The meeting began shortly after 6:00 PM. Present were Scott McCaskill (chair), Matt Monahan (CNHRPC, via Zoom), Jim Bibbo, and Mel Pfeifle. There were also six people in the audience, some of whom are members of the Historical Society, while the others are abutters to the Naughton property. Mike James was also present by the invitation of the Committee.
We began by letting Mike speak about the foundation that he supervises, the Woodward and Ellie Foundation, whose purpose is to support local non-profit organizations in the Kearsarge area that contribute to land conservation, historical preservation, trail improvements (e.g. rail trail), and, generally, things that benefit their communities. The foundation’s first project was the East Main Street garden. Their next focus is extending that with a natural play space that would be located just behind the garden, and would also connect to Brown-Shattuck field.
The Foundation has been working with the Historical Society, who occupy the front portion of the Naughton property, and noted that some possible problems with the development of town-owned property, might be mitigated through a public-private partnership. It might be possible for the Foundation to serve as a non-profit umbrella corporation, through a long-term lease on the property, with the mission of helping the Historical Society in the development of the front part of the property.
Mike’s idea was to slowly develop the back part of the property as a park area, with the idea of contributing to the prosperity of Main Street. The park area would work as a functional extension of the garden and historical area, and provide a walkable area that would also tie in with the other trails in the town.
Jim Bibbo recounted past efforts to come up with a development plan for the property, which got nowhere despite some effort.
Mike mentioned that the Foundation had purchased the land immediately to the north of the Naughton land. Combined, the lands total more than fifty acres and include access to Route 114/Sutton Road. There are a lot of possibilities with that amount of land, but Mike also said that he needed ideas from the town for what should be done with it.
Mel was positive about the possibilities of a public-private partnership.
Dan Cilley, an abutting property owner, expressed concern of his and of other abutters, regarding disturbance of an otherwise quiet corner of town, due to the increased number of people using the property, and the possibility of additional vehicular traffic. George Cilley recounted problems he has had in the past with drainage onto his property. Mike noted that, if the land were administered by a private entity and not directly by the town, it should be easier to solve these problems quickly, or perhaps prevent them before they arose. An entity like the Foundation might be a better steward of the land than the town itself could be. And a contract with them can contain any conditions necessary to make the partnership work.
Mel stressed the need to do something positive with the property, before something is done with it that we don’t want done, perhaps by a future Select Board.
Mike concluded by emphasizing that the Foundation does not want to necessarily push ideas, but if consensus can be reached on what the town wants to do, working with the Foundation can be a way to achieve it. They are in for the long term, not for short-term profit. But he wants any project to be a good fit with the town’s vision.
Following Mike’s presentation, the discussion among the Committee members veered into housing, school funding, other general concerns. Most of the audience departed at this time. The meeting ended around 7:40.
Submitted by Scott McCaskill
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