When Harvard residents are asked what they like best about the town, one of the most common answers is the town’s open spaces, scenic views, and “rural feel.” But those qualities do not come free, and the Conservation Commission is struggling to find a way to buy a 24-acre parcel of land on Mass. Ave. that has been on the commission’s wish list for nearly 20 years.
The commission has already made an offer for the property at a price well below its market value, and the seller has accepted, commissioners said at their Feb. 18 meeting. But the deal remains contingent on funding.
FinCom, selectmen leave warrant article in limbo
The Conservation Commission submitted a warrant article asking Town Meeting for $350,000 to make the purchase. It was the first time since 2004 that the commission had made such a request. But both the Finance Committee and the Capital Planning and Investment Committee (CPIC) recommended against it, in part because it came to their attention late in the budgeting process.
At an all-boards meeting Feb. 3, FinCom Chairwoman Alice von Loesecke said the commission’s request had not followed regular channels and had come to the committee after the usual deadline. But Paul Willard, chairman of the Conservation Commission, explained that the land became available in the late fall, and the commission had to act promptly.
When the selectmen met to finalize the Town Meeting warrant this week, the request from the Conservation Commission—which was to be Article 55 on the warrant—had no funding source except borrowing, which would require both a vote at Town Meeting and a ballot vote at Town Election.
Selectman Leo Blair said Article 55 should be dropped. He said he thought the commission had enough money to buy the land without the warrant article. But Selectwoman Lucy Wallace urged the board to defer a final decision until it is clear how much money the commission has on hand. So the article remained in limbo at the end of the selectmen’s meeting.
Blair also said the issue showed that the selectmen get involved in financial decisions too late. The town had more than $1 million in free cash available at the end of fiscal 2015, he pointed out. The selectmen might have suggested putting some of that money toward conservation, Blair said, but the finance and capital committees had already allocated it before the selectmen could weigh in.
In an email after the meeting, Wallace held out some slim hope for the article. “If they [the Conservation Commission] can negotiate something with FinCom and CPIC without requiring a ballot vote, then the article could stand.”
The parcel under consideration includes a year-round stream, wetlands, and a cart road, along with plentiful wildlife habitat, according to Conservation Commission member Wendy Sisson. She said mink, otter, beaver, coyote, bear, and many other species frequent the land.
The site is particularly valuable, Sisson said in a phone interview, because it connects to other large areas of protected open space (see map). Some adjacent land is already under a conservation restriction held by the Harvard Conservation Trust. Through that land, the site connects to the town-owned Williams land, with its rolling fields and drumlin, and then on to Great Elms’ pasture, rock outcroppings, and hardwood forest.
If the article goes forward, residents who want to see the land for themselves before Town Meeting will have a chance to do so Saturday, March 19, at 11 a.m. Members of the Conservation Commission plan to lead a walk along the cart road and over the stream. In case of bad weather, the walk would be rescheduled for the following Saturday, March 26.
Conservation funds operate under restrictions
The question of how much money the Conservation Commission has on hand is complex. The Finance Committee said the commission already has about $352,000, which it could use to buy the land. That money, however, is divided between two accounts, one of which is more restricted than the other.
Up until about 2001, the Conservation Commission regularly received money in the town budget. But then the budget appropriation was dropped, to be replaced by funds from the Community Preservation Committee (CPC). That money goes into one of the two Conservation Commission accounts, and what is left of the town money is in the other.
For the past several years, the Conservation Commission has received comparatively small amounts from the CPC. And this year, the CPC is devoting most of its money to the Town Hall project and giving only the legally required minimum to conservation.
CPC money, moreover, comes with some strict limitations. It can’t be used to maintain or improve conservation land that Harvard owned before 2001. In other words, all the money to care for most of the town’s conservation land—maintain its trails, put in boardwalks, clear storm damage, and more—must come from the account with money that the commission got from the town before 2001. Not surprisingly, the commission wants to spend that money slowly and carefully.
That leaves about $210,000 in the commission’s CPC account—not enough by itself to purchase the new parcel of land. And wiping out its balance would leave the commission with no way to acquire any other suitable land that might become available on short notice.
