Select Board appoints Stavillo to Planning Board, 6-1
Select Board · Meeting of September 2, 2026
Hampden Select Board appoints Gina Stavillo to a vacant Planning Board seat over fellow applicant Eric Ainsworth. In a joint vote with the Planning Board, Stavillo won 6-1; both candidates, a Hampden police officer on the Conservation Commission and a 20-year Ames Road resident, said they would run for the seat outright in next May's town election regardless of the outcome. The board separately authorized a no-cost grant application to MassDEP worth more than $400,000 to study PFAS filtration for a town well, and learned the Water Commission is down to a single active member after Commissioner Dale Hatch's sudden death and Commissioner Paul Garwacki's resignation.
Members also approved hiring three new Zoom meeting operators and granted the Scantic River Artisans a one-day liquor license for a September 17 wine-and-art program, calling the precedent "kind of a loaded one."
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 2,836 words
Source: the Select Board meeting of September 2, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
Keep reading with a 30-day free trial
Subscribe to Hampden News to keep reading this post and get 30 days of free access to the full post archives.
Starting a trial requires a payment method. After 30 free days your subscription begins at the price shown at checkout and renews automatically until you cancel. You can cancel anytime from your account. Subscription terms
A subscription gets you:
- Subscriber-only posts and full archive
- Post comments and join the community
- 24x7 access to local news