Board of Selectmen — March 2, 2026

The meeting was largely cooperative and unified, but community members raised genuine safety urgency about the Route 122 intersection and chiefs described a public safety communications crisis already underway, preventing the session from being purely routine.

Date Monday, March 2, 2026 Duration 1.5h Speakers 9 Decisions 10 Lively

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📋 AMHERST BOARD OF SELECTMEN — March 2, 2026 Meeting Recap

The most urgent issue of the night wasn't on most residents' radar: Amherst's public safety radio equipment has already reached a point of critical failure. Police Chief Walton described a literal bucket of broken, irreparable radios sitting in the station. Fire Chief Champoli called their gear 'bricks that are falling apart.' Both chiefs told the board plainly: 'We are past the point of a planned replacement. We are in critical need replacement right now.'

The board voted 5-0 to authorize four separate federal grant applications totaling over $1.2 million — with a Friday, March 6 deadline — to replace communications equipment across police, fire, and DPW. The strategy of applying to multiple sources makes sense, but residents should be aware: these grants carry local match requirements ranging from 25% to 65%, meaning Amherst taxpayers could be on the hook for $300,000 to $800,000 depending on what's awarded. The board discussed possible sources like CRF funds and hydrant leasing fee savings, but no firm funding plan was presented at this meeting. That detail needs to be resolved publicly before any match commitment is made.

The board also took up a SAFER grant opportunity that could fund $500,000–$600,000 for additional firefighter staffing positions. To their credit, the board did not rush this one — they asked the Fire Chief to return with a full financial analysis through year four, recognizing that positions funded by grants become permanent salary obligations once the grant expires. That's responsible governance, and residents should hold them to it.

On a more visible issue: the board unanimously supported a $20,000 four-way stop at the Route 122 and Merrimack Road intersection — a documented crash site where angular collisions at posted speeds can be fatal. This is a meaningful near-term safety improvement. However, one resident raised a pointed concern: the permanent $3 million roundabout solution isn't planned until 2034, and a comparable project on Route 101A has been on the state's 10-year plan since 2002 with no action. The board did not directly address what happens if the roundabout never materializes. That question deserves a follow-up.

👉 What to watch: How will the board fund the grant match requirements? Will the SAFER grant financial projections reveal costs the town can actually sustain? And is anyone tracking the 2034 roundabout commitment? These are your tax dollars and your roads — stay engaged.

Mar 2, 2026 1.5h long 9 speakers 10 decisions Lively

❝ Notable statements ↔ Drag to browse

“The state could implement this despite what the town wants to do or doesn't want to do, but they want to try to work with us and do what we think is right for our town”

— DPW Director Slaza · Explaining NHDOT's authority over state roads while seeking local input ▶ 22:13

“Angular crashes at even the 35 miles an hour, true angular crash into the driver's door or passenger's door with an occupant generally results in a fatality”

— Chief Champoli · Emphasizing the severity of crashes at the intersection due to speed ▶ 18:11

“There's no guarantee that this project is even going to happen until 2034. Just as an example, the one on Route 101A Bedford Amherst Wilton has been on the ten year program since 2002”

— Dan LeClaire · Expressing skepticism about long-term transportation project timelines ▶ 32:17

“I literally have a bucket of radios in my apparatus bay that cannot be repaired and cannot be used”

— Chief Walton · Describing the critical state of obsolete communications equipment ▶ 46:51

“More irons in the fire is going to be better for us in the long run”

— Unidentified speaker · Explaining strategy of submitting multiple grant applications to increase chances of success ▶ 58:17

“I have a bunch of bricks that are falling apart and that's my primary goal is to get those replaced”

— Unidentified speaker · Describing current state of fire department radio equipment ▶ 1:02:45

“We are past the point of a planned replacement. We are in critical need replacement right now”

— Unidentified speaker · Emphasizing urgency of radio equipment replacement for fire department ▶ 1:04:13

“This is not a problem that we went searching for so we could have a solution. This is a problem that we have that needs to be solved”

— Unidentified speaker · Clarifying that grant applications address genuine operational needs, not opportunistic funding requests ▶ 1:11:52

This meeting — choose a section

Public ⁠impact

Issues from this meeting with documented community impact.

What was discussed

$20,000 safety improvement at a documented crash-prone intersection; interim measure until a $3 million roundabout planned for 2034

What was discussed

Potential local match obligations of roughly $300,000–$800,000 depending on grant awards; funding source not fully identified

What was discussed

$500,000–$600,000 grant potential with multi-year personnel cost tail; financial projections through year four requested but not yet available

What was discussed

Town-wide employee healthcare transition; specific cost differential not detailed in this meeting

Topics ⁠discussed

Each topic expands to quotes and full context.

Speakers: Speaker C (DPW Director Slaza), Speaker E (Chief Champoli)

What was discussed

DPW Director Slaza presented detailed information about NHDOT's proposal to install an all-way stop at the intersection of Route 122 and Merrimack Road as a temporary safety measure before the planned $3 million roundabout in 2034. The proposal costs approximately $20,000 and shows significant crash reduction benefits based on data from other states.

Speakers: Speaker F (Town Administrator), Andrew Pataki, Dan LeClaire, Cassandra Weldon

What was discussed

Multiple residents provided input supporting the four-way stop proposal, citing safety concerns, frequent near-misses, and visibility issues at the intersection. Two written comments were also received expressing support.

Speakers: Speaker F (Town Administrator)

What was discussed

Updates provided on website transition to Civic Plus platform, financial software selection process, employee handbook revisions, Buck Meadow athletic fields project, PFAS mitigation at fire station, healthcare transition to Health Trust, and upcoming town election preparations.

Speakers: Speaker D (Chief Walton), Speaker E (Chief Champoli), Unidentified speaker

What was discussed

Police and Fire chiefs presented multiple federal grant opportunities totaling over $1.2 million for replacing obsolete radio equipment across police, fire, and DPW departments. Applications include both Department of Agriculture rural development grants and Department of Justice technology grants with varying local match requirements of 25-65%.