Hatfield Select Board Postpones May Election, Extends Tax Deadline Amid Pandemic

HATFIELD -- April 7, 2020, Hatfield Select Board postpones annual election and extends real estate tax deadline amid COVID-19. Meeting entirely via Zoom, the three-member board voted unanimously Tuesday to postpone the May 19 annual election to a date to be set at a future meeting, with June 23 discussed as the likely target, the latest date permissible under the state's June 30 statutory deadline. Town Clerk Lydia, appearing from a terminal inside Town Hall, warned that newly authorized early voting by mail could mean processing up to 600 absentee ballots and urged the board to set a firm date soon to allow adequate lead time. The board also unanimously authorized Treasurer-Collector Sharon to grant 30-day extensions on May 1 real estate tax payments, pushing the deadline to June 1 for residents who contact her office, under a governor's emergency provision. Separately, the board committed $242,478.90 in water bills and $184,242.24 in sewer bills, approved a debt exclusion ballot question for the $1.6 million local share of a $3.6 million Route 5 water and sewer project already awarded a $2 million MassWorks grant, and appointed Catherine Olsen and Elizabeth Denny to fill two Historical Commission vacancies.