By Marianne Sullivan, Source Senior Staff
Writer:
Five years ago when
the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (SCCRWA) announced it
had decided to sell sizeable parcels of land it no longer believed it needed as
watershed, the Madison Land Conservation Trust moved quickly. The non-profit
organization purchased two parcels, took out a loan, and began a fundraising
effort. It paid off.
Last week the land
trust made its final loan payment to the water authority to complete the
purchase of 69.7 acres of open space known as the Neck River Uplands northern
parcel. Land Trust President Diana
Onsolio said the water authority sold the parcel to the land trust in 2003 for
$557,922. Just under half the total purchase price was paid through a grant
from the state, which holds a conservation easement on the property.
“There was
approximately $255,000 remaining and the water authority generously granted us
a loan, which we are paying off today,” Onsolio said. “The loan payoff is made
possible thanks to the generosity of many individual donors and foundations.”
Making the decision
to purchase the property and taking on the loan “was a great big decision for a
small organization like ours,” she said, also thanking the SCCRWA for its
cooperation and support throughout the five years.
Standing at the
trailhead, Fillmore McPherson, vice president for finance for the land trust,
assisted by Barry Haigis, past president, accepted a copy of the mortgage
documents from Dianne Tompkins of SCCRWA and then, in a decades-old tradition,
set fire to them. The burning of the mortgage received a round of enthusiastic
applause.
The 69.7 acres paid
off last week is known as the northern parcel of the Neck River Uplands. The
land trust holds another mortgage on a second parcel, approximately 45 acres,
just south of the Route 80 traffic circle. It is still working to raise the
$400,000 needed to pay off the loan on that southern parcel.
Together the two
parcels are known as The Neck River Preserve, a total of 115 acres that lies in
the geographic center of Madison,
immediately west of Route 79 and divided by Route 80. The land conservation
trust has developed walking trails throughout the preserve. The trailhead for
the northern parcel is on Princess
Drive, the first left after the traffic circle.
For more information, visit www.madisonlandtrust.org and the Scranton Library
where the land trust has set up a display of the Neck River Uplands.