HADLEY — Two new police officers will be joining the Hadley Police Department, though it will likely be another year before either is on regular patrol duty, according to Police Chief Michael Mason.
The Select Board Wednesday appointed Amanda LeBlanc, a full-time emergency dispatcher for the town, and William Carl-David Shaffer, a recent University of Massachusetts graduate with a degree in managerial economics, to vacant positions in the department.
Both appointments are effective Sept. 21, at which time the new officers will head to police academy for nearly six months and then follow that with the department’s field training program for three to five months.
LeBlanc started dispatching for the department in October 2024 and previously was a case manager for Greylock Recovery Center in Williamstown and Swift River in Cummington. She has been doing voluntary ride alongs to get familiar with the streets and locations in town, as well as preparing for physical training for academy, Mason said.
Shaffer, of Southampton, comes to Hadley via Missouri and Maine and is also a second lieutenant in the National Guard and serves at the 110th Maintenance Co. in Ayer. Mason said he also works at an Amherst auto supply store and gas station.
One of the vacant positions came following last December’s death of longtime officer John Robitaille, who was battling ALS, yet a hiring freeze in place due to budget constraints meant the position couldn’t be filled, Mason said.
The other vacant position follows the resignation of Detective Janelle Seitz, accepted by the Select Board Wednesday.
Mason said Seitz spent more than 10 years with the department, but is now leaving law enforcement and moving with her family to Florida.
“We wish her well and thank her for her service,” Mason said.
In other business
In other items, the Select Board also:
- approved the license for Oktoberfest, an annual event at the Young Men’s Club on East Street that will be held Oct. 24 from 1 to 9 p.m. The event is mostly for University of Massachusetts students, with space for up to 5,000 attendees. This year there will be a separate section for those 18 and over, who can’t legally consume alcohol, with an 8-foot barrier separating them from those who are 21;
- approved the resignation of Lauren Hannigan as the Hadley Senior Center community outreach coordinator. Hannigan, who began her tenure in Hadley in October 2018, has been named the new director for the Granby Senior Center;
- approved a contract with Robert Flaherty as acting fire chief and assistant emergeny managerment director;
- signed a memorandum of understanding with the Franklin County Solid Waste Management for hauling and disposal of sludge from the town’s wastewater treatment plant by Wall Trucking, Inc. of Gilbertville. The arrangement, in effect through June 30, 2027, calls for transport costs of $910.25 per load and $1,620 per load for disposal for what is brought to the Lowell Regional Wastewater Facility, while there will be transport costs of $776.15 per load and $806 per load for disposal of what is brought to the Montague Clean Water Facility;
- set Oct. 22 as the date for a special Town Meeting.
