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Hatfield Select Board discusses vandalism, litter on farms

Date: 6/20/2023

HATFIELD — John Pease of the Agricultural Advisory Commission came before the Select Board on June 13 to report on complaints he received while doing research for the current comprehensive planning process. Local farmers and landowners told Pease out of town visitors are vandalizing conservation signs, violating land boundaries, damaging crops and leaving behind bags of pet droppings.

“What I found out was, that there’s a lot of visitors coming in to ‘enjoy’ this community [who] are having some effect on [farmers’] activities,” Pease said. “I talked to some landowners on Ridge Lane. They’ve gone so far as to put up no parking signs down at the road at the dyke.”

Pease didn’t name his informants, who saw farmers having difficulties reaching the head rows of their fields. Cars were parked adjacent to crops, hampering access, so landowners were prompted to post signs against roadside parking.

Signs put up by the American Farm Land Trust, indicating acreage is under conservation protections, also vanished.

“We’ve had several signs removed from the posts,” Pease said. “The posts are there, the signs are gone.”

Signposts on Depot Road, near the Nourse farming operation, and near the former Belden Farm, are missing signs. A signpost on Old Farms Road and another near the Adamski property were also stripped. Pease found it regrettable, partly because local residents who donate money to protect land can’t see what good it did.

“The vineyard property at Black Birch has been conserved, a large portion of it,” Pease said. “We need to put some signage up there to tell the pubic this land has been forever preserved for farming.”

Selectboard member Edmund Jaworski suggested monitoring spots where trash is left behind or signs are stolen. He asked Police Chief Michael Dekoschak, attending the meeting on other business, whether town employees or residents were free to put up trail cameras to catch offenders in the act.

“There’s nothing illegal about putting cameras up anywhere,” Dekoschak said. “You just can’t shine them in people’s homes. As long as you’re avoiding that, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

Discussion suggested trash and littering are a chronic problem. Pease noted this spring an incident of significant littering on farmland in “the meadows” sent up red flags of concern among farmers there. Select Board Chair Diana Szynal also mentioned a spot near the river.

The spot near the river has a history of dumping.

“Down by the river was probably the largest dump I’ve ever seen before, at one point in time,” Dekoschak said. “There’s a problem there, there’s a problem on Plain Road, there’s a problem on the dirt stretch of Straits Road, and there’s a problem on the mountain.”

Horse Mountain in West Hatfield features a popular hiking trail. Landowners told Pease out of state vehicles are often parked nearby. While littering was Dekoschak’s concern, visitors tramping where they shouldn’t is also a problem.

“They’re chainsaw working, all of a sudden they have people show up behind them and startle them,” Pease said. “Their concerns are just that they’re out there, walking around.”

Highway Department employees observed that visitors were actively dumping on Horse Mountain. Gates across dirt roads was discussed several years ago, at Nourse Farm and Kellog Hill Road, nearer the center of town. The gate at Nourse Farm, the police chief said, was also considered to give access for a road grader.

Pease and Szynal were most concerned with replacing the signs that have disappeared. Szynal asked where the signs originally came from, who paid for them, and whether it was the state Dept. of Agricultural Resources, which might pay for replacements.

Pease also told the board he was going to research a grant opportunity through MDAR and the Massachusetts Dairy Promotion Board to showcase the Belden Farm, the only dairy farm in Hatfield, during the comprehensive planning process. He saw the family’s contribution to dairy and energy production should be publicized.

“I’d like to do research…[on] how we can preserve them and promote milk products here in Hatfield,” Pease said. “Not just the dairy farm, but…they’re supplying clean energy through their digester, feeding electrical systems.”

Pease told board members that visitors create problems in other towns too, that Hatfield isn’t the only municipality with such complaints. Officials in other municipalities, at regional meetings Pease attended, reported vandalism and other nuisance behaviors.

“Reading the farm papers and periodicals I get, there is vandalism that’s on, on the farms, that’s to livestock that’s getting injured or destroyed,” Pease said. “Hopefully, that won’t happen here.”