Hatfield Select Board Sets Fall Hearing on Connecticut River Trail Proposal

HATFIELD -- June 14, 2022, Hatfield Select Board to hold fall public hearing on proposed Connecticut River Trail. The board voted unanimously to schedule a community information meeting in September or October on a multi-use trail that would run roughly a quarter mile through Hatfield, connecting the town to Northampton's existing rail trail network at Elm Court. Board Chair Luke Longstreeth and members Edmund Jaworski and Julia Frisby agreed the meeting should be separate from a regular board session and held after summer travel season to maximize resident turnout. Open Space Committee members presented concept drawings dating to 2011 and said Northampton has received a preliminary Mass DOT approval with construction funding roughly five years away; Hatfield's contribution is expected to be a right-of-way grant rather than direct cash outlay. Separately, the board denied a water and sewer abatement request from 3 Prospect Street, citing longstanding policy against abatements for residential leaks, and unanimously approved a liquor license for BNB Restaurant Associates LLC, doing business as The Gathering, at 127 Elm Street, a new Italian-American restaurant expected to open by late July.