SHUTESBURY — Continuing to address chemical contaminants found in wells near the fire station, adjusting the town’s zoning bylaws to allow battery storage with solar arrays, and permanently protecting land on Pelham Hill Road will be considered by voters at a special Town Meeting Thursday.
Action on the five-article warrant begins at 6 p.m. at the Shutesbury Elementary School.
To deal with the PFAS, or forever chemicals, identified near the fire station on Leverett Road, the town would spend $136,948 to pay Tighe and Bond to handle work that will extend through June 30.
PFAS are human-made and have been used in products such as water-resistant clothing, stain-resistant furniture and carpets, and paints and varnishes.
The change to the zoning, which needs a two-thirds majority to pass, would regulate energy storage systems that are used in conjunction with photovoltaic arrays, but prohibit them as a principal use in all zoning districts.
Two articles deal with the preservation of 34 acres of woodland on Pelham Road that Kestrel Land Trust pre-acquired in May 2022 for $265,000 and which will be used for passive recreation. The property also has the headwaters of the Amethyst Brook and connects to a larger wildlife corridor west of the Quabbin Reservoir.
The funding for the purchase, and the awarding of a conservation restriction to Kestrel Land Trust, comes from $45,000 from the Community Preservation Act account approved by annual Town Meeting last May, $20,000 in the Shutesbury Conservation Commission reserve account, $197,716 in federal Forest Legacy funding and $2,284 in private donations.
Bridget Likely, conservation manager for Kestrel, wrote in an email that Kestrel has raised additional money to cover the remainder of the sale price, due diligence and closing costs. The idea is to approve the money before the end of the month, when the federal money would expire.
“Approval of these two warrant articles will ensure the town of Shutesbury acquires this high conservation value forestland for public access and passive recreation in the southern portion of the town, and Kestrel Land Trust is pleased to partner with the town of Shutesbury and support this conservation effort,” Likely said.
The final article is to use $18,602 in free cash to buy VADAR Systems financial software for the town collector’s office.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
