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Date: 11/6/2023
NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton Planning and Sustainability Department is hosting a public meeting on Nov. 12 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. to discuss plans for the restoration of the old Pine Grove Golf Course.
According to Sarah LaValley, the assistant director of the city’s Planning and Sustainability department, the information session will be an opportunity for residents and users to talk about restoration design, trails, use and accessibility for the Pine Grove area.
“The site is sort of beginning to be discovered by the community as a resource for passive recreation,” LaValley said back in the winter. “They’re beginning to enjoy the property … and they’re finding out what they like about it.”
Northampton purchased the approximately 105-acre Pine Grove Golf Course in 2020 with goals to preserve space, improve ecological function and habitat, enhance climate resilience through peak flood flow reduction, carbo capture and sequestration, provide for passive recreation accessible through an established trail network, and augment the City’s existing Rocky Hill Greenway that abuts the parcel to the east and northeast.
The city purchased the property from Gil Verrillo for $650,000.
“Following acquisition of the parcel, the city utilized Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program Action Grant funds to complete a Master Plan for the site,” LaValley said. “The city also undertook initial restoration activities, including: removal of catch basins and drainage structures built to drain runoff from fairways and greens; scarification of former turf grass areas; and replanting of two upland fairway areas with seedlings. “
According to LaValley, the city has partnered with the Massachusetts Audubon Society and the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration to advance restoration planning, assessment, and design at the site.
Part of the project’s plan includes the restoration of the Nashawannuck Brook, which runs through the site and flows southward into Mass Audubon’s Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary and into the Manhan River.
“The Nashawannuck Brook restoration has been designated a Department of Ecological Restoration priority project since January 2021,” LaValley said. “That designation allowed design work to continue, and additional work included a geomorphic assessment and hydrologic modeling and initial evaluation of a suite of restoration options possible for the site and potential restoration scenarios.”
The city received a $250,000 grant from the Department of Ecological Restoration to continue advance engineering design, permitting and outreach for the Nashawannuck Brook Restoration Project.
Back in the winter, LaValley told Reminder Publishing that the city plans to work with the Division of Ecological Restoration and Mass Audubon to reestablish Nashwannuck Brook’s natural stream channel and surrounding wetlands. According to LaValley, in addition to providing habitat, the re-establishment of this channel will eventually reduce erosion, downstream flooding and create natural stormwater storage to make the area more climate resilient.
The project team is currently working with Fuss and O’Neill to advance design plans for the stream and wetlands restoration, removal of the dam that forms the former irrigation impoundment, a formal trail system that includes accessible pathways for many users and a small parking lot.
The public engagement portion on Nov. 12 are next steps in this process.