Hadley Conservation Commission backs $81,855 in farmland preservation matches

HADLEY -- March 11, 2025, Hadley Conservation Commission votes to support roughly $81,855 in local matching funds for four Agricultural Preservation Restriction applications covering approximately 42 acres of farmland. The commission voted unanimously Tuesday to back APR applications for the Kelly parcel on Stockbridge Street ($14,375 match), the Margaret Riley property on Bay Road ($13,750), the Topler Family Nominee Trust on Middle Road ($12,500), and the Estate of John Koski on Knightley Road ($41,230), with an MDAR representative noting the town would become a co-holder on the restriction documents and gain sign-off rights over proposed non-agricultural special permit uses. The commission's TDR conservation account holds approximately $85,000, making it the likely funding source. In other action, the commission unanimously adopted a new administrative tree removal policy allowing staff to approve removal of up to three trees meeting specific hazard, disease, or maintenance criteria without a full permitting process, and declined to exercise the town's Chapter 61A right of first refusal on a roughly 14-acre floodplain parcel at 156 River Drive.