Hadley Conservation Commission Approves Mechanical Harvester for Lake Warner Invasive Removal

HADLEY -- July 8, 2025, Hadley Conservation Commission approves mechanical harvester for invasive water chestnut removal at Lake Warner and continues a drive-through coffee shop hearing to August. The commission voted unanimously July 8 to amend Order of Conditions 170-304, allowing Friends of Lake Warner to deploy a self-built mechanical harvester to cut invasive water chestnuts, replacing a contested herbicide plan that had drawn abutter opposition in May. Abutter Jonathan Carr submitted a letter of support and offered composting space on his property for harvested vegetation. In a separate continued hearing, business owner Raj Brumar and designer Chris Chamberlain presented off-site mitigation options for a proposed Seven Brew drive-through at 347 Russell Street within a protected riverfront zone, but commission members told the applicant that final approval authority rests with the DEP's Springfield office: "As long as Springfield's happy, the commission is happy, that's the bottom line." That hearing was continued to August 12. The commission also issued a negative determination for a Western Massachusetts NEMBA trail reroute near the Holyoke Range, conditioned on Select Board approval, and approved $385 in annual dues to the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions.