Deerfield Board Approves $14,000 in Staff Stipends, Tees Up Kratom Sales Ban

WHATELY -- June 24, 2026, Deerfield Selectboard approves $14,000 in staff stipends and advances draft kratom sales ban at packed June 24 meeting. The board, sitting jointly as Board of Health and Sewer Commission, voted unanimously to pay Town Administrator Christopher Dunn a $10,000 lump-sum stipend for covering the vacant town planner role and to pay Greg Snedeker $4,000 plus an extra week of vacation for interim assessor duties, both drawn from existing budget funds. Board of Health Agent Ned Savisky presented first-reading draft regulations modeled on Northampton and Greenfield rules that would prohibit synthetically altered kratom and cannabinoids in Deerfield, with a $1,000 first-offense fine, and the board directed him to remove a raw-leaf exemption and route the draft to Town Counsel before a required public hearing tentatively set for July 8. The board also appointed Cheryl Miller as assistant town clerk effective July 1, adopted a new employee performance management program on a trial basis, and accepted six resignations from town boards including a full member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, which Dunn flagged as now at risk of losing quorum.