Hatfield Select Board Moves to Review DPW Director Vacancy, Weighs GPS Fleet Tracking

HATFIELD — February 11, 2025 — Hatfield Select Board debates eliminating the vacant DPW director position and redirecting more than $100,000 in salary. At the February 11 meeting, Member Edmund Jaworski argued the town's three working superintendents — highway, water, and wastewater — have long been absorbing the director's duties, while Chair Luke Longstreeth and Town Administrator Andrew Hamel urged caution about losing strategic oversight and grant capacity. The board directed Hamel to collect and update superintendent job descriptions, with a working session to follow before the next budget deadline. On GPS fleet tracking, Jaworski proposed using the devices not just for vehicle location accountability but for fleet maintenance monitoring; Hamel will solicit vendor quotes and schedule demonstrations. The board voted unanimously to transfer $1,917 in Conservation Commission fees from the general fund to the town's Wetlands protection fund and to approve a date correction in the host community agreement with River Valley Growers after the Cannabis Control Commission flagged an error.