SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any other general or special law to the contrary, pursuant to section 40E of chapter 7 and section 32 of chapter 184 of the General Laws, the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance, together with the commissioner of the department of agricultural resources, the latter department being referred to in this act as the Department, may execute a certificate of release which, when executed, will constitute a complete and unconditional release of a parcel of land from an agricultural preservation restriction granted by Peter J. Wysocki, in this act referred to as Former Owner, to the commonwealth and the town of Amherst, recorded in book 3405, page 22, at the Hampshire county registry of deeds, in this act referred to as the Original APR.  The parcel of the land, in this act referred to as the Parcel, to be released is more particularly identified as follows:

That certain parcel of the land located on the easterly side of North East street in Amherst, Hampshire county, shown on a plan satisfactory to the Department and to be prepared in recordable form and be recorded in Hampshire county registry of deeds in this bill referred to as the Plan, with the certificate of release.  The Parcel contains approximately 1.7 acres, according to the Plan.

The current owners of the land covered by the Original APR, in this act referred to as the Original APR Land, are Stanley F. Gawle and Dorothy A. Gawle, trustees of the Dorothy A. Gawle and Stanley F. Gawle Living Trust under Declaration of Trust, dated January 14, 2004 (unrecorded), in this act referred to as “Current Owners”, which term shall include their successors and assigns by deed, recorded at the Hampshire county registry of deeds, in book 7761, page 118.  The Current Owners may transfer the Parcel authorized for release from the Original APR to J. Roger Cherewatti and Ilona M. Cherewatti, together with the remainder of the Original APR Land and certain other land not subject to the Original APR, in this act referred to as the Conveyance, by deed, to be recorded at the Hampshire county registry of deeds.

A request for a release of the Parcel has been made to the Department by the town of Amherst to enable and assist the town to aid in preservation of a structure of historical significance, namely the 1815 Kimball farmhouse, located on land owned by Stanley F. Gawle and Dorothy A. Gawle, trustees, not subject to the Original APR, to be included in the Conveyance.

SECTION 2.  In consideration of the release of the Parcel described in section 1, J. Roger Cherewatti and Ilona M. Cherewatti shall, prior to or concurrently with the Conveyance:

a)  Grant to the commonwealth and to the town of Amherst an agricultural preservation restriction on a parcel of land containing approximately 1.81 acres, shown as parcel 40 on map 9C of the town of Amherst cadastre.

b)  Grant to the commonwealth and to the town of Amherst an agricultural preservation restriction on a parcel of land containing approximately 9.31 acres, contiguous to the Original APR Land, as shown on the Plan.

c)  Donate to the town of Amherst $25,000 for the acquisition of land to be placed under an agricultural preservation restriction elsewhere in the town of Amherst or to be used toward satisfaction of the obligations of Amherst to the commonwealth under section 4.

SECTION 3.  The town of Amherst shall appropriate and unconditionally commit for payment $50,000 for the acquisition of land to be placed under an agricultural preservation restriction elsewhere in the town of Amherst or to be used toward satisfaction of the obligations of Amherst to the commonwealth under section 4.

SECTION 4.  Pursuant to section 32 of chapter 184 of the General Laws and Executive Order 193, prior to the Department and the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance executing a certificate of release of the Parcel, the Department shall receive from the town of Amherst either compensation for the full statutory fair market value of the Parcel, as determined by an appraisal to be obtained by the town of Amherst satisfactory to the Department, or an enforceable written agreement, in this act referred to as the Compensation Agreement, authorized and approved by the Amherst town meeting in accordance with sections 5 and 6, which renders the Department completely satisfied, in its sole discretion, that it will receive and be compensated for the full statutory fair market value of the Parcel no later than the end of the fiscal year 2012.  In addition to receiving the full statutory fair market value, the Department must receive, or be completely satisfied, in its sole discretion, that it will receive, mitigation satisfactory to the Department for the loss of farmland subject to an agricultural preservation agreement, pursuant to an enforceable written agreement to be made between the town of Amherst and the Department, satisfactory to the Department, in this act referred to as the Mitigation Agreement prior to execution of a certificate of release of the Parcel.

SECTION 5.  The town of Amherst shall, at a special town meeting to be commenced in October or November, 2006, cause to be included on the warrant for such meeting an article or articles, in appropriate form, in which the town meeting, in its capacity as the legislative body of the town, shall authorize and approve the obligation of the unconditional payment by the town of Amherst of the full statutory fair market value of the Parcel as set forth in the Compensation Agreement, and authorize and approve  the obligations of the town of Amherst as set forth in the Mitigation Agreement referred to in Section 4.  The vote or votes to be taken under this section shall be by majority vote of the town meeting members present and voting, notwithstanding any other General Laws to the contrary.

SECTION 6.  Upon the execution by the appropriate town authority of the duly authorized and approved Compensation Agreement, the obligations of the town to make the payments for release of the Parcel shall constitute a pledge of the full faith and credit of the town and shall be payable in the same manner and without further action by town meeting, as an obligation incurred in accordance with chapter 44 of the General Laws.

SECTION 7.  Except as partially released by the recording of the above-described certificate of release of the Parcel executed by the commissioner of agricultural resources and by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance, as authorized by this act, the Original APR shall remain in full force and effect.