Southampton Select Board Elects New Chair, Signs First Affordable Housing Purchase Agreement

SOUTHAMPTON -- May 26, 2026, Southampton Select Board reorganizes leadership and signs first affordable housing deal. The board unanimously elected John Whalley as chair after four-year incumbent Chris Kohler declined renomination, with Kohler moving to vice chair and newly elected member Doug Hamill named warrant clerk. The board executed a purchase-and-sale agreement conveying a 1.3-acre parcel at 354 College Highway to Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity, which must build a three-bedroom affordable home within 24 months under a permanent deed restriction capping occupancy at 80 percent of area median income, estimated locally at roughly $90,000. Town Clerk Lucy Dolan reported 2,267 votes were cast in the May 19 election, including passage of a $1.9 million operating override, while warning that Question 1A and 1B margins of 169 and 80 votes make recounts legally burdensome and financially costly. The board also learned that PVTA's new G47 bus route, funded by a two-year MassDOT grant, will add multiple College Highway stops in Southampton as soon as next week, with the town successfully pushing PVTA to relocate a hazardous planned stop near Moosebrook Road.