DEERFIELD — Nupro LLC is a step closer to developing a new headquarters on Merrigan Way in South Deerfield with the promise of adding dozens of high-paying manufacturing jobs.
The Select Board this month approved an expedited permit, following a peer review from Berkshire Design. Pending Conservation Commission approval, the polyurethane manufacturer based in Deerfield and Whately is poised to move its headquarters from Sandy Lane in Whately to South Deerfield.
“We’re improving this site. … We’re really doing our due diligence to make this project beneficial to the town of Deerfield and its residents,” said Derek Helie, the project’s lead engineer. “I live in Greenfield. … This is exactly the type of business I would want in Greenfield. … I’ve been working with Nupro for over three years and their business is clean — I’d be happy to have it.”
Nupro plans to build a 124,680-square-foot building that will serve as the company’s headquarters, manufacturing and storage facility.
Rather than go through the normal permitting process through the Planning Board, the two parcels of land Nupro purchased on Merrigan Way from the town — at a cost of $450,000 and $62,500 — were designated for expedited permitting, which Select Board Chair Trevor McDaniel said was set up in 2009 when the town bought the land from the Oxford Pickle shop.
“Expedited permitting was something that was set up in 2009 when we purchased the property,” McDaniel explained.
Some residents, however, raised concerns about the addition of another manufacturing facility on Merrigan Way, where the Deerfield Highway Department and Pilot Precision Products are located.
“I hear, I see and I smell things from other surrounding companies. The quality of life has drastically changed,” said South Main Street resident Sara Allium. “It feels like I live in the middle of an industrial park. I’m worried about more lights, more traffic, more trucks.”
Helie said tractor-trailer traffic would most likely come from Interstate 91, down Route 116 and up Sugarloaf Street. Any additional traffic would be “employees at shift change,” and Nupro has been quietly operating at Sandy Lane and in the Old Deerfield plastics plant for years with no issues.
Thayer Street resident Margarita Bonifaz noted a private company like Nupro doesn’t necessarily have to listen to public complaints.
“Are we eliminating night for the neighbors? Are we eliminating peace?” she said. “I am concerned about the impact of diesel fumes on neighbors as these trucks idle. The DPW is town-owned and this factory is not.”
The factory will be operating 24/7, but light levels will be monitored and trucks will be asked to turn off their engines when picking up orders.
The Select Board unanimously approved Nupro’s permit and the company will continue its public hearing with the Conservation Commission at a future date. Ethier previously said the plan is to move into the new facility in April 2024.