Last Friday’s editorial suggested the town’s planning activities were stuck in mud. Why wasn’t the Pond Committee’s Bare Hill Pond Watershed Management Plan mentioned?
Eight years ago the Pond Committee was plagued by divisive and acrimonious debate and more than 20 years of limited effectiveness. Volunteer burnout was commonplace. Recognizing that actions speak louder than words and that a diversity of views was needed, we invited volunteers from all sectors of the community to participate and get something done.
Paul Von Loesecke had the courage to invite me to join the committee in 2002, knowing my personal views differed on herbicides, but realizing that we had to act. We then invited new members with the express goal of focusing energy on actionable solutions—the time for unproductive debates and endless study was over. We built a team that focused on playing off each other’s strengths. We rebuilt a relationship based on mutual respect with the Conservation Commission, and demonstrated in our actions, rather than words, our concern for the pond, its uses, and the watershed. New members and volunteers like Bill Johnson, Nick Browse, Ron Ricci, Robert Blank, Rick Dickson, Jeff Ritter, and Tom Gormley helped us to write grants, build the pump house, control the invasive species, and monitor the health of the pond. We recruited our critics. We listened and they listened, aligned and acted. Ron Ricci is but one example of an initial critic who became a dedicated watershed volunteer after joining the committee. Now, as a result of our successful drawdown project, we are now the recipients of a second grant and soon a third grant for storm water treatment for the runoff from town center.
It’s fun to build a cooperative team with folks who might otherwise disagree but work together well. Perhaps our other town boards should take a step back, tone down the rhetoric, focus on actions not words, and build nonpartisan support for common goals and objectives. We should give our neighbors the benefit of the doubt and enjoy each other’s company. We live in a small community and volunteer time is essential but scarce. Let’s not squander it on unproductive divisiveness, lest we continue to see stagnation in planning activities as our dedicated volunteers resign from service or refuse to serve in the first place.
Bruce Leicher
Warren Ave.
