Belchertown Select Board Adopts AI Policy, Ratifies Firefighter Contract at June Meeting

BELCHERTOWN -- June 1, 2026, Belchertown Select Board adopts AI policy, ratifies firefighter contract, and pursues $7.7 million in grants. The board voted unanimously on nearly a dozen items at its June 1 meeting, including a first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence policy that bars employees and committees from uploading confidential information to AI platforms and requires human review of any AI-generated content before release. The board also ratified a memorandum of agreement with the Belchertown Firefighters Local AFL-CIO for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029, approved a $105,000 purchase-and-sale agreement to sell 6 Berkshire Avenue to Robert Molesky, and reappointed Zachary Bombard as Director of Assessments and Paul Adzema as Director of Inspection Services for three-year terms. Town Manager Steve Golba reported that the town is finalizing five One Stop grant applications totaling approximately $7.7 million before a June 3 deadline, including nearly $3 million to demolish four cruciform buildings at the former Belchertown State School at Carriage Grove and a $2.5 million request for the Tadgell roof; a separate nearly $1.9 million Housing Works application for the Sportshaven Mobile Home Park is also in the pipeline.