Southwick board defers decision on open space panel's charter

Select Board · Meeting of January 12, 2026

Southwick Select Board wrestles with reviving its open space committee ahead of a December 2026 deadline. Members debated whether the new Open Space Subcommittee, chaired by Connor Fleury, answers to the Conservation Commission or the Select Board, and whether the town's eight weekly hours of floater staff time should go toward the overdue Open Space and Recreation Plan update. Conservation Commission Vice Chair Dennis Clark, who led two prior open space efforts, said the group "won't do itself justice" without administrative support.

The board closed a public hearing on a misplaced Verizon/Eversource utility pole on North Loomis Street and approved a revised petition, appointed Rich Bozak to the Joint Transportation Committee, and reported the town's first cannabis host-community payment of $19,330.11 from Pioneer Valley Trading. The board also agreed to seek town counsel's opinion on adding non-voting associate members to the seven-member Conservation Commission.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of January 12, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.