HADLEY — Hadley will not join ValleyBike Share this year, as residents at fall Town Meeting are not being asked to pay the costs of membership.
The Select Board agreed with Town Administrator Carolyn Brennan earlier this month to keep the $4,519 assessment off the warrant for fall Town Meeting, but to consider having it on the annual Town Meeting warrant next spring.
“Right now, that’s a lot of money for us,” board member Randy Izer said.
In addition, Izer said there are too many questions left unanswered about the service residents would receive.
“I don’t think we can afford any add for this type of luxury,” board member Joyce Chunglo said.
In June, the board learned from ValleyBike Share coordinators Chris Curtis at Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and Wayne Feiden, then the director of planning and sustainability for Northampton, that the town would have to cover the annual administrative costs for membership.
At the time, the preferred site for a new station was on South Maple Street, though no specific location was known, though conversations were held with businesses such as LL Bean.
Since that time, though, Brennan said she has learned that if the station were placed on private property, there might be significant legal fees related to easements the town would have to cover.
The town might also have to pay for installing the concrete pad and any electricity payments, though the $50,000 to get a station set up with the bikes and the chargers would be covered by a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality federal grant.
The complication in joining ValleyBike has also come from a change in leadership, with both Curtis and Feiden retiring from their positions.
Brennan said she has not yet received answers to inquiries from Feiden’s successor, Carolyn Misch. Select Board Chairwoman Jane Nevinsmith said that is understandable given Misch’s relatively recent appointment over the summer.
Two years ago, the Select Board indicated it would become a ValleyBike community if it could have a station in town center, rather than near the malls, with the idea being that would best serve residents, not just visitors.
Since its launch in 2018, eight communities have become members, including Northampton, Amherst, Easthampton, Holyoke, South Hadley, West Springfield, Springfield and Chicopee. They combine to cover the more than $70,000 in administrative costs of overseeing ValleyBike Share from Northampton City Hall.