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Date: 12/28/2020
AGAWAM – On Dec. 21, the City Council agreed to allocate money for the design and engineering of an access road and dam repair in the Tuckahoe Turf Farm.
The preliminary costs that were approved during the meeting are a part of a wider master plan to develop Tuckahoe into a place for the community to enjoy, whether actively or passively. The total cost for design and permitting is $335,800.
According to Mayor William Sapelli, the 300-plus acres of land have never been used efficiently by the town, so this master plan is a way to make it useful.
Originally, the city was looking to add bathrooms, guard gates, parking areas and recreational fields to the farm, as well as a paved road that would cut in from the South Westfield side of Pine Street. The price tag for all of this, however, was $10 million, which would have been too expensive, according to Sapelli.
“We scaled it way back to a gravel road, repairing the dam, and doing a gravel parking lot,” said Sapelli.
Regardless of whether or not the town develops Tuckahoe, the dam within the farm must be fixed, because it failed its last inspection in 2018. The dam is inspected every 10 years by the Department of Environmental Protection.
Sapelli said that this design will be the first of many phases. Once the dam is repaired, the city can then do something a little more substantial with Tuckahoe, according to the mayor.
“Now we’re down to $4 million with what we’re willing to do,” said Sapelli, as opposed to the original $10 million plan.
The dam alone, according to Town Solicitor Stephen Buoniconti, will cost $800,000 for long-term sufficiency, between design and construction. Out of the $335,800 for the design and permitting phase, $182,000 will come from free cash provided by Tennessee Valley for mitigation, and $153,800 will come from Community Preservation Act funds. The town will worry about construction costs when they get to that point in the process.
“The goal is for this to be a net zero to the taxpayer,” said Buoniconti.
The town also hopes to obtain revenue from a solar farm on the northwestern portion of Tuckahoe. Buoniconti said that construction for that will begin in the spring, and under the 20-year lease that they negotiated, the town could receive $104,000 in the farm’s first yearly payments. After that, payments would rise by 2 percent every year thereafter. By the 20th year, the town hopes to get at least $170,000 from those yearly payments. A lot of this money will help offset the investments in this Tuckahoe master plan.
The town also hopes to apply for grants from the state for open field projects within Tuckahoe. Buoniconti said that they can start applying right away.
“Let’s get to the dam, do that work, open up for passive recreation, and let the public tell us what they want to do,” said Buoniconti.
The design process for the master plan will most likely spill into the spring and summer of 2021, according to Buoniconti. They plan to know what the construction costs will be at the end of that same summer.
“I just want to commend the mayor for moving forward with the plan,” said Council President Christopher Johnson. “What we’re looking at doing is saving the pond with the immediate work to the dam, and then hopefully as the years go on, we can expand the opportunity for passive recreation.”
Tuckahoe is the largest piece of property under a single ownership in Agawam other than Robinson State Park. The council voted unanimously for the allocation of the $335,800 for design and engineering.
The council, in a 7-3 vote, also supported the extension of Agawam’s mayoral term from two years to four years. If this law is approved by the legislature, the resolution will be subject to voter approval at the next municipal election, which will be in November of 2021.
There was also a lengthy debate about raising the salary of Agawam’s mayoral position, which was at $85,000 prior to the Dec. 21 meeting. The original proposal was to raise the salary to $130,000 per year. After several salary proposals that didn’t receive enough votes, the council agreed to raise the mayor’s salary to $95,000 per year.
“I think there has to be a pay raise,” said Councilor Paul Cavallo, during the salary discussion. “It’s always been said in this town, ‘Why doesn’t someone run for mayor?’ The reason is, you’re not going to attract the person for the price you’re paying the mayor.”
Councilor Dino Mercadante was one of two councilors who opposed all recommendations for a raise in salary for the mayor, stating that the town has other issues to worry about during this pandemic.
“Our unemployment rate in the town of Agawam has gone from 2.5 percent to 8.9 percent,” said Mercadante. “Higher taxes, COVID, higher unemployment on the rise, we just have to be smart about things. I think right now, raising salaries gives a bad impression to the general public.”
The $10,000 raise will be in effect for the next mayoral term.