HATFIELD — Hatfield officials are holding off on approving a work plan for dealing with invasive plants on Horse Mountain, the town conservation site near the Williamsburg town line, until learning whether some herbicide spraying can be done.
While the Open Space Committee is looking to hire Bay State Forestry Service to take care of a 2-1/2 acre section of the 94-acre site, Select Board members Tuesday suggested determining whether some use of chemical treatment might be a better option.
“I just think we’re going to get a better long-term solution,” board member Luke Longstreeth said. “A controlled application would seem a better solution.”
Under the $15,000 plan, Open Space Committee Chairman Rich Abbott said the Athol company would be hired to work on the parcels that the town acquired in 2017 through grants and some town money.
A conservation restriction has been placed on the land and the town has been working on connecting trails to the ridge. But this work is being done in areas where there are heavy invasive plants that had once been managed by previous property owner Bob Cole.
In the initial work plan, there would be hand cutting of vines and other hand work, along with some spraying. But the spraying was later removed from the proposal.
Longstreeth wondered if using some chemical application would mean getting more than 2-1/2 acres improved.
Abbott said the invasives are so thick, it’s unclear whether the contractor will be able to get through that entire space.
Once the invasive plants are removed, the intent is replant native species, Abbott said.
Horse Mountain has an additional 34 acres in Williamsburg.
On another matter related to recreational sites, Mark Gelotte, also a member of the Open Space Committee, said a survey is in hand from Northeast Survey Consultants in Easthampton showing that the northernmost section of White Rock Trail, off Rocks Road, is on town-owned land
A private landowner has placed no trespassing signs along the trail, built around 2018, contending that it veers off town-owned land.
The survey and a letter from town counsel will be sent to the landowner as a way to get the signs removed.
In other business, Town Administrator Andrew Levine told the Select Board he had a meeting with the Public Employee Committee, which includes representatives from collective bargaining units across town, outlining the options for leaving the Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust and possibly joining the Group Insurance Commission.
Like other communities, Hatfield is facing big increases in health insurance costs.
Levine said he also was part of a recent session providing an overview of state legislation that would allow cities and towns with high health insurance costs to amortize those costs over five years.