Hatfield Board Eyes September Special Town Meeting to Fund Main Street Culvert Repair

HATFIELD -- July 9, 2024, Hatfield Select Board plans September special town meeting to authorize borrowing for a collapsed Main Street culvert repair estimated at $350,000. Chair Luke Longstreeth said the culvert, a 17-foot structure beneath Main Street connecting Hatfield Pond to the Connecticut River, partially collapsed after a May inspection had already flagged rust holes and longitudinal cracking, opening a hole in the road surface that was temporarily patched. A slip-lining repair by pipe supplier EJ Prescott was quoted at roughly $350,000 and could be completed this construction season; a full replacement through a state grant program was estimated near $2 million with no guarantee of funding. The board also approved two separate motions covering roughly a dozen fiscal year 2024 line-item deficit transfers drawn largely from Finance Reserve, including $99,100 for snow and ice and $433,326 for vocational school and transportation, while flagging a $986 cultural council overrun on a $25 budget line for follow-up. The board unanimously denied a DPW director's request to carry over 100 hours of vacation time and approved the transfer of a liquor license from Fitzgerald's Hatfield Inc. to KF Fishtails Inc.