HADLEY — A $400,000 engineering and feasibility study to determine whether Hadley could send some of its wastewater to the regional plant operated by the town of Amherst may hinge on an appropriation of Community Preservation Act money this fall.
In advance of a special Town Meeting to be held Oct. 23, a divided CPA Advisory Committee recently voted 5-3 to support drawing $38,955 from the account to serve as a match to land a MassWorks infrastructure grant.
Department of Public Works Director Scott McCarthy said the study will look at the best way to increase sewer capacity so Hadley can pursue more affordable housing development on Route 9.
“The town has to do something somewhere: you’re either sending it to Amherst or you’re going to rehabilitate the current plant,” McCarthy said. “Sending flow to Amherst you wouldn’t have to touch the current plant.”
Under the proposal, the existing Mill Valley pump station would connect to the Amherst plant, which is situated in Hadley and was built in the late 1970s as a regional site. The flow would be redirected from that pump station, enhancing the capacity for Route 9.
In addition, there could be reduced expenses since the Amherst plant better dries out sludge, making it less expensive to transport for disposal. Some of the engineering and feasibility work has been done through a previous MassWorks grant submitted by Amherst, with the designs about 50% complete, McCarthy said.
Benefiting from this could be developments with affordable units, such as senior housing proposed off Rocky Hill Road and North Maple Street, the redevelopment of the EconoLodge hotel by Valley Community Development and reuse of the former Howard Johnson motel.
Should a rezoning create a state Chapter 40R Smart Growth district encompassing the Hampshire Mall, 190 new housing units could be created there.
Committee members, after extensive discussion at a meeting Sept. 8, gave support to the proposal, with Adam Bourgault, Mark Dunn, Andy Morris-Friedman, Sharon Parsons and Chairwoman Mary Thayer in favor, with Diane Kieras-Ciolkos, Andy Klepacki and Ray Mieczkowski opposed.
At the center of the debate was a letter from Stuart Sagnor, executive director of the Community Preservation Coalition, who said the spending wasn’t specific to affordable housing.
But Thayer said the committee could decide on its own if it was appropriate use for CPA funds. “It’s really our committee that decides what’s best for Hadley,” Thayer said.
“It is a ways down the road, but it’s something when there’s not really a lot of funds to do this sort of thing, to protect this grant, is something to consider,” Thayer said.
“It’s definitely creating a loophole, bending the rules a little bit, ” Morris Friedman said, adding he won’t support spending more CPA money unless a specific affordable housing development is identified.
Morris-Friedman added that there’s a gray area between the CPA law and its interpretation and implementation. “No town has ever been sued by the state for misusing CPA funds. There is no CPA police,” he said.
Dunn said he was in favor so long as the town wouldn’t be “sued for improperly spending CPA funds.”
“The fact that it’s just potentially enabling something that would benefit the town and affordable housing… what’s the worst that could happen, the town votes it down,” Dunn said.
“There’s a lot of benefits to the town with the savings from the sludge and things like that,” Dunn said.
Mieczkowski said the problem he has is the study would be beyond affordable housing and sewer extensions will benefit businesses and commercial developers. “We’re not in the business of subsidizing subdivisions and future developments,” Mieczkowski said.
Klepacki, too, said this is not an intended use of CPA.
But Parsons said she was comfortable supporting a feasibility study.
“Without the ability to know if we can definitely send our sewage to Amherst, through this feasibility study, then we can’t say to affordable housing units on Route 9 that they can go,” Parsons said.
Other projects
Meanwhile, the CPA Committee is unanimously recommending $16,000 for the Hadley Historical Society to hire a 10-hour per week archivist and curator to improve the management of its collection and $1,700 to restore a 19th century engraving of the Declaration of Independence and buy a display case for the 16th century Goffe Bible.