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Date: 4/18/2023
WEST SPRINGFIELD — Two land purchases recently authorized by the Town Council for up to $298,000 will “complete” the Prospect Hill Conservation Area and add to the hundreds of acres of nature preserve surrounding Bear Hole Reservoir.
The money, approved at the council’s April 10 meeting, comes entirely from Community Preservation Act funds. The parcels to be acquired include the 34.77-acre Sears property and 1.1-acre Kelley property, both on Morgan Road just south of the Massachusetts Turnpike underpass.
The Sears parcel fills a large gap in the middle of the Prospect Hill Conservation Area, which currently consists of four parcels of 112 acres, including a trailhead on Birnie Avenue, acquired in 2021 using a combination of state grant and Community Preservation Act funds. The conservation area already extends to Morgan Road, but only two of the four parcels touch each other. Hikers have to cross the Sears property to travel between the others.
Kate O’Brien Scott, the town solicitor and chief of staff, said no infrastructure improvements are planned for the new conservation properties, though a trailhead with parking on Morgan Road may be considered in the future.
The written proposal for acquiring the land also mentions potentially using the Prospect Hill lands as a grassland bird habitat, or running an east-west bicycle trail through them.
Across Morgan Road, the Prospect Hill Conservation Area abuts the Bear Hole Reservation, part of a chain of reservoir and conservation properties totaling about 5,000 acres in Holyoke, West Springfield and Westfield.
The CPA is funded by a 1% surcharge on property taxes in West Springfield, along with matching grants from the state. CPA funds are kept separate from the town’s general budget and can only be spent on open space, recreation, historical preservation and affordable housing projects. As of March, the fund had a balance of about $2.63 million, according to O’Brien Scott. The tax surcharge generates about $400,000 per year, and the state contribution has varied from $111,296 to $167,167 in the past three years.
O’Brien Scott said the town has agreed to a purchase price of $200,000 for the Sears property, and as of April 13 was still negotiating the price of the smaller Kelley property.
In late 2021, the town also received a 37-acre parcel east of Birnie Avenue as a donation. This parcel, which extends east to Interstate 91, is not considered part of the Prospect Hill Conservation Area.
Also at their April 10 meeting, town councilors approved a preservation restriction on the White Church at 732 Elm St. The restriction was a requirement of the building owner receiving $137,390 in Community Preservation Act funds to restore the church steeple and other renovation work completed in the past two years.