BELCHERTOWN — Voters shot down a measure Monday that would have withdrawn Belchertown from the Hampshire Council of Governments.

By a 134-69 vote at a special Town Meeting, voters decided to stay part of the quasi-governmental agency.

Some officials, including Town Administrator Gary Brougham, advised voters that leaving HCOG would be most beneficial for Belchertown.

“As your town administrator, and having had 18 years of these false starts, failed promises and gimmicks, I cannot recommend to you that we maintain our membership in the COG,” he said. “I wish them well. It was meant to be a ‘one size fits all.’”

Brougham and Select Board Chairman George “Archie” Archible have been vocal proponents for leaving HCOG. On numerous occasions, the two have argued that the council’s municipal bulk purchasing and electricity program are not cost-effective.

At Monday’s Town Meeting, Brougham spoke of Hampshire Power, HCOG’s electricity program. The plan was promoted as being cost-effective. But during the fourth year of the electric program, Brougham said, he started to see some losses.

“The sixth year was a disaster,” he said.

Over the past few years, Belchertown has pulled out of numerous HCOG programs for better deals, Brougham said.

The two town officials have also raised concerns in the past over Executive Director Todd Ford’s salary and bonuses in light of HCOG’s failed municipal aggregation plan and what they cite as high employee turnover in the organization.

“I don’t think they have a bright future, ” Brougham said of HCOG. “And I don’t want to be part of the cleanup.”

Select Board member Ronald Aponte also spoke in favor of the measure to withdraw from HCOG, citing a Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities decision from September 2015 which shot down plans for the municipal aggregation program.

He read part of the ruling stating that the plans do not accurately reflect the municipality’s actual product offerings to the program participants, and that the DPU continues to have concerns about inaccurate statements with regard to the marketing of the program.

“I can honestly tell you, this is the harshest critique I’ve ever heard from a state agency toward another, in this case a quasi-municipal agency,” Aponte said.

Kyle Vincent, a Belchertown HCOG representative, spoke of some of the benefits of the council, such as Massachusetts Solar Renewable Energy Credit aggregation, known as SREC.

Ken Elstein, a former HCOG councilor, said the $3,750 a year in dues saves the town tens of thousands of dollars.

“Elected bodies aren’t always perfect,” Elstein said.

Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazettenet.com.

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