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Date: 11/16/2023
AGAWAM — Agawam may soon spend a dollar on 50 acres of land for a new town park, if a resolution is approved by the City Council.
According to the resolution, the family trust of John C. Tate has offered to donate two forested parcels to the town, “provided the land is restricted to remain open space.” The resolution states the town wishes to develop it into a park, where residents can engage in passive recreation through its walking trails. The resolution authorizes the town to use Community Preservation Act funds to acquire the land and maintain the property.
The parcels are between Silver and Adams streets, to the west of Birch Hill Road. They can only be accessed by driving down Candlewood Drive, which itself can be reached via Birch Hill Road or Pembroke Street.
The land itself is sparsely developed. It is a wooded area with a small stream running through the middle of it. Formerly used for timber milling, the land now features walking trails.
Mayor William Sapelli said the family wants to donate it because “they’re just great people.”
“They love the outdoors and they just want to see it preserved as open space,” he said.
The tax revenue the town will lose from purchasing the land is minimal. The parcels are currently under the jurisdiction of Chapter 61B, a Massachusetts law that reduces the tax rate for recreational land. There are no structures on the land.
“People can go in and walk on the nature trails, whether it’s plants or birds or just exercise, to enjoy the 50 acres,” he said.
Selling it for a dollar is a way to make it easier to legally treat it as open space, Sapelli said.
If purchased by the town, the parcels would become John C. Tate Memorial Park, named for the father of family trust owner Ann Hall. The town would build a small gravel parking lot off Candlewood Drive, so that people outside the immediate area can access the trails. The town doesn’t see a need to install light fixtures, as the park will be open from dawn to dusk. No work will be done on the walking trails.
“We’re going to leave it in its natural state, as requested by the family,” said Sapelli.
The cost of the gravel parking lot will be minimal, said Sapelli. It will likely be paid for using Community Preservation Act funds. Construction is expected to take four to six weeks. Depending on the weather, it may not start until spring. The town has no plans to restrict access to the parcels while construction is taking place.
Sapelli said one of the tenets of the Community Preservation Act is to preserve open space. Continuously clearing out woodland and developing it would leave the town with no nature left. He said it is nice that the CPA account, funded by a surcharge on local property taxes and matching grants from the state, allows the town to maintain open spaces.
The parcels come in a “package deal,” Sapelli said, with a small parcel off Riverview Avenue, covered by a separate resolution. This parcel covers a sliver of undeveloped grassland alongside the Connecticut River behind Six Flags New England.
The town was previously approached about purchasing it and initially did not want to, Sapelli said. Now that the town has been offered the 50 acres by Birch Hill Road, it plans to accept the Riverview parcel as well.
The resolution for the Riverview Avenue land also authorizes the town to purchase it for a dollar using reserve funds. This would give the town some flexibility as to how to use it in the future. There are no immediate plans to use the parcel. Sapelli is unaware of what it could be used for, given how small it is.
At the Nov. 8 City Council meeting, both resolutions were put onto the next meeting’s agenda.
Council President Christopher Johnson explained that the town charter states that the council has to take a week before voting on a resolution.
Sapelli said he believes both will be approved by the council.