AMHERST – The Amherst Historical Society is scrambling to find a funding source to pay an attorney to change the terms of a will because its request for Community Preservation Act money was turned down.
Representatives from the society said Tuesday that the decision, made by the CPA Committee Monday night, is not likely to jeopardize the potential sale of land by the society to the Jones Library for its planned expansion and renovation.
Georgia “Gigi” Barnhill, president of the society, called the committee’s decision “disheartening.”
“What the funds were needed for were clearing the title for the property and getting restrictions removed from the building,” Barnhill said.
A change is needed in the will of Sarah Emerson, who left the Strong House on Amity Street to the society, so that a portion of its 3/4-acre property can be sold.
In its application for CPA money, society president emeritus James Wald explained the predicament.
“We are a small nonprofit dependent upon donations, and the contributions that we receive from the community go toward operating costs and programming,” Wald wrote.
The CPA Committee voted 3-3, with two abstentions, to turn down the $18,000 request from the historical society that would have paid for legal expenses. The committee received advice from Shirin Everett, an attorney with town counsel Kopelman and Paige, that it was not an appropriate use of the account that goes toward affordable housing, historic preservation, open space and recreation.
“That is what swayed the vote,” said CPA Committee Chairwoman Mary Streeter. “It was a matter of how much weight to give to the town counsel’s opinion. It was pretty clear it was not necessarily preservation.”
Streeter was joined by members James Oldham and Diana Stein in voting against using the money for legal fees, while James Brissette, Peter Jessop and Laura Lovett voted in favor. Paris Boice and Pari Riahi abstained.
The committee is making $2.09 million in spending recommendations, including $550,000 for the spray park at Groff Park, $227,248 for mortgage subsidies provided by Valley Community Development Corp, $200,000 for a fire sprinkler system at First Congregational Church and $190,000 for a fire suppression system at the Emily Dickinson Museum.
The committee’s decision comes as it continues negotiating a memorandum of understanding with the Jones Library, which is scheduled to be voted on by trustees at a meeting Thursday afternoon.
Any agreement between the library and historical society needs additional approvals from the public charities division in the state attorney general’s office and a probate court judge.
“We’re still going to have to proceed with this, but how we’ll fund it, I’m not sure,” Barnhill said.
Library Director Sharon Sharry has said in the past that if a portion of the society’s side yard cannot be obtained, the architect working on the library expansion may have to look to the rear of the building, where the Kinsey Memorial Garden is located.
“If the judge doesn’t approve the sale of the property to the library, then our architects will design a renovated/expanded building using only the library’s back yard,” Sharry said.
The CPA Committee did unanimously recommend $20,000 in carpentry work at the museum, to be done before painting, and $4,500 for dendrochronology of the structure – the study of wood used in the building – which is to be completed by William Flynt of Historic Deerfield.
Meanwhile, the CPA Committee decision comes as Town Meeting will be presented with a petition aimed at preserving the Kinsey Memorial Garden, which provides green space between the building and the CVS Pharmacy parking lot.
Carol Pope, who created the garden in 1999 as a a memorial to her husband, David Kinsey, a UMass professor and gardener, said in an email that the petition is about saving the valuable site.
“The worry is that a pending library expansion could encroach upon or even eradicate the garden,” Pope said.
Until 2014, Pope continued to improve the garden, adding what she describes as uncommon and aesthetically special plants she purchased. But since then maintenance has been done by the library facilities supervisor, causing the garden to already fall into demise.
The petition would also create a Kinsey Garden Committee whose members would be horticultural experts and garden enthusiasts overseeing the maintenance and enhancement of the garden.
Pope said the library should be making stronger connections to the history museum’s historic garden and a future green space that might be at the back side of the Central Fire Station.
“This is an era where downtown green spaces are highly prized, being added whenever possible, and seen as a major loss when taken from the community,” Pope said. “It is not a time for destroying enchanting gardens that already exist.”
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
