Suffield schedules June 26 Town Meeting to consider property sale, solar lease, cemetery transfers and farm lease renewals

The Town of Suffield will hold a Special Town Meeting on Thursday, June 26, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium at Suffield Middle School to consider seven agenda items including a proposed land sale, a long-term solar lease, cemetery transfers, a Right-to-Farm ordinance and two five-year farm lease renewals. A public information session is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

The Board of Selectmen has referred a plan to sell 21.01 acres at 1148 South Street to Martin M. Downey for $515,000; the buyer proposes a 20,000-square-foot ice-hockey training facility, a permitted light-industrial use. The town estimates the property could generate roughly $46,000 in annual property tax revenue if developed. The sale is contingent on local land-use approvals and execution of a purchase-and-sale agreement.

Separately, the Selectmen seek authorization to lease 5.8 acres north of the transfer station at 2715 Mountain Road to Verogy, a West Hartford solar developer, for a proposed 0.9-megawatt array. The draft lease calls for an initial 20-year term with three five-year extension options (up to 35 years total), annual rent of $65,000, decommissioning assurances, liability insurance and routine maintenance obligations. Town filings note interconnection studies are complete and the project has been accepted into Eversource’s NRES program; the Conservation and Planning & Zoning commissions have held public hearings and recommended approval.

The meeting will also consider acceptance of the West Suffield Cemetery on Mountain Road, which the West Suffield Cemetery Association has offered to donate as it dissolves. The association amended its bylaws to permit the gift and asked the town to accept the property and associated assets; the Board of Finance has accepted the associated funds. If the Town declines the donation, officials say the municipality could still become responsible for an abandoned cemetery and would need to follow a statutory acquisition process. Town staff plan to record the transfer, establish a trust for cemetery funds, set up a small advisory board and contract with the cemetery’s current sexton to continue services.

Another item asks the Town to authorize transfer of the 0.65-acre Phelps Road cemetery to the Mountain Burying Ground Association, which has maintained the property since 1867 and purchased adjacent expansion land in 1996. Town documents say the association has not requested town maintenance funding and that ownership by the association would simplify insurance and administration; the transfer was referred to Town Meeting following approvals from Granby’s board and a positive § 8-24 report.

The proposed Right-to-Farm ordinance would reaffirm protections under Connecticut General Statutes § 19a-341 for farming operations that follow generally accepted agricultural practices, while preserving liability for nuisances caused by negligence or willful misconduct. The town materials list other Connecticut municipalities that have adopted similar ordinances.

Finally, the Town Meeting packet includes two five-year lease renewals through March 31, 2030: a 10.11-acre Stratton Farms open-space parcel to Nowak Farms, LLC for $3,124 per year ($15,620 over five years), and approximately 15.2 acres at Malec Farms Open Space to Bielonko Farms, LLC at $60 per acre (totaling $4,560 over the lease term).

Supporting materials for all items are posted on the Town of Suffield website and are available in the Town Clerk’s office beginning June 18, 2025. If Town Meeting approves any of the resolutions, the resolutions authorize the First Selectman to sign and execute documents necessary to complete each transaction.