Special legislation for Heritage Park land swap approved

Date: 11/30/2009

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



EAST LONGMEADOW -- Nearly two years ago, the town's Department of Public Works' Senior Project Manager Sean Kelley met with Springfield landowner Paul Racicot to begin discussions about a possible land swap that would allow for another point of entry into Heritage Park, should an emergency occur. As of last Tuesday, that swap became official.

At the Sept. 8, 2008 Special Town Meeting, voters unanimously approved an article that exchanged about one-quarter of an acre of Racicot's land at 47 Colorado St., Springfield, for an equal amount of land from the park. The exchange allows for an access point to the 65.5-acre Heritage Park from the north, if needed.

Kelley explained that Racicot's property was a "long, thin, rectangular piece of land with a house on one end" and brush on the other. "It was like a part of the park," Kelley said of the back portion of the property. The parcel exchange will make Racicot's land more square "more lawn for him, more park for us," Kelley stated.

Once the town approved the motion, legislation had to be sent to Boston since the swap was not simply between two landowners, but between residential property and park property.

"I thought it was an easy sell to the legislators in Boston because we weren't losing any park land, we were only making an exchange," Kelley stated.

Still, due diligence had to be paid. State Rep. Angelo Puppolo filed House Bill 610, which explained the swap in detail, in Boston on Jan. 20 of this year. Once it was filed, it was discussed by the Joint Committee on Municipalities until being reported out on June 24. It passed through other committees from there until being enacted by both the House and Senate on Nov. 18.

"It passed unanimously but I had to shepherd it through," Puppolo explained. "I had to convince each chair and committee that this was something the town wanted, something that was fair and reasonable."

Gov. Deval Patrick signed the bill into action on Nov. 24.

"It's a good bill for the town," Puppolo said in an interview with Reminder Publications. "The property being exchanged is an important piece of the puzzle."

Kelley explained that currently, if an emergency situation arose near the rear of Heritage Park land, the only way to get to the back of the parcel would be "to drive a couple thousand feet though the woods." The only access point for the park now is off North Main Street.

"The swap made sense for both the town and the homeowner," Puppolo said. "It's win-win for both parties."

Kelley noted that the town has no plans to develop the rear portion of the park.

"The [passage of the] bill [serves as] an authorization to proceed, which we will be doing," Kelley said.