Whately Select Board Bans Social Media Comments on All Town Accounts by August 1

WHATELY -- July 8, 2026, Whately Select Board votes to shut off social media commenting across all town accounts by August 1. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to direct all departments and boards to disable the public commenting function on town-administered social media platforms, citing Massachusetts public-records requirements that would obligate the town to archive those comments for years. Staff told the board the law contains "no specific statute or exemption" excluding social media from archiving obligations, and noted the neighboring town of South Hadley made the same move effective July 1, immediately drawing public complaints about First Amendment rights, complaints the board acknowledged were legally unfounded. The board also unanimously approved four end-of-year inter-departmental budget transfers totaling roughly $4,044 to close fiscal year 2026 accounting gaps across the Council on Aging, Building, Highway, and Snow and Ice accounts, and approved an Eversource Energy petition to install a utility pole and underground cable across state Route 5 and 10 to interconnect a private solar project.