Conservation Commission Approves Burches Road Septic, Passes on Chapter 61A Parcel

HUBBARDSTON -- February 17, 2026, Hubbardston Conservation Commission approved a septic replacement and declined a Chapter 61A land purchase at its February 17 remote meeting. The commission voted unanimously to pass on a right of first refusal for a roughly 3.5-acre parcel owned by Alan Apprentice, currently enrolled in Chapter 61A at a sale price of $10,000, after clerk Lean Moses explained the land would have been removed from the program in July regardless due to insufficient eligible acreage. The board also issued a standard order of conditions for a failed septic replacement at 43 Burches Road after the state DEP returned a file number with no comment, described by members as "the best case scenario." A separate, longer-running matter at the same address remains continued through May, with a new engineering firm, Grabs Engineering, engaged to satisfy outstanding DEP requirements ahead of a hoped-for April update.