HATFIELD — Assistance for military veterans and their families, to ensure they are getting the benefits to which they are entitled, will be handled by the Central Hampshire Veteran Services in Northampton through next June.

With the recent resignation of Barry Labbe as the town’s veterans services officer, the Select Board voted this week to sign a contract with the city of Northampton for provision of veterans services.

“We’re lucky we have the ability to enter into this, so that our veterans are having their benefits monitored, looked after and attended to,” said Select Board Chairwoman Diana Szynal at Wednesday’s meeting.

The arrangement will run through June 30, 2025 and marks a return of the town to the regional agency, which Hatfield has intermittently used since Gerry Clark, who had been the veterans agent since 2015, died in 2022.

Prior to Labbe, another resident served in the role for a limited time. Hatfield's fee of $16,209 covers the period from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.

Select Board member Ed Jaworski said any honorably discharged veteran interested in filling the position should contact Town Hall, though signing the contract means a person couldn’t start until next July 1.

Administrator search

In other business, the board appointed the search committee that will be tasked with reviewing applications, interviewing semi-finalists and recommending finalists for the town administrator position, which will be vacated by Marlene Michonski when she retires at the end of 2024.

The committee will include Jaworski, Finance Committee member Sean Barry, Superintendent Conor Driscoll, Moderator Bobby Betsold and Treasurer/ Collector Tammy Wendolowski along with community members Anna Holhut and David Keir.

Michonski said 11 applications for the position have already been received.

The board also agreed with a recommendation from Town Clerk Alaina Wilcox to have early in person voting at Town Hall for the state primary on Sept. 3, with that voting to be on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day. Wilcox explained that this meets the minimum requirements set by the state and will give people options other than voting on election day, by absentee ballot or by mail, with more than 500 ballots already being sent out to voters

Wilcox anticipates a relatively low turnout, with the only contested election being on the Republican ballot, for U.S. senator, while the Democratic ballot has no contests and the Libertarian ballot has no candidates.

Michonski announced that the Smith Academy Park pavilion was recently completed by Keiter Corp. at a final cost of $214,723. That came in under the $300,000 estimated cost for the project.

The park, in town center, is used for weekly concerts and other community events.

Finally, the draft comprehensive action plan, to guide the town into the future, will be presented to the Planning Board in August and then in the fall to the Select Board. A committee has worked on the plan for the past two years with a consultant from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission,

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.