NORTHAMPTON – During a June 16 meeting, the Northampton City Council accepted a financial order that allows the Department of Public Works (DPW) to take certain easements on Winter Street to allow for the reconstruction of the overall roadway and improve utilities such as drainage. The order now heads to the consent agenda for the next meeting.

During a previous public hearing with the city’s finance committee on June 8, DPW Director Donna LaScaleia noted that “very serious” water main breaks have occurred over the past several years on Winter Street, causing heavy damage to homes on that street. The most recent main break, according to LaScaleia, happened in 2019.

“What we have been working on since the last [main break] … is a plan to improve the utilities in the roadway,” said LaScaleia, during that meeting. “We need to improve the water main; we need to actually separate a combined sewer and stormwater system.”

Stormwater is currently flowing into the sewer system, according to LaScaleia, which is a violation of a city permit. As part of their due diligence, the city must acquire a small part of land at the end of the street to formalize it, since that section is considered “unaccepted” was not included in the city’s area of acceptance when they created the Winter Street layout in 1910. Once the city can take easements on this small tract of land, which is approximately 70 feet long and 33 feet wide, they can then legally begin the utility improvements.

The ordinance was referred to finance for public hearings where residents of Winter Street spoke about their experiences and what they thought of this process. One Winter Street resident, Kathryn Basham, spoke during the public hearing about the critical damage her house experienced during the two major main breaks in 2006 and 2019, which led to thousands of dollars in repairs.

Basham returned during the public comment period of the City Council meeting on June 16 and spoke in favor of these improvements moving forward. “It’s been determined that [the pipes] are in desperate need of replacement and infrastructure change,” said Basham. “The majority of residents on Winter Street are in support of moving forward with this project as quickly as possible.”

During the finance committee meeting in early May, Christopher Nieboer, the son of 29 Winter St. residents Rose and Fred Nieboer, argued that he and his parents have adverse possession of the “unknown” land that the city is taking easements on. According to Nieboer, he and his parents have been taking care of the property for the last 58 years.

According to Nieboer, notorious or open use of a vacant parcel for 20 or more years grants the family possession of the property, based on Massachusetts state law. He told the Committee on Finance that Northampton’s assistant civil engineer promised the family last summer that the city would not take ownership of the property in question.

“I object to the city taking this property, especially since we have adverse possession of this property according to Massachusetts state law,” said Nieboer during the finance committee meeting, adding that there is a myriad of other solutions engineers could find to improve drainage and utilities on Winter Street.

Nieboer was also in attendance for the City Council meeting and said during public comment that there has been a lack of communication on the city’s end when it came to this process. He added that a design review was submitted to by a local engineering firm to the city attorney.

Despite the objections, LaScaleia said that taking easements on the small property will allow the city to manage the stormwater flow from the roadway.

“We need to take this easement so that we can manage our stormwater and so we can continue to plow snow,” said LaScaleia.

Despite concerns from Nieboer, LaScaleia said that the city solicitor has been in contact with the family’s attorney throughout this process and added that design plans have been revised to make them more suitable for what Nieboer wanted to see. “We are actually not taking his parents’ parking lot away, we are improving it,” said LaScaleia.

With the easements, the city can now take this project out to bid.