Hubbardston signs multiple Chapter land applications, recreates tax warrants and schedules April meeting

Town of Hubbardston staff and board members reviewed and signed multiple Chapter land applications and lien transfers, recreated warrants and commitments for personal property and real estate taxes for 2022–2025, and set the next meeting for 6 p.m. on April 9, the meeting record shows.

The matters centered on routine Chapter application approvals, transfers of ownership into trusts that required lien releases and re-recordings, and administrative cleanup of missing tax warrants. Staff recommended full grants for several applicants and asked the board to request additional information or send warning letters in a handful of borderline cases.

Staff said applicants Irving Peters and Matthew Ordolino "should be granted in full based on his application and my review of it." The board signed release-and-re‑lien documents for multiple ownership transfers into trusts, including files for Robert Loring (transfer from Valerie Lauren), Robert Meager, Kathy Hansgate and a transfer from Peter Alto to his wife, all recorded so the land remains eligible for Chapter treatment under the town process.

The board discussed several applications with qualification questions. Staff reported that David Meager "was reporting no income" and noted prior meetings had required $500 of income; staff estimated the hay fed to Meager’s livestock had a value that would account for roughly $4,760 and left the decision for approval to the board. For Margaret Alto, staff said she requested that "85.36 acres be in chapter" but "She is not meeting the income requirements. She needed to provide an income of $801.80 and she provided an income of $525." The board indicated it would accept her application in full and send a letter notifying her and flagging the shortfall for next year.

A separate application from the Savigni family reported zero income after loss of chickens, sheep and goats to predators. Staff asked the board whether to grant a pass or reject; board members asked staff to request a head count and said the file would be returned for action at the next meeting. Allen Prentice’s application was flagged as short of the town’s stated five‑acre minimum for Chapter status: staff said the application lists 4.59 acres (two lots totaling that amount) while the owner also holds additional adjoining acreage; the board asked staff to send a written notice asking the owner to clarify whether additional contiguous acreage or ownership interests should be counted toward the five‑acre minimum.

Staff reported Mount Jefferson LLC "have more than enough income and meet all the other qualifications" and that file was signed off. Another applicant, listed as Theresa (transcript: "Theresa Cullen Colleen, Colin Nane"), was about $55 shy of the reported qualifying income; staff recommended sending the usual explanatory letter with next year’s application and the board discussed approving in full and issuing a notice.

On administrative tax matters, staff explained that the town’s tax collector discovered no signed warrants and commitments on file for 2022, 2023 or 2024. Staff said they recreated warrants and commitments for 2022–2025 and presented those documents for signatures; the meeting record shows the board signed the recreated personal property and real estate warrants and commitments.

Board members also reviewed a flyover image of a parcel off Route 68. Staff said the aerial review showed no visible structures on the parcel and noted prior activity (truck bodies, a hoop house) had ceased several years earlier. The group discussed a news report on marijuana retail price declines and observed that if a property had been used for a cannabis business and then abandoned, tax arrears could be significant; staff was asked to check town tax collector records and select‑board permits to clarify whether a business had been registered or granted permission.

The board set its next meeting for Wednesday, April 9, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting then moved into executive session and the public recording was stopped.

Ending

The meeting record shows the board completed signing for the items presented, delegated follow‑up information requests on several borderline Chapter applications, recreated and signed missing tax warrants for 2022–2025, and scheduled the next public meeting on April 9 at 6:00 p.m., after which the board entered executive session and halted recording.