NORTHAMPTON — As Halloween approaches, members of the New England Mountain Biking Association (NEMBA) are grappling with the city over a different kind of saw massacre.

Members of the association recently discovered that a bridge they paid for and constructed in the Sawmill Hills conservation area several years ago had been unceremoniously destroyed by the city’s Department of Public Works. The wooden bridge, built over a stream connecting   Florence Pond to the Mill River, was cut into thirds with one piece still standing by the stream.

“There wasn’t any communication with the DPW,” said Sam Veggeberg, president of NEMBA, whose members frequently use the popular conservation area. “They’re freaking out after five-plus years of that bridge being there.”

In an email correspondence Veggeberg shared with the Gazette, DPW Director Donna LaScaleia said the department first became aware of the bridge while investigating problems with the water quality at the city’s well on Spring Street. She said the DPW did not give permission for the bridge’s installation, and subsequently removed it.

“This is water supply property protected under Massachusetts General Law and trespassing is strictly prohibited. There is no room for discretion, and once we became aware of this trespass, we were obligated to immediately correct it,” LaScaleia wrote to the group. “Whoever is using this area needs to immediately stop all trespassing activities, and we have posted signage to that effect.”

Jeff Fowler, a member of NEMBA who lives in Florence, said the association received permission from the city’s Department of Planning and Sustainability to build the bridge in 2018. He said the area, accessed via Florence Pond Road off Spring Street, is one of the most convenient ways for residents of the village to enter the conservation area, but that they need to be able to cross the stream in order to do so. While the bridge was built for mountain bikers to cross, many people also traverse it on foot, he said.

“This has been a public access point for more than 20 years,” Fowler said. “People are going to go there who have gone that way forever and find that they can’t cross the stream.”

Sarah LaValley, the city’s assistant director with land acquisition and conservation, said she could not confirm whether the association received permission several years ago, but that such a scenario was not unimaginable.

“We get a lot of requests looking to address trail access and erosion issues,” LaValley said. “It’s an area that has been used by the public.”

In the area where the bridge was destroyed, a sign has been installed warning that the area is water supply property and that trespassers will be prosecuted.

Coordinates shared by Fowler pinpointing the bridge’s location appear to show it is within a parcel of land designated as open space — meaning that it is publicly owned by the city, ostensibly for conservation and recreation purposes.

But a closer look at the particular parcel reveals a different designation. According to MassGIS, the state’s official mapping system, the parcel where the bridge is located, including Florence Pond Road, has its primary purpose listed as “water supply.”

Determining which parts of city-owned property in Sawmill Hills are accessible can be complicated, said David Litterer, an office manager at UMass Amherst’s recreation center and a hiking enthusiast who has in the past volunteered for Northampton and drawn his own trail maps that are listed on the city’s website.

“There are a lot of small parcels that are watersheds, and some that are conservation and recreational,” Litterer said. “It’s hard to know when the conservation ends when the water supply begins.”

Further complicating the matter is that within the GIS data, the parcel’s public access is not marked with a “Y” or “N” meaning yes or no, but rather with an “X” — meaning unknown.

Before the incident, there was nothing listed on the Northampton website that shows that the parcel is anything other than city-owned. On Thursday, the city released a new map showing the parcel is not included in the public Sawmill Hills Greenway.

“We’re internally updating our map to show where publicly accepted access points are,” said LaValley.

Fowler said the association was continuing to reach out to the city to try to get the issue resolved, but advised residents to seek an alternative route in the meantime. He also said the association would respect any decision ultimately made regarding the matter.

“Right now we’re telling people to go elsewhere until we get it figured out,” he said.

Currently, about 1,000 acres of the 2,200-acre Sawmill Hills is city-owned open space, while the remainder is in private hands. The city recently acquired 229 acres in April for $690,000, connecting two previously separated areas.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.