Amendment #121 to H4790

Lampson Brook Farm

Mr. Oliveira of Ludlow moves to amend the bill by inserting after section 12 the following sections:

SECTION XX. Subsection (b) of section 2 of chapter 355 of the acts of 2020 is hereby amended by striking out the words “1 year” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- 2 years.

SECTION XX. Subsection (c) of said section 2 of said chapter 355 is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The survey plan shall be subject to the approval of the division and recorded in the Hampshire district registry of deeds within 2 years of the acceptance by the board and approval by the division.

SECTION XX. Section 3 of said chapter 355 is hereby amended by striking out the first 2 sentences and inserting in place thereof the following 2 sentences:- There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a nonbudgeted, special revenue fund called the Lampson Brook Farm Fund. Expenditures from the fund shall not be subject to appropriation and shall be administered by the board consistent with the management plan.

SECTION XX. Said section 3 of said chapter 355 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 4, the words “bond revenues or”.

SECTION XX. Said section 3 of said chapter 355 is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 7 and 8, the words “including, but not limited to, any ground lease payments from the enterprise zone parcel or” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- and.

SECTION XX. Said section 3 of said chapter 355 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 14, the words “shall be held in an expendable trust and”.

SECTION XX. Said section 3 of said chapter 355 is hereby further amended by striking out the fifth sentence.

SECTION XX. Section 4 of said chapter 355 is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 4 to 8, inclusive, the words “. The division shall certify that the plans are sufficient to ensure the permanent protection and ownership of all parcels comprising the Lampson Brook Farm. The division shall notify the house and senate committees on ways and means of its certification of the plans. Parcels not transferred by the board pursuant to this act on or before the division notifies the house and senate committees on ways and means of its certification of the survey and management plans” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- and the house and senate committees on ways and means. The parcels comprising Lampson Brook Farm.

SECTION XX. Said section 4 of said chapter 355 is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “board”, in line 10, the following words:- , unless and until conveyed as provided for in this act.

SECTION XX. Subsection (a) of section 5 of said chapter 355 is hereby amended by striking out the first 3 sentences and inserting in place thereof the following 3 sentences:- Notwithstanding sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General Laws or any general or special law to the contrary, the division, with the approval of the board and consistent with the recommendations of the management plan, shall seek proposals and select nonprofit organizations to receive the fee interest in the community farm parcel and the forest parcel and a conservation and preservation restriction upon the community farm parcel through a competitive process. Preference shall be given to those qualified applicants that propose to own both the community farm and forest parcels and provide farm management services that most closely meets the recommendations of the management plan and that offer the most experience in resource stewardship. The value of the community farm parcel and the forest parcel shall be determined as restricted by the associated conservation and preservation restrictions and applicants may utilize appropriate private, state or federal grants to pay for the restricted value as determined by an independent appraisal, prepared in accordance with the usual and customary professional appraisal practices, by a qualified appraiser commissioned by the division.

SECTION XX. Subsection (b) of said section 5 of said chapter 355 is hereby amended by striking out the first 2 sentences and inserting in place thereof the following 2 sentences:- Notwithstanding sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General Laws or any general or special law to the contrary, the division may convey the fee interest in the community farm parcel to the nonprofit organization selected pursuant to subsection (a); provided, however, that such nonprofit organization shall have at least the following purposes: (i) historic preservation; (ii) passive recreation; (iii) promotion of small-scale farming, local food production and food system development; and (iv) farm management services. Notwithstanding said sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of said chapter 7C or any general or special law to the contrary, the division may convey a conservation and preservation restriction, within the meaning of section 31 of chapter 184 of the General Laws and subject to section 32 of said chapter 184, on the community farm parcel to a qualified organization selected under said subsection (a) that is organized for purposes that include farmland conservation and historic preservation.

SECTION XX. Said section 5 of said chapter 355 is hereby further amended by striking out subsection (c) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(c) Notwithstanding sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General Laws or any general or special law to the contrary, the division may convey the forest parcel to the nonprofit organization selected pursuant to subsection (a); provided, however, that such organization shall be organized for at least forest conservation and management purposes. The division shall retain or convey, as applicable, a conservation restriction upon the forest parcel, within the meaning of section 31 of chapter 184 of the General Laws and subject to section 32 of said chapter 184, which shall be under the joint care and control of the department of conservation and recreation and the conservation commission of the town of Belchertown created pursuant to section 8C of chapter 40 of the General Laws.

SECTION XX. Section 6 of said chapter 355 is hereby amended by striking out the first 2 sentences and inserting in place thereof the following 2 sentences:-  Notwithstanding sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General Laws or any general or special law to the contrary, the division, with the approval of the board, shall convey the Jepson farmstead parcel, for no consideration other than the performance of the obligations under this act, to the New England Small Farm Institute, Inc. or its successor organization; provided, however, that any transfer to a successor organization shall be approved by the board. Notwithstanding said sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of said chapter 7C or any general or special law to the contrary, the division may convey a preservation restriction, within the meaning of section 31 of chapter 184 of the General Laws and subject to section 32 of said chapter 184, on the Jepson farmstead parcel to a qualified entity selected under subsection (a) of section 5.

SECTION XX. Said chapter 355 is hereby further amended by striking out section 7 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 7. Notwithstanding sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General Laws or any general or special law to the contrary, the division, with the approval of the board and consistent with the recommendations of the management plan, is authorized to sell the enterprise zone parcel to a nonprofit organization or a private entity through a competitive process. The selection shall be based on: (i) the total amount of the proposed purchase payment; (ii) the compatibility of the proposal with the management plan; (iii) the applicant’s ability to steward the parcel; and (iv) any other criteria as determined by the board. The board may utilize the fund to restore or partially restore the enterprise zone parcel to successfully complete the transition from the former dairy farm into sustainable natural resource-based enterprises compatible with the management plan with provision for public access, tourism and public education value and public benefits. Sale proceeds shall be deposited into the fund. The owner of the enterprise zone parcel shall manage the parcel in compliance with the management plan and the deed shall include a provision requiring compliance with the management plan.

SECTION XX. Section 8 of said chapter 355 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “complete”, in line 4, the following words:- and implement.

SECTION XX. Said section 8 of said chapter 355 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 12, the words “historic”.

SECTION XX. Said chapter 355 is hereby further amended by striking out section 9 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 9. Notwithstanding sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General Laws or any general or special law to the contrary, the division may grant a permanent access easement to or enter into an agreement with the Snowmobile Association of Massachusetts, in consultation with the Mill Valley Snowmobile Club, Inc., for the snowmobile trail that crosses the Lampson Brook Farm as described in the management plan and subject to the conservation restriction.

SECTION XX. Section 10 of said chapter 355 is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The division may sell or lease that parcel to a purchaser or lessee selected through a competitive process as determined by the division, which shall include consideration of the impact any such sale or lease may have on adjacent property.

SECTION XX. Section 12 of said chapter 355 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the first time it appears, the word “state” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- central.

SECTION XX. Said chapter 355 is hereby further amended by adding the following section:-

Section 13. Notwithstanding sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General Laws, the division of capital asset management and maintenance may transfer care and control of the commercial agricultural parcel to the department of agricultural resources.