SUNDERLAND — With a longtime board member stepping down, residents will elect a new Select Board member in Saturday’s town election, as well as decide on whether to approve a capital override.

Easthampton City Engineer Dan Murphy is throwing his hat in the ring to succeed Tom Fydenkevez, who has served on the Select Board for 24 years. Murphy already has town government experience as he is currently a member of the Conservation Commission and has spent stints serving on the Planning Board and Finance Committee.

“People have been encouraging me and I thought it would be a good time to serve on the Select Board,” Murphy said. “I’m trying to fill some huge shoes that I’ll never be able to fill.”

The election will be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sunderland Public Library.

Murphy and his wife, Lorna, have lived in Sunderland since 2001 and both of their children attended Sunderland Elementary and Frontier Regional schools. An engineer by trade, he said one of his priorities is to get a handle on transportation options in the community, including continuing to expand the town’s walking and biking options.

His other priority is increasing communication between the town and its huge population of renters living in apartment complexes.

“They’re all Sunderland residents,” he said. “One thing I’ve seen in all my volunteer efforts is we don’t get a lot of feedback from people who live in the complexes.”

Override

Along with electing a new Select Board member, residents will vote on a capital override to assess an additional $275,000 in real estate and personal property taxes to fund the Capital Stabilization Fund. Residents previously approved the override at last Friday’s annual Town Meeting.

Town Administrator Geoff Kravitz noted the town passed a $100,000 override in 2014 and they’re asking for more funding as Sunderland has several capital expenses on the horizon, such as a fire engine.

“We realized we’re going to have about a half a million in capital expenses,” Kravitz said, noting the town wouldn’t be able to ask for that full amount in an override. “The thinking was the $275,000 plus the existing $125,000 … gets us close and then we can use free cash to close the gap. If we have a small capital year, we can at least sock it away.”

All other races on the ballot are uncontested. The candidates are as follows:

■Moderator, one-year term — David Pierce, incumbent.

■Assessor, three-year term — Mary Ann Kowaleck, incumbent.

■Board of Health, three-year term — Bruce Bennett, incumbent.

■Frontier Regional School District School Committee, three-year term — Keith McFarland.

■Sunderland Elementary School Committee, two seats with three-year terms — Joseph Elias and Amanda Wygant.

■Riverside Cemetery trustee, three-year term — Janet Sawyer-Bergeron, incumbent.

■Planning Board, five-year term — Amanda Hanley, incumbent.

■Planning Board, one-year term — Douglas Fulton.

■Sunderland Public Library trustees, three seats with three-year terms — Molly Gowa, Kristyn Korpita and Valeria Voorheis, all incumbents.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.]]>