SOUTH HADLEY — It’s common during heavy rains to witness water lapping at the back doors of 85 Main St.—headquarters for the town’s longtime electric light department.

“I’m fearful we’re gonna be under water. I’ve watched the water come up to SHELD’s gates now twice in the last year,” said Sean Fitzgerald, general manager of the South Hadley Electric Light Department.

A fear of flooding — the building is located within a 100-year flood zone — is a major reason that SHELD officials have spent the last five years searching in vain for a suitable site for a new headquarters building. The municipal utility bought a 7-acre plot at 545 Granby Road in 2020, but a peer review study on the wetland area revealed the land was not suitable to build on, sending the company back to square one.

Without a location or design plan, SHELD pleaded its case for a new building in a public hearing on Jan. 11, saying the department has outgrown its 114-year-old building, especially after the utility began offering Fiberspring internet service to commercial and residential customers in South Hadley.

Yet the biggest danger to the company continues to be its susceptibility to flooding.

“We are essential business. You don’t want your electric light department not be able to operate during a significant major flood, which will probably coincide with most people losing power,” SHELD board Chair John Hine said. “To protect our assets, to protect our operations, we should be out of a flood plain.”

Hine also said telecommunications operations have strained capacity of the current building on Main Street. SHELD hired four new staff members to run Fiberspring, and the hardware supplies for fiber optic internet, in addition to electrical wiring has exhausted storage space. Currently, the company leases office space on New Ludlow Road for these new employees.

“We think we need to move forward on this, in terms of providing a good space for our employees to accommodate the growth that’s come with our Fiberspring operation and that’s an operation that can continue to grow and expand,” Hine said.

When resident Dino Patruno asked if Fiberspring was the only operation lacking space, the board asserted that the search for a new building began when the electrical side of the company also ran out of  room.

“This building was under design and the idea of a new building was in place before fiber even came into town,” said SHELD board member Ron Coutu. “So the real driving force behind this was not fiber. The size of the building has increased a little bit, but most of the size comes from the need from the electrical side.”

If SHELD remained in its current building, the company would need to invest an estimated $1 million in renovations to replace the roof, repave the parking lot and install a new HVAC system, SHELD officials said.

Hine estimates a new building will cost $20 million to $24 million. SHELD will fund the building through revenue from Fiberspring and a small increase in electrical rates. A cost analysis by SHELD Financial Manager Michael Conchieri predicted rates increasing by an average of $0.013 per kilowatt hour. 

“On my last bill, we used just short of 1600 kilowatts, so that would be an increase of $31 to $47 per month,” Hine said. “I encourage you all to look at your bill closely to see what you’ve been using to understand what the impact will be.”

Fitzgerald and Hine said SHELD is looking for a 7-acre site for a new headquarters. That would provide enough room for a 33,000-square-foot building and a 67,000-square-foot equipment yard and canopy space.

The board will hold additional public hearings once a location is found for the new building. Hine said the company’s real estate agent continues to investigate new properties as they appear on the market; all the board can do is hope the perfect plot comes along.

“One of the nice offshoots of doing this is the word gets out that we’re looking and hopefully generates some leads,” Hine said.

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.