SOUTHAMPTON — Voters at a special Town Meeting Thursday approved borrowing $700,000 to purchase 25 acres of land between Cook and County roads in an effort to protect the Barnes Aquifer.
The roughly $1 million land purchase is funded equally by Easthampton, Southampton and the state. The land, known as the Gwinner Property, is part of the Barnes Aquifer recharge area that supplies water for the two communities, according to Mark Wamsley, land conservation manager at Kestrel Land Trust in Amherst.
Southampton recently received a Drinking Water Supply Protection grant that will reimburse $350,000 to help conserve the land. In November, the Easthampton City Council approved spending $343,762 in Community Preservation Act funds and the city is now in the process of acquiring the development rights to the property through a conservation restriction.
“It’s a win-win across the board,” Southampton Select Board Chairman Charlie Kaniecki said.
The three articles on the warrant Thursday were previously approved in 2016, but had to be re-voted on because the town did not follow proper procedures.
Kaniecki said the town bylaw states the articles had to be reviewed by the Capital Improvement Committee prior to Town Meeting, but instead they had been reviewed by the Finance Committee.
The conservation land will allow for the protection of the aquifer, which provides water to Easthampton, and to Southampton during droughts or periods of heavy use, and for hiking and other recreation.
In addition to the article about the land purchase, voters approved two additional measures to make improvements to the town’s water system.
They agreed to fund $2.7 million to pay for costs of the design and construction of water system improvements and to borrow $1.7 million to pursue a loan from the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust to upgrade the water system. If the loan is secured, the $2.7 million for water system improvements will be reduced to about $1 million.
Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazattenet.com.