Deep into the evening of June 18, the Rochester Conservation Commission met with Brendan Annett and Allen Decker of the Buzzards Bay Coalition (BBC) to discuss the possibility of submitting an application to the state’s Local Acquisitions for Natural Diversity (LAND) Grant. The property in question is situated off Walnut Plain Road in the vicinity of Old Middleborough Road and contains 109 acres of what was described as primal, undisturbed forestlands.
While the BBC has many ways and methods for securing funding including private donations and fundraising, grants are, generally speaking, out of their reach. Enter the towns.
As the BBC has done numerous times throughout the southeast, Annett and Decker were asking the Rochester Conservation Commission to partner with them, sign the grant application as the primary party, and then, if successful, present at Town Meeting in the form of an article moving the grant monies towards acquiring the conservation restriction.
The grant being pursued is for $400,000.
The narrative submitted states, “Buzzards Bay Coalition has the property under contract to purchase by June 2020, contingent on funding.” The seller is Decas Cranberry Corporation. “The proposed approach to acquire and protect this land is for the Town of Rochester to use a state LAND Grant to purchase a Conservation Restriction and enable Buzzards Bay Coalition to acquire the property for conservation and public access for passive recreational activities.”
No local funding will be sought, the BBC confirms.
The BBC had also been contacted by a solar developer whose plans to use Old Middleborough Road to access land for the installation of a solar array has become problematic. In their discussion, Annett said that the BBC had agreed to work with Seaboard Solar granting them access to their acreage by way of a road through the forestlands being sold to the BBC by Decas. The carrot in this offer would be another 30 acres of land. As noted in the documents the BBC presented to the commission state, “Funding Strategy B: A solar company (Seaboard Solar) is proposing a 30-acre solar development north of the subject property. The solar company has agreed to buy all of the subject land from Decas Cranberry Company and donate it to Buzzards Bay Coalition for conservation, subject to the right for an access road, if their proposed project is permitted. Thus, the proposed Land grant would only be used as a backup funding plan if the solar project does not get its permit.”
Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon said that these projects have become more complicated and funding sources more diverse; therefore, it was understandable that the BBC would be reviewing all options in their quest to secure the forests for conversation.
On June 17 during the Rochester Board of Selectmen meeting, the BBC presented the same opportunity while requesting that the board members sign the letter intended to accompany the grant.
Everything went without a hitch.
However, Conservation Commission Chairman Mike Conway held back not wanting to sign a grant application without having had the opportunity to review the entire document.
There was discussion about the voluminous scope of the grant application with Annett assuring Conway that the distilled document before him was in essence the entire scope of the request. Farinon added her voice saying she had worked for years with the BBC and that this was normal practice adding, “There has to be a level of trust in such matters.”
In the end, all the commissioners voted affirmatively to sign the document contingent upon Farinon’s final review and acceptance, with Conway casting a “nay.”
In other business, a Certificate of Compliance was issued to Decas Cranberry Corporation, 15 Cranberry Highway; A Notice of Intent filed by Pedro Rodriguez, Solar MA Project Management, was withdrawn without prejudice; an NOI filed by T-Mobile was continued until August 20; an Abbreviated NOI filed by SWEB Development USA was continued until July 16; an Amended Order of conditions was approved for John Draper, 356 Snow’s Pond Road; and an NOI filed by Nicholas Araujo for property located on Old Schoolhouse Road was continued until July 16.
The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission is scheduled for July 2 at 7:00 pm in the Rochester Town Hall meeting room.
Rochester Conservation Commission
By Marilou Newell