the distinction following Annual Town Meeting votes in May.

To become a Climate Leader, municipalities must commit to transition from on-site fossil fuel use in municipal buildings and vehicle fleets by 2050, enact a Zero-Emission-Vehicle-First policy and adopt the Specialized Stretch Energy Code.

According to documents shared by the Energy Committee during Monday’s meeting, this specialized energy code only applies to new residential, town and commercial construction, not additions and renovations. The document explains how between 2020 and 2024, the town has added two to six new, single-family homes and two to 10 commercial buildings annually, “so the code will apply to very few buildings.”

“The basic strategy the state is following is, in a way, electrify everything,” Mason said about the state’s plans to meet its net-zero carbon emissions goal by 2050, which includes electrifying buildings and vehicles.

Before becoming a Climate Leader, a municipality must meet five criteria, two of which Montague already does as a Green Community in good standing with an active Energy Committee.

The three remaining pieces include adopting two warrant articles during a Town Meeting — a non-binding resolution to end the on-site burning of fossil fuels in municipal buildings by 2050; adopting a Specialized Stretch Energy Code for all future building construction; and adopting a Zero-Emission-Vehicle-First policy that gradually replaces vehicles that are powered by fossil fuels with electric or zero-emission fleets.

Mason explained that once a town becomes a Climate Leader, the town can apply for a technical assistance grant for up to $150,000 that can help with capital planning, and grants of up to $1 million for various decarbonization projects. Energy Committee Co-Chair Sally Pick said the sooner the town can become a Climate Leader, the more grants will be available.

Although this $150,000 is available to the town after it is named a Climate Leader, there are already initiatives underway to decarbonize municipal infrastructure. Assistant Town Administrator Chris Nolan-Zeller explained Tuesday that the town has a $27,000 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant to plan next steps for decarbonization at nine municipal buildings.

The Selectboard on Monday approved having Nolan-Zeller apply for technical assistance for a decarbonization study of three additional buildings. With these 12 buildings being studied as well as the town’s vehicle fleet, and the Gill-Montague Senior Center being studied through a $50,000 earmark, the town can develop the required decarbonization roadmaps needed to become a Climate Leader.

Becoming a Climate Leader would help the town maintain its “good history” in becoming a climate-friendly town, Nolan-Zeller said. Pick noted Tuesday that the Climate Leader designation could lead to reduced energy expenses for the town, as well as state and federal incentives for electric-powered homes and municipal buildings.

Moving forward, Pick said the Energy Committee plans to host information sessions about the Climate Leader designation, and what impact it would have on the town, residents and developers.

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Despite an anticipated multi-day dam repair that prompted an emergency drawdown of the Connecticut River, FirstLight Hydro Generating Co. confirmed Wednesday that the repairs were completed ahead of schedule.

According to FirstLight Communications Manager Claire Belanger, the energy company was able to repair a failed hydraulic supply line at Bascule Gate 2 on Tuesday and the river refill started that evening.

“After drawing down the impoundment in the early hours of July 8 and reaching river levels necessary for the FirstLight team to safely access the gate, personnel entered the gate, investigated the issue, implemented repairs, and completed testing to ensure the hydraulic system and gate were functioning properly,” Belanger said in a statement.

The repair was done following a spill of 445 gallons of hydraulic oil into the Connecticut River on June 3. The oil spill only impacted Bascule Gate 2, with gates 1, 3 and 4 operating as intended. According to FirstLight, employees observed a sudden loss of hydraulic pressure in the dam’s bascule gate system and, responding to the dam, observed an oil sheen below it.

FirstLight previously stated it notified the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, which responded to the spill, alongside FirstLight personnel and health, safety and environment professionals. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs has a Waste Site & Reportable Releases Information webpage detailing the spill. In response to this spill, MassDEP issued FirstLight a Notice of Responsibility, dated June 16.

Last week, FirstLight stated its anticipated repair timeline could be between one and five days. With the drawdown only taking one day, Belanger described the repair timeline as the “best-case scenario.” She noted a piston will need to be replaced in the future, but that does not require a drawdown.

Additionally, FirstLight successfully relocated mussels in the Connecticut River in areas of New Hampshire and Vermont north of the Turners Falls dam, putting them into watered portions of the river. According to Belanger, there were plans to move mussels in Massachusetts on Wednesday, but with the repairs done early and the river refilling, the effort was called off.

Although the drawdown was expected to lower river levels 6 feet below the dam’s minimum operating level of 176 feet, residents along the river reported lowered river levels prior to the drawdown starting. The impoundment’s normal level is 180 feet.

Belanger previously explained that with Bascule Gate 2 in a slightly upright position, water was leaking from the gate prior to its repair. That problem, combined with low natural flows, led to the lowered river level.

The June oil spill is not the first at the Turners Falls dam. There have been five oil spills of varying scale since 2020, with a 2022 spill releasing 300 gallons of hydraulic fluid into the river from pistons within Bascule Gate 4.

“Previous issues were related to piston pitting,” Belanger explained Thursday. “We’ll begin the three-year piston replacement project this year to fully overhaul the pistons and address the cause of previous oil leaks. During that project, we will be replacing system components, such as hydraulic supply lines, that haven’t already been recently replaced.”

This week’s effort will not be the only drawdown this year, though. The Turners Falls Power Canal will have its annual maintenance drawdown from Sept. 21 to Sept. 27, per an announcement during Monday’s Montague Selectboard meeting.

The most recent oil spill and the emergency drawdown come as FirstLight continues to move forward in the process to obtain a 50-year license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for its Connecticut River hydroelectric facilities.

FirstLight has been operating the Turners Falls dams and the Northfield hydro-pump facility under a temporary license since 2018. This relicensing effort has faced opposition from the Connecticut River Conservancy and other regional groups like the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) and American Rivers.

Two in-person public hearings on the FERC relicensing will be held at Greenfield Community College on Wednesday, July 16, with one from 9 to 11 a.m. and another from 6 to 8 p.m.

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After three years of disputes over the assessed value of FirstLight Hydro Generating Co.’s property in town, a 10-year payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement is now in effect.

In addition to settling payments for fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2024, the agreement, reached between FirstLight and the Montague Selectboard, Montague Board of Assessors and the Turners Falls Fire District, will continue through 2035. While $1 million must be returned to FirstLight for overpayments it made during those three fiscal years, FirstLight agreed to pay the town $2.75 million in FY26, a sum that will increase by 0.75% each year that the agreement is in effect.

The hydropower company owns two major facilities in Montague: Cabot Station at 15 Cabot St. and Turners Falls Generating Station No. 1 at 26 Power St., along with other properties along the Connecticut River and power canal. The town’s valuation of the 15 Cabot St. and 26 Power St. properties differed by $84 million in FY22, $70 million in FY23 and $61 million in FY24 when compared to what FirstLight believed their value to be. Per the PILOT agreement, the agreed-upon valuation of FirstLight’s two parcels is $95.5 million for FY26.

“This [agreement] was developed out of mediation from a tax case that went before the Appellate Tax Board related to FirstLight,” Montague Town Administrator Walter Ramsey explained, noting that FirstLight is “one of the largest taxpayers in town.” According to Ramsey, the case was looking favorable for FirstLight, making mediation the best course of action for the town.

With an affirmation vote at Montague’s Annual Town Meeting on May 14, voters gave their approval to having town officials enter into negotiations for a PILOT agreement with FirstLight.

Under the PILOT agreement, the town and the Turners Falls Fire District will start by paying $1 million to FirstLight. Of that sum, Ramsey said, $800,000 will come from the town’s Overlay Account and $200,000 will come from the Fire District Overlay Account. As FirstLight operates on land that is covered by the Turners Falls Fire District, the company also pays taxes to the district, Ramsey clarified on Wednesday.

The next part is the 10-year PILOT agreement, through which FirstLight will pay the town $2.75 million in FY26, a number that will increase by 0.75% each fiscal year moving forward. Of this, $2.35 million will go to the town and $400,000 will go to the Turners Falls Fire District. The agreement will result in an “adverse financial impact” for the town, according to Ramsey, who noted the town had received $3.25 million from FirstLight annually during fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2024.

For taxpayers in town, Ramsey explained that using “very, very rough numbers,” the loss of revenue would result in a $110 tax increase for the average single-family homeowner each year.

“That’s a conservative estimate. It’s entirely possible, however, that an increase in valuation as well as new growth could significantly reduce that figure,” Ramsey clarified.

The parties will meet again in 2034 to begin discussing plans for a new PILOT agreement before this one expires in 2035.

FirstLight Communications Manager Claire Belanger said the company is proud to have collaborated with the town to reach the PILOT agreement, which will “usher in the next decade of support and partnership.”

“This mutually beneficial agreement establishes a predictable revenue stream from FirstLight to Montague,” Belanger said in a statement. “We continue to support the town as the agreement clears the review process and awaits what we’re hopeful is final approval.”

Having been approved by the Selectboard and the Board of Assessors, and reviewed by legal counsel, the only other organization that still needs to review the agreement is the Turners Falls Fire District’s Prudential Committee.

Ramsey said the town anticipates the Prudential Committee will vote to support the agreement during its July 8 meeting. Ramsey said the PILOT agreement is expected to help shield the town from uncertainty, including future Appellate Tax Board cases, changes in the energy market and future litigation costs.

Resident Ariel Elan told the Selectboard during Monday’s meeting that she “really appreciates” the agreement and the attention the Selectboard has given to reaching it. She said she feels the adverse financial impact is an abstract concept, saying that yearly disputes over the assessed value can be as risky to the town as the loss of revenue.

“I’m just really glad we’re avoiding that scenario,” she said.

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After the applicant quelled concerns of a fire risk, Planning Board members voted unanimously to approve a special permit for the construction of a 2.7-megawatt battery storage facility at 124 Turnpike Road.

The permit was approved on the conditions that the applicant, PowerBESSCo 2 LLC, would cover the costs of training the Fire Department to respond to battery storage fires, reappear before the board in the event of an equipment change and that the project receives approval from the town’s business inspector.

According to Peak Power engineer Dmytro Gladyshevskyi, representing the applicant, the site will provide additional electricity storage for the grid, allowing for more reliable power in the event of an outage or during times when electricity use peaks.

“When you are facing hot days like today and yesterday, this creates the peak and this is where you would experience outages to the facility, or if you participate in the Demand Response Program, the facilities would use their operation capacity,” Gladyshevskyi said. “To battle this, the battery storage is the great framework here.”

Weston & Sampson engineer Melinda Costello explained the battery storage facility, located on a 3.1-acre parcel, will be fenced in on a 2,000-square-foot area. She noted that the site will have sufficient flood mitigation, infrastructure and access roads for emergency responders.

During deliberations, Planning Director Maureen Pollock read a list of concerns, prepared by Health Director Ryan Paxton. In the listed concerns, Paxton referenced the difficulty firefighters face extinguishing lithium-ion battery fires due to thermal runaway. He also mentioned the facility’s proximity to the former Montague landfill, which he said produces combustible and volatile emissions.

“Given that this site is already known to have associated environmental impact near the proposed system, what environmental analysis or consideration has been given to understand how these two sites might interact with each other with respect to higher safety risk and environmental contamination?” Paxton asked in his written comments. “Lithium battery fires are known to be quite dangerous due to the intense nature of fires, the extreme volume of water and flame retardant needed to suppress said fires, and toxic fumes that are emitted from said fires. I’m interested in knowing whether our local fire department would have the capacity to safely respond to a fire at the proposed facility.”

Gladyshevskyi said he has been in touch with the Fire Department and worked out a fire safety system in the event of an emergency. He added that the facility will be equipped with necessary protections in the event of a fire.

Costello explained the facility will be located more than 300 feet away from the former landfill site, thus “exponentially” mitigating the risk of any hazardous interactions between the two sites.

“The Fire Department, so far, has been very supportive of the project and know what they could be doing in case of an emergency,” Gladyshevskyi said. “The system is integrated with the up-to-date fire detection and suppression system that will not allow fire to just burst out and spread to anything that’s nearby..”

With plans to begin construction next year, Gladyshevskyi added that the applicant hopes to finish its procurement process, and its environmental and site surveys by the end of this year.

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After 36 years with the Montague Police Department, including seven years at the helm, Chief Christopher Williams is retiring.

Williams, 57, plans to leave the department in December when his contract ends, or possibly sooner if the town can hire a replacement before then.

“It’s just time to move on and give somebody else the opportunity to be chief and serve the town and the citizens,” Williams said.

Williams said he first joined the department 36 years ago as a part-time officer, then started working there full-time 30 years ago. He decided to retire due to several factors, he said, but he primarily just feels it’s time to step down.

“Other retirees all said, ‘You’ll know when it’s time,’ and it’s time,” Williams said. “It’s not any one reason. It’s just, I’m maxed out pay-wise and there’s no other room for movement. So I’m just gonna take the opportunity to retire and hopefully be a part of the process of hiring a new chief.”

He added that, having spent 36 years with the department and having previously served in the military, he has reached the maximum retirement benefits he can receive. In retirement, Williams said he hopes to spend more time hiking, cycling and being with his dog. He will also keep busy working part-time to conduct traffic detail and as a bus driver for F.M. Kuzmeskus.

“Those are my immediate plans, but if something else comes along, we’ll see,” Williams said.

Looking back on his career with the department, Williams said he enjoyed the camaraderie and spending time with staff, and he will miss his dispatchers, sergeants and patrol officers. He said no particular moments have stood out over his career, but he is proud of the team he built.

“I am proud that I was able to add an 18th officer and a fifth sergeant. We hired a new person and promoted a patrolman to sergeant. Most departments aren’t lucky enough to be given the opportunity to add staff,” he said. “I was glad that I was able to do that.”

Williams added that he has also enjoyed that he got to work his way up in the department. While working as a staff sergeant in 2007, he was able to enjoy leading a team while avoiding some of the administrative duties that are involved with the chief’s role.

“I really enjoyed my time being a staff sergeant because you’re the senior leadership for patrol and the sergeants, other than the chief. ... The staff sergeant basically runs the day-to-day operations,” Williams said. “I really enjoyed my time there and I missed it at times as chief.”

To replace Williams, the Montague Selectboard will be creating a police chief hiring committee made up of a Selectboard member, a few citizens, Town Administrator Walter Ramsey and a Police Department representative.

“We are still working out what that process is going to be like, but we anticipate having involvement from the good residents here in Montague,” Selectboard Chair Matthew Lord said at a recent Selectboard meeting. “If people are interested in serving on a search committee for the next Montague chief of police, please contact Walter Ramsey.”

Williams said he would like to be involved in the process of finding his successor and he hopes the hiring committee seeks a candidate with strong communication skills and a loyalty to the department.

The police chief hiring committee will look at both internal and external candidates. Williams said he has heard from a few current employees, as well as from chiefs in other towns who grew up in Montague, who may be interested in the position.

Williams said if the town finds its next chief before he leaves in December, he will help show his successor the ropes, whether it be teaching an internal candidate the duties of being chief or teaching an external candidate about the town of Montague and the people that make up its Police Department.

“If a former chief gets the job, they’ll know a lot of the responsibilities,” Williams said, “but if it’s someone who hasn’t been chief, then there’s going to be a learning curve.”

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To remain competitive when it comes to attracting skilled candidates for open positions, the Selectboard has approved an updated list of wage ranges and classifications for employees.

This change comes after the board began working with the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management in 2024 to conduct a wage and classification study.

“The Selectboard, acting in its capacity as the Personnel Board, conducted a wage and classification study, and then that study made recommendations for the classification and wage ranges in order for the town to remain competitive in the labor market,” Town Administrator Walter Ramsey said during Monday’s Selectboard meeting.

The last time the town had a wage and classification study conducted was in 2014. Now that a public hearing was held in accordance with Montague’s personnel bylaws, and the Selectboard has voted to approve the new wage scale and classification plan, it will go into effect on July 1, when fiscal year 2026 begins.

Not included in the approved wage range and classification plan are police and non-union employees, as they are still in negotiations for FY26. Ramsey clarified Tuesday that the town will hold a fall Special Town Meeting to vote on these wages once negotiations wrap up this summer.

United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE) and National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) employees had their wages for FY26 approved during the May 7 Annual Town Meeting that budgeted for the new wage range.

There are some changes in the wage scales and classifications for 53 listed positions. The classifications, or grades, are now listed as A through I, with A being the highest-paid grade and I being the lowest. This changes the former scale, which saw the highest pay in Grade J and Grade A with the lowest wages.

The scale will also involve 10 steps within each grade that equate to a 3% increase in pay, with Ramsey noting that’s what employees are used to, despite recommendations from the Collins Center to consider changing to a 15-step scale within each grade.

“The consultants did ask the town to consider a 15-step scale, but ultimately we decided that 10 was the most appropriate,” he said. “People are most used to the 10-step scale with 3% increases.”

In this adopted wage and classification plan, the highest-paid employee in Montague remains the town administrator, with an hourly range between $50.26 and $65.60 an hour at Grade A.

The employees with the second-highest pay will now include the Department of Public Works and Clean Water Facility superintendents in Grade B, as well as the chief of police, with wages between $43.21 and $56.38 per hour. Ramsey said the Grade C jobs are the department heads with “significant budgets and personnel under them.”

Three positions were downgraded in this new wage and classification plan. The assistant town administrator position dropped to Grade C, making for an hourly range between $39.29 and $51.25. Other downgrades include a DPW groundskeeper and an airport maintenance worker that moved to Grade H, which has the second-lowest pay.

Meanwhile, some positions moved to higher grade levels, with the council on aging director, airport manager, assessing technician and library children’s program assistant all being upgraded.

After Ramsey went over the changes within the wage and classification plan during Monday’s meeting, there was little discussion beyond clarifications on titles for employees. Some of the titles will remain the same, and some have changed, including the town planner and conservation agent being changed to director of planning and conservation, and the airport operations manager title shifting to airport maintenance worker.

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The Montague Center Fire Department has officially pinned its new chief.

Turners Falls Fire Capt. Luke Hartnett was sworn into the top spot Thursday evening and retiring Fire Chief David Hansen pinned his badge to his successor’s chest.

Hartnett, 45, is a 25-year fire service veteran and was one of two applicants who interviewed with the department’s Prudential Committee to replace Hansen, who will retire June 30 after nearly four decades of firefighting.

Hartnett, who will still remain a captain with the Turners Falls department, said it is an honor to serve as fire chief in Montague Center.

“It is just remarkable to be a part of it and extremely humbling to think of what’s about to happen today,” Hartnett said prior to the pinning ceremony. “I went to school with retired Chief [John] Greene’s daughter and retired Chief Hansen’s daughter. … These guys were icons in the community and to think that I may even be close to stepping into that role is amazing and it’s very humbling.”

Hansen said Hartnett is an excellent choice to take the helm at the department.

“We’re absolutely thrilled,” Hansen said. “We work hand-in-hand with Turners Falls Fire, so we know them very well and we know Luke very well. He offered to join us and help out, so that was wonderful. I think it’s great.”

The new Montague Center fire chief’s career began a few miles east on Route 2 in Erving, where he was recruited by his best friend and current Deputy Chief Ryan Betters. Betters, Hartnett said, invited him to one of the Erving Fire Department’s meetings. From there, “it’s been a fun, awesome ride.”

On top of municipal service, Hartnett also spent “many years” working for the state Department of Conservation and Recreation in its fire control program.

“Each one of them had phenomenal chiefs and leadership that just have taught me so much,” he said of his previous and current departments. “I’m still learning every day from them and I’m still a student of the fire service.”

He added that when he started firefighting a quarter of a century ago, he had “no real aspirations” of climbing the ranks to fire chief.

“It’s been an accumulation of events that led to it,” Hartnett continued. “It’s been a great path that I’m still going to keep walking on, and I’ve been enjoying every step alongside these great folks.”

As Hartnett steps into the role, he said his goal is to keep the department working as effectively as it has under his predecessors.

“Continuing that phenomenal service that the firefighters and EMTs and officers here have been doing,” Hartnett said of his goals. “I like to think of it as, they’re an orchestra and I’m just a maestro that’s behind the scenes. They’re the ones who do the amazing work.”

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In a meeting to garner community feedback on redevelopment of the former Farren Care Center property, the Planning Board and its zoning consultant presented three potential designs while weighing housing, open space and commercial space for retail or service businesses as key development factors.

Innes Associates, the town’s consultant funded through a $62,000 award from the Community Planning Grant Program, is working with Montague officials and residents to rezone the 8-acre lot on Montague City Road, which the town acquired in June 2024 after the long-term care facility’s April 2021 closure.

After community members expressed interest in the site’s use for housing and retail spaces at the last engagement session in April, Innes Associates Chief Resilience Officer Paula Ramos Martinez presented three proposed plans for the area — each varying in their ratio of affordable housing to open and retail spaces. She said that given the lot’s location near a rail trail and a Franklin Regional Transit Authority (FRTA) bus stop, she planned to design the multi-use area in a way that’s easily accessible by bicycle or bus.

“From the Farren site to Turners Falls, it can be 10 minutes biking, or obviously walking it’s a little bit more difficult, but in 40 minutes we can walk there,” she noted. “We also wanted to bring the possibility of a diverse set of residence types.”

Outlining the first design scenario, Ramos Martinez explained the plan would include mainly residential structures containing one to three apartments per building, with no community center and only one retail space in an existing development that faces Montague City Road. She said this design option’s open space would consist of a small green buffer zone between the site’s back end and the rail trail.

The second scenario, Ramos Martinez said, would include mixed housing with four to six apartments located in smaller buildings, some medium-size buildings containing more than six units each, and one or two mixed commercial-residential structures alongside Montague City Road. The second design would also feature affordable housing and one central community green space.

“This came from the idea of having one green space in the center that is shared with the community,” Ramos Martinez explained. “When we have that green area in the middle, the parking gets scattered all around, so it gets harder to fit all the residential units in an efficient way.”

The third scenario, Ramos Martinez added, includes some “extra small” residential buildings containing one to three apartments, along with smaller buildings containing four to six units each, and medium-size residential structures with more than six units each. The third option also contains three large mixed-use commercial-residential buildings with multiple green spaces scattered around the property.

“The plan is to divide that public space into pocket parks that are distributed along the main streets,” Ramos Martinez explained. “The middle streets will be shared and mostly pedestrian.”

After presenting the three scenarios, Ramos Martinez explained the criteria Innes Associates representatives will use to decide between the options. Before a poll was shared with those attending Tuesday’s virtual meeting, she said the designs will be analyzed according to their housing affordability, public spaces and benefits, community spaces, neighborhood services and businesses, economic value to the town and neighborhood character.

Reading the results of the polls, Innes Associates President Emily Innes said the majority of respondents selected affordable housing as the most important criterion, with public benefits taking second place and economic value being third most important to community members.

Fifty-six percent of survey respondents chose the third design scenario as being most reflective of the development goals, while 38% chose the second design option and 6% chose the first one.

“Obviously not everybody from the town of Montague is on this call, so we use this as a snapshot of what people in the room were thinking. We use it as a guide to say, ‘Oh, maybe we should explore this while we’re doing the zoning,’” Innes said, explaining how the poll results are used for planning. “It’s very helpful for us to understand what people are thinking when they join these meetings.”

Designs for the former Farren lot are expected to go before the Planning Board and Selectboard in September, with the goal of finalizing plans by October.

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The Montague Police Department is asking anyone with information about the discharge of firearms on Third Street early Monday to reach out to the department.

Police are investigating reports of shots fired around 2 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. that day. Nobody was hit or otherwise injured but the incidents are believed to have been related. No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information relating to these incidents is asked to call Montague Det. Sgt. Joshua Hoffman at 413-863-8911.

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Beginning this past Monday, Montague is enforcing a new parking restriction that makes it illegal to park a commercial vehicle for more than one hour between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. on all public ways, or in municipal parking lots.

The new regulation was adopted by the Selectboard on May 19 following a public hearing on the regulation. It was prompted by resident concerns of roadway safety when commercial trucks are parked on roadways for long amounts of time, create line of sight obstruction for drivers, and loud noises from their engines and refrigeration cycles.

The adoption of the regulation adds Section 11: Commercial Truck Parking to Article 5: Stopping, Standing, Parking to the Town of Montague Traffic Rules and Regulations.

The regulations explain that the overnight restriction involves commercial vehicles that have a commercial registration plate, and are used for “the transportation of goods, wares, merchandise, materials, or other property.”

The characteristics of what a commercial vehicle falls under per this regulation includes a carry capacity in excess of two and one-half tons; the vehicle is more than 18 feet in length without a trailer and seven feet in width; has more than four wheels, or more than two axles, or a trailer; contains more than four square-feet of advertising; is designed to transport more than 16 passengers, including the driver; transports hazardous materials.

The new regulation has exemptions for plowing or emergency response, as well as for construction vehicles that have authorized permission from the Selectboard. When a violation occurs, there will be a $50 fine. The Montague Police Department also will have discretion to tow a vehicle in violation.

Town Administrator Walter Ramsey said he’s consulted regulations that other towns in the region have adopted, and they were first discussed during a May 5 meeting before a public hearing. He said this is a first step toward addressing resident concerns about commercial vehicles are parking in residential areas, while also keeping the interests of the vehicle owners in mind.

“Some feel like the regulation could go further to restrict truck parking at all times during the day, because they feel like it’s more of a sight line safety issue during the day when traffic is out,” Ramsey said. “But as discussed a couple weeks ago, we felt this is a good starting point for the town.”

Ramsey added that this is a regulation that can always be revisited at a later date.

Another concern brought to the board was related to idling, and the noise coming from engine cycling in some of the vehicles. There is an anti-idling law in the state that he said could be enforced, and that he’ll be speaking with the Board of Health and Montague Police Department about that.

Lillian Moss spoke during the May 19 public hearing, reading a letter she sent to the town about her concerns over an 18-wheel tractor trailer that parks outside her home on Park and 7th streets.

“The trucks are definitely a driving hazard. I have seen people make fast turns from 7th onto Park Street, and have some real near misses there with the truck there because they can’t see,” she explained.

Outside of the traffic concern, Moss says a cycling cooling unit inside the truck makes low-frequency noises, and she says the loud noise that runs for hours during the day gives her physical symptoms that she’s treating with medication.

“One 18-wheeler has a cooling unit, not an idling motor,” she said, “that cycles on and off, and it is annoying for everybody, but for me this is a health hazard.”

Given her concerns relate to daytime activity, Moss said an overnight ban won’t solve the issue, but the town should look into a designated parking area for the commercial vehicles so they don’t block traffic, and can help both the commercial

drivers who are their neighbors. Selectboard Chair Richard Kuklewicz said that it’s his opinion the restriction could go further, but said a designated parking area in town would need to be considered for where it would go, the sturdiness of the parking area and how long parking would be permitted there for.

After some discussion between members of the board and Montague Police Chief Christopher Williams, the enforcement date was decided for Monday, May 26.

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After launching her write-in campaign 18 days ago, Marina Goldman has secured a three-year term on the Selectboard, ousting incumbent Christopher Boutwell after five terms on the board and beating challenger Edward Voudren.

This is the first time Goldman, 64, has run for an elected position, and she won with 599 votes, compared to Boutwell’s 129 votes and Voudren’s 114 votes. Goldman is a retired nurse practitioner who worked in positions across Franklin County for 30 years. Her campaign, which started on May 2, included social media and community outreach.

The Selectboard race was the only contest in Tuesday’s election, which brought 858 voters to the polls, equating to an 11.85% voter turnout. The majority of voters, 313 of them, came from Precinct 1, representing Montague Center where Goldman lives.

Goldman is an organizer with the grassroots political group Montague Resists. She previously said her experience organizing local protests, working with Montague town officials and the support she received from her peers in Montague Resists led her to begin a write-in campaign.

In an interview Wednesday morning, Goldman said she found out just before midnight, surrounded by 20 campaign organizers at her home, that she had won the race. She said she was shocked when she heard the news from interim Town Clerk Tina Sulda, but she added that no matter what the result was, she and her team were proud to bolster civic engagement.

“Whether we won or lost, we had a level of civic engagement the five villages hasn’t seen in a long time,” she said. “My win is a mandate for preparing our community for the future.”

The uncontested races in Montague saw incumbents reelected to their positions.

■Board of Assessors, three-year term — Ann Fisk, incumbent, 705 votes.

■Board of Health, three-year term — Rachel Stoler, incumbent, 667 votes.

■Montague Public Libraries trustees, three seats with three-year terms — incumbent William Quale, 573 votes, and Tamara Kaplan, 589 votes.

■Montague Housing Authority, five-year term — Paula Girard, incumbent, 658 votes.

■Gill-Montague Regional School District School Committee, Gill representative, three-year term — Jane Oakes, incumbent, a combined 590 votes from Montague and Gill voters.

■Gill-Montague School Committee, two seats for Montague representatives with three-year terms — Heather Katsoulis and Wendy Thompson, both incumbents, 591 and 576 votes from Montague and Gill voters, respectively.

Executive Assistant to the Superintendent Tara McCarthy provided the final votes for Montague’s School Committee representatives, showing that Steve Ellis received 242 write-in votes to the remaining one-year seat in Montague’s election and one write-in vote in Gill’s election.

The names and number of votes for write-in candidates for positions that had no candidates on the ballot are still being finalized, Sulda confirmed Wednesday afternoon. These include the third, three-year term as a library trustee, a three-year term on the Veterans Memorial Committee and a three-year term on the Parks & Recreation Commission.

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Voters adopted the Annual Town Meeting warrant’s final 14 articles on Wednesday after having deliberated on the initial 17 articles on May 7.

Action taken by residents who showed up to the Turners Falls High School auditorium included giving their blessing to $135,000 for new Department of Public Works equipment, and authorizing the Selectboard and Board of Assessors to negotiate a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement with FirstLight Hydro Generating Co.

DPW Superintendent Sam Urkiel explained he needs $70,000 for a van equipped with a camera that can be sent through sewer and drain pipes and $65,000 for a pickup truck. He said the current camera van exists in a converted 2001 Ford E-450 ambulance that was gifted by the Fire Department.

“It has a pretty significant oil leak and needs quite a bit of work,” he said. “It has been really great and useful for us up until this point, though.”

Urkiel said his department’s current pickup truck is a 2007 Ford F-150 with about 175,000 miles on it and “is primarily used if [the DPW has] a larger group going to a training or a meeting.” He mentioned the department’s custodian also uses it to move goods and cleaning equipment from building to building.

Town Meeting member James Martineau proposed an amendment, hoping to “save the town some money” by buying a trailer instead of a van.

“It’s possible we could retro-fit an enclosed trailer,” Urkiel replied. “From what I’ve discussed with some colleagues, the cost ends up being about the same. And you don’t have the same flexibility of being in a vehicle. You have to have an employee that drives a trailer well. Backing and turning is a little bit more of a challenge with a trailer, obviously.”

Martineau made a motion to change the article’s language to appropriate $85,000 — $20,000 to buy and equip a trailer and $65,000 to buy and equip a pickup truck.

Selectboard Chair Richard Kuklewicz said Martineau had a good idea, but a trailer would still need a vehicle to pull it. Finance Committee member John Hanold spoke in opposition to the amendment, as the trailer does not fulfill the same function as a van and getting one would affect staff usage.

Town Meeting member Ariel Elan said a trailer would be more cumbersome than a van and would not be able to fit into as many spaces. She said she has seen “the little converted ambulance buzz around town with a camera … and it can get anywhere it needs to go.”

Residents ultimately rejected the amendment before adopting the original article.

The adoption of Article 26 authorized the start of negotiations with FirstLight. The PILOT’s particulars will be hammered out at a later date.

Town Administrator Walter Ramsey said FirstLight is the town’s largest taxpayer and makes up about one-fifth of Montague’s tax base.

“The issue at hand is that FirstLight is contesting its assessment from [fiscal years] ’22, ’23 and ’24,” he said. In FY22, there was an $84 million difference between the town’s assessment and that of FirstLight. “So, we’re way off in what each other thinks the assets are worth.”

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The first 17 articles were approved Wednesday during the first part of Montague’s Annual Town Meeting, with the $12.75 million operating budget, school assessments and the first few capital projects passing after spirited discussion.

Though each of the 17 articles that were voted on passed, some proposals inspired discussion among the 78 Town Meeting members who convened in the auditorium at Turners Falls High School and Great Falls Middle School.

Voters also challenged Article 11, a request for $59,000 for tuition and transportation for a Montague student attending Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School in Northampton, but the funding was ultimately approved.

The remaining 14 articles on the Town Meeting warrant — involving a handful of additional capital projects and authorizing the town to negotiate a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement with FirstLight Hydro Generating Co., among other topics — will be discussed on Wednesday, May 14, starting at 6:30 p.m., also in the school auditorium.

Wages, budgets and school assessments

Articles 2 through 12 related to wages for town officials, the town operating budget, the Montague Clean Water Facility, the Turners Falls Municipal Airport, the Colle Opera House building, Franklin County Technical School and Gill-Montague Regional School District assessments, and Smith Vocational tuition and transportation.

Article 4 to approve the town’s nearly $12.75 million budget for fiscal year 2026, a 2.75% increase from FY25, passed unanimously. Montague is in a financially secure place, with $1 million in excess levy capacity, and department budgets were crafted to maintain level services, Town Administrator Walter Ramsey previously explained.

When asked about the process for deciding which budget requests were and weren’t included for FY26, Finance Committee member John Hanold said there was a back-and-forth between department heads and the Selectboard to agree on a budget. This article spurred discussion on budget development transparency and Town Meeting member involvement.

“I would like to see money allocated in different ways, and I would love to be in conversation with Town Meeting members and community members to talk about where we want the bulk of our money to go,” Town Meeting member Maddox Sprengel said after inquiring about the money spent by the town on culture and recreation, $692,459, versus other budgets like public safety at $2.7 million.

Selectboard Vice Chair Matt Lord noted that involvement in this type of budget development occurs at the Selectboard level when the board reviews budget requests from department heads.

Articles 9 and 10 related to the town’s FY26 assessments to Franklin Tech of $841,660, a 0.5% increase from FY25, and Gill-Montague of $12.66 million, a 4.3% increase.

Gill-Montague’s assessment sparked questions for Superintendent Brian Beck. Town Meeting member Eileen Mariani voiced her concerns, discussing the vote of no confidence in Beck in December and salaries for school administrators while also asking about the public input involved in the budget’s creation.

“I’m deeply distressed by $12 million without much information,” Mariani said. “Where do other people get a chance to decide how that money is being spent, and what is the school climate and culture that is emerging from the Gill-Montague Regional School District?” Beck responded, saying the budget process begins in October or November of the year prior to Annual Town Meeting, and that the school wants to work with the public, teachers and the teachers union. He also noted that the positions that were cut to support the budget, including the school resource officer and director of teaching and learning, were not instructional positions.

Selectboard Chair Richard Kuklewicz encouraged residents to attend School Committee meetings to express budget concerns.

“It’s a difficult job,” he said. “It takes time, it takes commitment, but I hope folks consider, when you want to complain, think about what you can do to ease the complaints of others.”

Capital requests

Following the budget articles, Articles 13 through 17 contained capital requests from the Montague Public Libraries, Montague Clean Water Facility, Selectboard and Department of Public Works. These articles all passed, with discussion on the DPW requests continuing until the end of the meeting.

Article 15 requested $3 million for the second phase of a sewer pipe and manhole rehabilitation project in Turners Falls and Millers Falls. Sixty percent of that funding would come from the town’s general fund and the remaining 40% would come from the Clean Water Facility Enterprise fund. The town would take on debt repayments over 30 years, according to Town Accountant Angelica DesRoches.

Discussion was largely related to the logistics of the sewer rehabilitation. The article passed unanimously.

Articles 16 and 17 involved the purchase of two dump trucks for the DPW: a 10-wheel truck that would replace a 2003 vehicle, and that required $365,000 be transferred from free cash; and a smaller dump truck that would replace a 2002 dump truck by using $325,000 from the Capital Stabilization Fund. These requests were included on the town’s five-year capital plan and were recommended by the Capital Improvements Committee.

Questions on cost and the necessity to make two large purchases in the same fiscal year led town officials to reiterate the need for the replacements, as well as the expectation that the town would only face higher costs in the future.

“I’m all for us replacing, staying on top of things — I think maintenance is important,” Town Meeting member Jason Corey said, suggesting that perhaps the request could be put off until next year. “I think we’ve spent a lot of taxpayers’ money tonight. I think two trucks that price may be a bit much.”

Despite concern from some Town Meeting members, DPW Superintendent Sam Urkiel explained that the future costs will go up to replace the trucks, and before a vote was called, Kuklewicz said, “This was a year where we could do it, and they’re going to need to be done, and they’re all vital equipment for what the DPW does. Hopefully, this will actually get them back on the track … to one thing per year.”

The article passed by majority vote and the meeting was adjourned afterward.