Shutesbury Board Appoints Election Administrator, Weighs Library Reuse Options

SHUTESBURY — March 17, 2026 — Shutesbury Select Board appoints election administrator and hears library reuse options amid a $23,000 oil spill bill. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to appoint Matteo Pangalo as interim town clerk and election administrator — working roughly five hours a week through spring town meeting — and Michael Tommy McDuffie to the Conservation Commission. Town Administrator Haley reported a leaky gasket on the elementary school's underground oil tank triggered a same-day DEP-supervised cleanup last week, with total estimated costs of about $23,000, including a $10,000 insurance deductible and a roughly $6,000 pump and gasket replacement; no state of emergency was declared. The MN Spear Library Reuse Committee presented a three-option matrix to the board — meeting space only, police station at Spear, or Town Hall reorganization — with the latter two options each estimated at $100,000 or more; the board gave informal direction to pursue cost estimates for water and septic service at the Spear building as a first step. On the Lake Wyola dam, contractor T. Ford Company, Inc. put the repair cost at roughly $83,000, up 14 percent from the original engineering estimate, with work awaiting an early-April trash rack delivery and Conservation Commission permitting.