Shutesbury Board of Health clears two permits, advances Jewish cemetery expansion review

SHUTESBURY -- June 17, 2026, Shutesbury Board of Health approves two property permits and opens a complex multi-year review of a proposed Jewish cemetery expansion. The board voted 4-0 to approve a well permit for 45 Plaza Road, owned by Kathy Carey, which had relied on a spring for its water supply, and authorized Chair Catherine Hilton to issue a septic repair permit for 760 Pratt Corner Road once outstanding fees are paid and a technical review is complete. The meeting's longest discussion centered on member Arlene Reed's briefing on the Jewish Community of Amherst's interest in purchasing approximately five acres from a wooded parcel across Leverett Road from its existing two-acre cemetery, a project that will require wetlands delineation, soil evaluation, a public hearing with notice to abutters, and ultimately Annual Town Meeting approval. Reed said she had not yet received guidance from the DEP Western district on the number of soil test pits required; member Garrett Simonson reported finding no state-level per-acre standard, noting that the 1979 approval of the existing cemetery involved nine pits across two acres. The board also voted 4-0 to reappoint Hilton as its Lakes and Watershed Advisory Committee representative and heard that Shutesbury formally notified the district health program of its intent to withdraw at next spring's Town Meeting.