07/12/2016

Agreement clears way for $75,000 town contribution toward Great Pond-area conservation purchase

The Town Council on July 11, 2016 narrowly approved an agreement with the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust for joint management of proposed conservation land near Great Pond.

The vote clears the way for a $75,000 contribution from the town toward the land trust's purchase of a 23-acre parcel abutting other conservation land between Great Pond and Ocean House Road.

Last month the council agreed to contribute toward the purchase of what the land trust is calling Great Pond Preserve II, provided the land trust raises the rest of the money and that the town agrees to details for managing the property. [news article]

On July 11, councilors voted 4-3 to approve a declaration of covenants and restrictions for the use of the property, as well as a public-access easement naming both the town and the land trust as stewards.

Voting against the agreement were Chair Molly MacAuslan and councilors Kathy Ray and Jessica Sullivan, who said they objected to a clause in the easement giving the land trust final say in the event of disagreement with the town over public-access projects.

"When it was discussed that we would be jointly identifying and developing projects, this gave us a lot of rights," said Ray. However, "That sentence right there takes away all those perceived rights, because if there's a disagreement we're giving them the authority to make the final decision," she said.

A version of the easement drafted for the land trust by attorney Robert Danielson, and ultimately approved by the council, included the clause. An alternate version drafted by the town's attorney Thomas Leahy had the clause deleted.

"Considering that we are giving $75,000 of taxpayer dollars to this project, I will be voting against this," Ray said of the approved version.

The land trust is slated to close on the $315,000 purchase from current owner Barry Glew on Aug. 1. The town's contribution, less than a quarter of the full purchase price, as well as the town's shared commitment to land preservation and public access, convinced other councilors to allow the clause.

"I think if you made a Venn diagram, our interests are about 90 percent overlap," said Councilor Sara Lennon, who with councilors Patty Grennon, Jamie Garvin and Caitlin Jordan voted to approve the agreement. Shared support for conservation and public access make disputes over access projects "highly unlikely", Lennon said, and she did not want the town to miss the chance for shared stewardship. "I just don't want to run the risk of losing our part of it entirely. I mean, we back out of this and then we would have no say at the table, I think that would be very unfortunate," she said.

After the vote, Chair Molly MacAuslan said she hoped the agreement would serve as a template for future collaboration between the town and the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust.