HADLEY — Tobacco barns continue to dot the Hadley landscape, many being filled with drying leaves throughout the summer months.
For the first time, though, a resident who owns one of the 1800s-era wooden barns is seeking the town’s financial assistance to restore the deteriorating structure, so it can again be used to hang tobacco that he would grow on site.
“I hope this will be something the community will see as a benefit, not just for myself,” said Alex Bilodeau of 68 Mount Warner Road in making a pitch for $94,946 to the Community Preservation Act Committee on Monday.
The proposal is one of just three the committee received by its Sept. 1 deadline for $3.13 million available in the account.
The other requests are $1.61 million to complete the second phase of renovation to Hopkins Academy playing fields, including extension of a publicly accessible walking trail on the perimeter of the school site on Route 9; and $25,000 for continued repairs to the Hockanum Cemetery, a project that will feature installation of reinforced turf next to the new granite post fence and construction of a commemorative stone column at the south end of the cemetery, where an old stone wall has been removed.
Should any of the projects be recommended, they would then be considered by voters at a special Town Meeting in October.
At the initial examination, members had concerns about the tobacco barn project and whether it is appropriate to provide money for a private entity where there is uncertainty about the public benefit.
“I don’t know if this is the right way to go about this,” said committee member Edwin Matuszko. He added that if the project is allowed to proceed, the committee could be flooded with similar requests from other farms throughout town.
Bilodeau said tobacco barns are an important part of the town, and that demolition is likely because he can’t afford to keep the barn standing. “The next thing is to pull it down,” Bilodeau said.
Ideally, he would like to have tobacco grown in the field near the barn. The crop currently being grown is squash.
The Historical Commission has endorsed his plan.
“Tobacco is a very important part of our agricultural heritage here in the Pioneer Valley and in Hadley, and we’d like to see this project funded,” said commission representative Denise Barstow Manz, who also serves on the CPA Committee.
Committee member Andy Morris-Friedman said the request shouldn’t be denied simply because it is the first of its kind, and that a covenant could protect the town’s investment.
While he said a stampede of similar requests is possible, the committee would have to deal with that. “As to the concern about farmers lining up, tell them to get in line,” Morris-Friedman said.
Still, both Matuszko and Morris-Friedman said even if the request is recommended by the CPA Committee, it’s uncertain whether voters would support the project.
While there was little dicussion about the cemetery project, there were several comments about the Hopkins fields project, including about what elements are eligible, whether a conservation restriction on the property might be needed, and if the school will need to provide a match.
The second phase of the project would mean a new girls softball field, rearranging the boys varsity baseball field and completing an asphalt track with another 1,500 feet, said Schol Committee member Paul Phifer.
Superintendent Anne McKenzie said the athletic fields are a portion of a $12.3 million capital plan for Hopkins, and the only part eligible for CPA funding.
“We do believe there’s a community benefit, a case we made in phase one, and we’ve heard from the community that they appreciate the fields, and the walking track, and it’s also part of a larger goal of ours to help the town with cost avoidance,” McKenzie said.
