Overview:
Whately voters passed six articles in a Special Town Meeting on Wednesday, including paying for health insurance costs, an ambulance purchase, and an amendment to the town's zoning bylaw for battery energy storage systems. Voters also approved the management of town trust funds in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 203C, which generated discussion.
WHATELY — Roughly 20 special Town Meeting voters passed all six articles on the warrant on Nov. 12, including paying for rising health insurance costs and amending the town’s zoning bylaw regulating battery energy storage systems.
Articles 5 and 6 inspired the most discussion. By passing Article 5, residents voted to allow town trust funds to be managed in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 203C. The change would create “greater investment diversification opportunities than what is currently allowed” and reduce the concentration of risk, the warrant reads.
The article arose as a recommendation from Treasurer-Collector Jennifer Day “as a way to see better returns on our fund investments,” Town Administrator Peter Kane clarified in a Nov. 5 email. Day told voters this change applies to the management of funds for the perpetual care of cemeteries, as well as scholarships and library trust funds.
Planning Board Chair Brant Cheikes asked if the vote would trigger a change in the management of the funds from the town’s current investment management firm, Bartholomew & Co. Cheikes replied “no.”
“Right, now it’s more restrictive of what we can do,” Selectboard Chair Joyce Palmer-Fortune added. “This gives us a tiny bit more [flexibility].”
“It really increases the investment options, but it still focuses first on the safety and liquidity and yield,” Day added.
Judy Markland asked if the Selectboard has considered establishing an investment committee to oversee and advise Bartholomew & Co. Palmer-Fortune replied “no.”
“That’s well within our treasurer-collector’s ability to monitor,” Palmer-Fortune said.
After voters passed Article 5, Cheikes proposed an amendment to the final article pertaining to battery energy storage systems.
Article 6 proposed amending the town’s zoning bylaw regulating battery energy storage systems within the Aquifer Protection District with two additions. The first proposed addition prohibits battery energy storage systems with an aggregate energy storage capacity more than 300 kilowatt-hours in the zone. However, Cheikes proposed an amendment cutting this number down to 250 kilowatt-hours to align with a model zoning bylaw the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources released in early October.
“We want to make sure that what we do today is consistent with what we expect to do in the future, and what we expect to do in the future is going to be consistent with the thresholds put out by the state,” Cheikes explained.
“This will not prevent anybody from putting a battery in their home,” Palmer-Fortune clarified at a Selectboard meeting. According to CNET.com, the average home solar battery has an energy storage capacity of 10 to 15 kilowatt-hours. Meanwhile, the average capacity for commercial installations falls around 200 kilowatt-hours, reads CleanEnergyGroup.org.
According to Cheikes, the Energy Storage Systems Study Committee recommended the amendment to the Planning Board after researching similar bylaws in towns like Medway and Sunderland and looking into the kilowatt-hours of the Town Offices’ battery energy storage system, which he said is between 125 and 250 kilowatt-hours. Cheikes said the study was partly a response to town concern about battery energy storage systems impacting the aquifers in the town’s water supply.
Cheikes said he has not seen any indication of future harm to the water supply from these systems, “But fear is a powerful motivator.”
By passing Article 6, voters also agreed to a second revision to the zoning bylaw adding definitions for “Aggregate Energy Storage Capacity,” “Battery Energy Storage System” and “Kilowatt-Hour.”
Article 3 covered the 20% hike in health insurance costs, which came after the town had already budgeted for an initial 18% increase for health insurance heading into fiscal year 2026. To pay for the increase, the town voted to transfer $111,000 from free cash.
Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust member towns and schools, including Whately, were forced to address the 20% bump, which took effect Oct. 1, following the trust’s July 30 vote to increase rates. Members of the trust reached this decision after being informed that the organization was at risk of going bankrupt due to increased pharmaceutical and medical claims, and the growing popularity of weight-loss drugs.
Other approved articles included transferring $234 from free cash to pay Deerfield-based construction materials company Trew Stone LLC for unpaid bills, transferring $30,000 from free cash to the Reserve Fund in preparation for winter maintenance, and allowing South County EMS to use about $400,000 of its retained earnings to purchase a non-customized ambulance for $325,000, as well as two Stryker Power-LOAD loading systems for the new ambulance and a customized ambulance that is already being ordered.